Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Spring Cruise 2013 (7)

Clayworth Bridge 67 moorings to Retford Town Lock.

Weather: Heavy overnight frost. The wind was again strong and made for a difficult passage. There were many breaks in the cloud and the sun had some warmth when out of the wind. Late in the afternoon the wind dropped and the sunshine was quite pleasant.

We were the first boat to make official passage through the wonderfully named "Whitsunday Pie Lock." There were a couple of CaRT boats moored above the lock and a few CaRT staff were just finishing off pointing the winter stoppage rebuild of the lock. In places the canal is in dire need of dredging and one boat in the group took almost an hour to get off a mud bank.The wind was quite strong at the time and was hampering the process.

Retford: Shopping for essential ships stores and so Aldi and Tesco were the main places of choice. We waved goodbye to one of our group who was going to stay on the Chesterfield canal for a while. We decided to wind at the winding hole below Retford Town Lock. We then retraced our steps and two boats moored outside the Hop Pole pub where there are good moorings with electrical power available. (50p a unit the power point requires a 30amp connector) Rosie moved on a bit further along the canal for the night.

Wildlife: Swan observed sitting on nest. Another pair of swans were busy building a nest.  First couple of lapwing of the year seen. Mallard with 9 chicks was our first mallard brood of the year. First 2013 bat a Pipistrelle spotted while walking the dogs.


Day Totals
Miles: 7.1
Locks: 1
Swing/Lift Bridges: 0
Tunnels: 0
Pump outs: 0
Engine Hours: 3.2

Running Totals
Miles: 1372.1
Locks: 921
Swing / Lift Bridges: 177
Tunnels. 23
Pump Outs: 14
Engine Hours: 2533.2





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