A bit of a detour - Sawley Cut

On Wednesday, we moved on out of Beeston Cut and back onto the River, to enjoy our last day on the lovely Trent. The weather had been better on our way down the river, but at least it didn't rain. Well, not much. The birds certainly didn't mind it, though. There were thousands. And so many different species. We even saw an great white egret, unusual in the UK, we think.

A large group of volunteers were working hard on a stretch of the bank, removing huge swathes of the pernicious Himalayan Balsam which would take over the waterways, given half a chance. Well done, Friends of CRT!

San Fairy Ann leading the way

Ahead, Dave, straight ahead!

At Trent Junction, we turned right to Sawley Cut, ascended the electrically powered lock - this one operated by Sandy, and not a Lock-Keeper - and moored opposite Sawley Marina. It poured with rain immediately after we'd tied up. Really poured! Dave and Sandy got soaked, filling their water tank. It was a lovely evening, however.

The IW Helmsman's Course

Ray Cullis of Trent Boat Handling was due to retire last August, but circumstances prevented this, and we were fortunate enough to be his penultimate students on the IWHC course which he has been teaching for the past ten years.

We met Ray at Sawley Marina at 9:00 am Wednesday morning and spent the day with him on the River Trent, learning how to navigate safely and efficiently in the unique conditions and situations which rivers bring to boat users. He had both of us doing all sorts of manoeuvres, being aware of the wind and of water currents, and using them to our advantage, and rescuing a man overboard (actually a buoy). We also covered deployment and recovery of the anchor in rivers. The weather was excellent, the river beautiful, the instruction very useful and well delivered, and Ray's company a delight. With breaks for lunch, and morning and afternoon refreshments, we spent a long day on with Ray on Kantara - and even had homework to do as well! By the end of day one, we were very tired.

The weather forecast for Thursday was unequivocal - it was going to rain very hard all day long, with the possibility of thunderstorms. And it did rain hard on Wednesday night, but it wasn't looking too bad in the morning, and I assured Ray, when we met him at 8:30, that the rain wasn't going to happen. I was right! It was dry all the time we were on the water, warm and with outbreaks of sun.

The second of the course was spent on the Trent and Mersey Canal, and I did most of the driving of the boat. Grace did some locking - we swapped roles for a lot of the day

It was really good for both of us, but I'm sure I gained the most, since I don't have Grace's experience at the tiller. Again, we also learned knots, manoeuvres, rope-throwing techniques and the use of the wind and the water to help us steer the boat safely and accurately. During our breaks, Ray used a whiteboard to explain various concepts and techniques.

It was a great day, and ended with us being presented with a IWHC certificate each. I had not been certain of achieving it, though it went without saying that Grace would get hers. Time and money had been very well spent, and we go forward from here with all sorts of new things to put into practice, new habits to adopt. Grace had had her own skills endorsed by an expert, and some of them refined. I had been given a good deal more confidence and capability upon which I can now build further.

Day two ended with great fatigue - and rain! Thank you, Ray, for two really good days.

Today, we've stayed put on our mooring opposite Sawley Marina, shopping and catching up with emails and so on, but we've filled the water tank, replaced and empty gas bottle, and filled up with diesel, ready to set off tomorrow to continue our Leicester Ring trip. Week three starts tomorrow.

Sawley Cut

Since the journey from Trent Lock to Sawley Cut is so short, we didn't leave our mooring until after lunch. We filled the water tank, descended the lock, and turned right onto the River Trent.

We were quite surprised by the strength of the current as we made our way upstream, and we've never worked Kantara's engine work so hard before! But being on the river is great.

Sawley Cut takes the corner off the Trent where it is not considered to be navigable. Entry to the cut is through one of a pair of locks, operated not manually, but mechanically, with a control panel at the side of each lock.

A few hundred yards down the cut, we came to the moorings just opposite Sawley Marina, where Ray works, the guy who's going to be instructing us for the next couple of days.

Looking back towards the locks

Looking upstream towards the exit from the cut

We've been expecting a thundery rainstorm ever since we arrived here, but it's still dry as I write. I just hope it rains tonight, if it's going to rain at all. It would certainly clear the air; it's really very sultry.

More pictures of Sawley Cut and the River Trent...

Cruising soon!

Incredible! A hot, dry, sunny Bank Holiday Weekend! Excellent weather for the Crick Boat Show, which we went to on Saturday. We walked again, this time without injury - last year I sprained my ankle very painfully right at the start of the return journey. As last year, we bought a number of bits and pieces, including various very special, tasty edibles. Mostly, we learned a lot about various equipment and technology, and looked into a number of mooring possibilities for the time when we decide to move from Yelvertoft and base ourselves on another canal.

We're going back to St Albans today for a couple of nights. The car needs service and MOT, and I want to have it done by our usual Marsh Motors, where all but our first car have been serviced. It's well worth the return journey.

We plan to set out on Saturday for Sawley Marina on the River Trent, where we will be doing our two-day Inland Waterways Helmsman's Certificate course. After that, we'll continue anticlockwise around the Leicester Ring, which we failed to complete last year. The whole trip could take us five or six weeks, and we're really looking forward to it.

And we're back!

A day later than expected, but never mind. The journey from St Albans took over three hours longer that it should, with problems on the M1 bringing northbound traffic to an absolute standstill, but never mind - we're back.

Today, I booked a two-day helmsmanship course at Sawley Marina on the River Trent. This will be in the last week of June, and we'll make it part of our re-run of the Leicester Ring trip which we had to abort part-way through last year. This time, we'll be doing it anti-clockwise, arriving at Sawley after the first week.

The course involves one day on the river and the second on the canal, earning us the Inland Waterways Helmsman's Certificate, having demonstrated (hopefully) competence in handling the boat on both river and canal, and in a range of cruising situations. It will be an enjoyable couple of days, and we're looking forward to it. I expect we'll have a fair amount to learn, and we'll come out of it with increased proficiency and confidence.

I need to make sure our anchor has the required 5 metres of chain and 60 meters of rope, ready for use on the river.