Hi All,
Roving reporter and part time crew member here. June 27th We left at 6.45am to avoid the yobs and we are now on deep wide water. The boat is handling like a dream. Very responsive and turns on a sixpence. There are now lots of lock and swing bridges and at Syskeholm we meet up with Jane-Louise, the barge built before Phoenix. She has a very nice aft cabin but no so much outside space as we do. The lady Phoenix crew find the lift bridges a little tricky but fortunately a BW man on his day off helped. Thank you BW man. Jane-Louise cracked on to the next and then each one is taken in turn. At 12.20pm as we are well ahead of schedule we moored up before Bramwith lock on the Stainforth and Keadby canal. Saw a boat called Bilbow Baggins, which seemed to ring a bell, but can't remember why. June 28th Mr Millin is still very impressed with the hot water system and even though we stopped at lunchtime yesterday, the water was still hot enough for showers and washing up this morning. We cleared the lock at 8.15am and the Captain curses as Phoenix has to push her way through the weed. 'Last time we were up here we stonked along'. At 2.15pm we arrived at Keaby and moored up. A short but very pleasant day today. Tomorrow we are booked on the 6.45am tide and the ladies take a stroll to see what we will be encountering. It reminds your roving reporter of the Thames! Looking up we spy a large cloud of black smoke and wonder how a factory can be allowed to reproduce in such a manner. Turns out to be a house on exploding and on fire. Upon getting closer, a pregnant, barefoot lady with 2 Alsatian dogs stares at the burning house. It's her house!. She was sleeping at the time and her husband woke her to get out. The explosions were paint cans in the garage. It took 20 minutes for the fire engines to arrive, by which time.... It makes your reporter realise how lucky we are and this lady has had her life devastated far more than when we were flooded. At 6.45pm tested out the TV auto sat system ( I would have tested that first of all! Ed) and it all swished and turned to find the satellite and a superb picture. June 29th 4am! Very heavy rain, we won't need the 5am alarm call. At 6.30am after a hearty breakfast we are all set to go, just waiting for the green light. At 6.45am the Trent locky advises it will just us going out as narrowboat kingfisher is a no show. Out at 7.03 in overcast but warm weather. By 9.10am we had reached Gainsborough and 2 narrowboats pull out from the pontoon moorings. There are plenty of cormorants but we have not seen any kingfishers. We Overtake the narrowboats and just past Sturton pumping station on starboard bank side, we do a pirouette after encountering a sandbank in the low water. Other boaters beware. Some parts are slow going but even so we get through Cromwell lock and moor up at 1.45pm. Not a bad time all things considered! (Reporting restrictions in place ed) Cracked open bottle of fizz to celebrate the safe journey, the Captains nerves needed it. We Enjoy a quiet afternoon with papers. The lovely Margaret was most amused at one point when the cruisers were made to move up the moorings by the arrival of a flotilla of narrowboats. Spent a very pleasant evening watching the wildlife Cormorants, Oyster Catchers, Reed Warblers, Grebe, Sand martins, House martins, Swallows, Chaffinch and Skylarks. Many of these birds we don't see on southern waters. Tonight was a late night, 10pm. June 30th 8.32am set off heading for Newark, uneventful journey in beautiful sunshine, Interesting looking town but no time for sightseeing this trip. Arrive at marina 10.45am. Dismantle the Millinett and remove the poles etc ready for lift out on Monday morning. Catch train back to Skipton Pm. July 1st Return to Evesham by car. Hopefully the pictures taken will be up on the website soon. Regards, Your roving reporter from the Skipton and Evesham Examiner. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
