Saturday 1 October 2011

Summer Autumn Cruise 2011 (6-7)


Sunday October 1st

Goole Boatyard to Knottingley
Day 42

A slightly later start after a good evening (6pm for fish and chips and then wobbling back to the boat at 12:45am) spent with good company Brian and Ann at the Boatyard clubhouse. Anyone boating in this part of the canal system could do far worse than spend an evening here. Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday evening until 9pm are the usual opening times. The Host and Hostess work hard at providing a good friendly welcoming atmosphere. The number of people who turned up proved it would be a good evening. A quiz and a Karaoke were amongst the entertainment.

We woke to an overcast day with the threat of rain in the offing. The wind direction was very variable. We seemed to keep pace with a small patch of blue sky through our days cruise. So we had frequent periods when the sun was quite warm. Ahead in the distance was a large area of black cloud. We made a steady start towards Knottingley with little in the way of boat traffic until we reached Southfield reservoir where we saw several boats moored and one boat coming towards us turned down the junction.

The shrill sharp call alerted us to a Kingfisher who then provided a special moment as it flew at high speed towards the boat. Passing low above the water between the boat and the bank.

We met a small flotilla of boats at Whitley Locks. Our thoughts went to the miners families once more as we passed Kellingley colliery which was a very quiet and sobering part of our journey once again.

Soon we were moored on our usual Knottingly mooring at the start of the Aire and Calder towards Selby. A steady six hour cruise had soon seen us in Knottingley. Visit from friends Steve and Vicky for a chat and a heering tea and coffe. After they left I had time to set up the satellite dish and to settle down to a quiet night of television watching. Stephen Fry and later match of the day providing our evenings entertainment.

Several Pipistrelle bats spotted well before nightfall provide some evidence of a nearby bat roost.

Daily Total
Distance: 18 Miles.
Locks: 2
Swing / Lift Bridges: 0
Tunnels: 0
Pump Outs: 0
Engine Hours: 1965.8

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