Awake at 6.50am, the wind rocking the boat and small waves on the water surface.
Dry at the moment, but plenty of time to change before our departure time of 12 noon;
and change it did. Squally showers and darkening clouds most of the morning, but as we moved off the mooring, the rain stopped and the sun appeared. We locked down with Alan and Chris (as in Christine) in their 33yr old Norman cruiser ‘Cobweb’, and off we went heading for Keadby. I was wearing plenty of warm clothing under the waterproof suit and almost immediately began to regret it. Looking behind us, there were dark clouds approaching and soon we were back to light drizzle and hazy sunshine for most of the journey. After some 95 minutes, we were approaching the bridge carrying the M180 motorway and called Keadby lock to inform them of our position. We were told that there was a coaster right up to the lock entrance: when I saw that the ship was on the upstream jetty by the lock entrance, the entry manoeuvre was made easier as I turned across the current and headed for the entrance, the ship made a large area of almost still water just outside the lock. We locked up going past the swing bridge and tied up on the visitor moorings, where we were joined by Alan and Chris for early afternoon tea and all afternoon chat. They returned after supper and an enjoyable evening was had by all, although I had a bit of a job convincing Alan explaining that when I spoke to Keadby lockie by VHF, I had referred to Cobweb as a ‘plastic cruiser’ to inform him of the construction and as an accurate, not a derogatory descriptive term. Eventually he had to admit that 33years ago, the correct term would have been GRP, or Glass Reinforced PLASTIC! I rested my case; next to my glass of wine.
The 2008 journey thus far: 73 Locks & 162 Miles
