Sometimes a wrong decision made and the consequences could have been dire. Such was the case on our decision to leave Pilling's lock. The river app showed a slight drop and, although the River Soar closed sign was still visible and the red light flashing, the gauge below Pillings Lock showed the river to be in the amber.
Having travelled the Soar with only this amount of amber showing before, the journey ahead didn't faze us at all. But it soon became very apparent that the flow was stronger than we had anticipated and even the wind, which had been a gentle breeze when we left, had increased in ferocity. It took over 1800 revs to make any sort of headway. Thankfully, Barrow-upon-Soar was about a mile further along and both of us breathed a sigh of relieve to see Barrow Road bridge with its arches coming up.
I was on the helm so I took the centre arch and ever aware that the fast flowing water could push FS into the brickwork, the revs were increased and I shot through the middle. Phew, that obstacle negotiated but then... I had forgotten all about the weir on the right just beyond the bridge. OMG. FS was being sucked toward it with alarming speed. The throttle was pushed forward, the tiller hard over to get the bow to face toward the middle of the river and FS's stern just about crept away from the fast flow. Wow...that was one hairy moment but I couldn't congratulate myself just yet as I still had to then bring some sort of control back. FS was still heading toward the far bank and moored boats. Somehow I managed to throttle back and correct her turn to bring her back towards the lock landing not 100 yds further on. NEVER have I been more thankful that a hard reverse stopped FS before hitting the lock wall.
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| On the landing. The arched bridge is to the right of the picture. |
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| The river traffic light on Red. |
So up we goes and with a full cassette needing emptying decided to stop at the facilities. Right in the middle of the landing and making it impossible to bring FS to the side was a small plastic cruiser. Nothing for it but to get FS's stern on the last few metres of concrete, for Ian to jump off and move the small boat back allowing me then to reverse to get alongside.
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| After Ian moved the boat |
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| It had been tied where our stern rope is now. |
Ian was carrying the cassette toward the elsan when suddenly an elderly chap appeared and made for the cruiser. Full of apology for leaving his boat where he had as he really didn't think anyone would be travelling in these conditions. (I could almost hear him say 'What idiots!) Anyway, he was most probably right....we shouldn't have even contemplated cruising whilst the River Soar was on red boards but when red gauge marker showed amber, at Pilling's lock, well we had no idea what was to come.
With no moorings free, we had no option but to continue to Mountsorrel. That seemed the longest mile and a half of our lives! Okay so slight exaggeration but my heart was in my mouth for the whole of the journey. Flooding was evident, the wind blew straight across the fields trying to push FS onto the far bank and what with the fast flow my arm ached from the effort of correcting the tiller just to keep FS straight. Then we spied Mountsorrel Mineral Railway bridge, phew...at last... a further short cruise got us to Mountsorrel lock where for once I didn't complain that the bottom gates had been left open.
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| Weir at Barrow-upon-Soar |
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| I think this boat may have taken on water. The stern was very low and the button nearly submerged. Notice the flooding in their garden. |
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| And this garden too |
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| A flat landscape devoid of any sort of wind barrier |
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| More flooding |
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| A good flow of water over this weir at Mountsorrel |
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| Lock gates open |
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| Going into Mountsorrel lock and this gauge showed the river well up. |
Top of the lock we knew to have visitor moorings but hope turned to dismay when we noticed that C&RT had moored their workboat and pan on the moorings. So I'm very sad to report that we did no more than pull FS as far forward as we could on the lock landing and here we will stay for the foreseeable future as more high winds and torrential rain is forecast. Behind us is just enough room for a 60-foot boat to tie up and use the lock but somehow I can't see anyone else being as stupid as us to travel the Soar on red boards!
And seen on route,
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| Nice comfy bed of Pennywort |
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| On a feeder right by Mountsorrel lock |
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| Making the most of a partially flooded field. |
6 comments:
How do you manage to take such fantastic photos when encountering such difficult and dangerous conditions? Hope you ar both well and safe
Richard
NB Pendle Warter
Hi Richard, Yes we are both well and hopefully safe. The rain has begun so we await a further rise in the levels. As for my photos; I have perfected the art of making sure the tiller is where I want it, quickly taking the photo, (thank you anti-shake button on the camera) always having the camera settings on shutter priority to stop the movement of the subject I'm aiming at and occasionally asking Ian to hold the tiller while I take the photo. I think we may well be staying at Mountsorrel for several days and feel we have to abandon all hope of getting to Warwick by the 21st. Xx
Hi both, scary stuff! well done to keep control in such awful conditions!
I complained about the CRT workboat mooring habits on my last post and reported the result of a strong comment sent to CRT - this is an example of how blocking up the moorings can cause problems, though they weren't actually on the lock mooring here so it's more annoying than dangerous.
Let's hope for some drier weather for you! can you moor at Leicester and get the train or do you need the boat to be there too?
Debby
Hi Debby, I suppose we could get the train from Leicester but then we would have to find a B&B. The plan was to spend the weekend with our son, them in their caravan and us on a mooring in the Saltisford Arm (if a mooring was available) We still haven't ruled out the possibility of getting there. If river levels improve then we may well put in some long hours to reach them. As for C&RT, the moorings in Mountsorrel are for visitors not for their workboats so we too may well send an email to that effect. Having to moor on the landing goes against all our principals and both of us feel very uncomfortable in having to do this. With the river being unsafe to travel it we felt it was all we could do.
Take care, batten down those hatches and watch for those falling branches. I expect there will be plenty! Xxx
Hi both.
It sounds like you had a bit of a scary time on the Soar! I hope your nerves have now recovered.
We gave up relying on Nicholsons yonks ago. I don't think they have any sort of update proceedure. For info about waterways we use Waterway Routes (www.waterwayroutes.co.uk). They are always up to date on facilities like water, elsans and bins amongst other facilities. They also very usefully show all designated visitor moorings and their time limits as well as other places that are suitable to moor. There is no info about shops, pubs etc. for that we use google maps.
CRT workboats can be annoying but the way I look at it is that they have to do the work and when that work is finished the boat doesn't just disappear in a puff of smoke! They have to moor somewhere and, as you know, on a river like the Soar moorings are not very plentiful. In that area near Mountsorrel I'm not sure where else they could go.
Gareth is buffering us about a bit here in Goole. Hope he is treating you with respect!
Mick
NB Oleanna
Hi Mick, We had very strong wind gusts last night and some rain. River levels increased again but have levelled out now.
I sort of agree with you about C&RT but as you said, visitor moorings are few and far between. We have to moor somewhere too. I suppose they thought this time of year boat traffic would be light. Anyway, at least we are safe on the lock landing and I can't see another boat arriving until the river is down.
Thanks for the info on the Waterway routes. I believe Ian does have this on his laptop but keeps forgetting to look at it.
Hope your both well and you too keep safe in these winds. Xx
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