Back to sleepy canals - briefly

 Knottingley Colliery

We were awoken this morning by a passing floating crane which produced waves which kept coming for about 20 minutes! We set off, still with Dave and Marie, heading for the junction with the River Aire. En-route, we passed the huge Knottingley Colliery - still appears to be working with large numbers of lorries going to and fro.

 Farewell Dave and Marie

On reaching the junction with the River Aire, we parted company with Dave and Marie, who headed on towards Leeds. We turned right, onto the River Aire, which was much bigger than we were expecting, rivalling the Trent in places. After a few miles, we approached the entrance to the Selby Canal, which is via a flood lock. The guide showed that this was normally open, but as we turned the sharp bend into it, it wasn't and we drifted past. Much rapid reversing against the current ensued and as we were about to reach the bank, another boater kindly got the lock ready for us and we swept in.

 A damsel not in distress

The Selby Canal is much quiter, shallower, narrower and weedier than the commercial waterways we have been on for the past few days. Over the course of the next 5 miles or so, we had to stop about 5 times to remove weed from the prop! For part of the journey we were joined by this damsel fly which clung to my shoulder and then to Angela's hand for quite a while.

The Selby Canal

We reached Selby which marks the end of the Selby Canal and the junction with the River Ouse. We stopped at a boat yard to discuss possible moorings for Banjo while we head back to Harlow next week for a few days. While there, a mechanic had a look at our engine which has started to smoke quite a bit. He declared it good for another few years - he also had the answer to any problems which should befall us - "pull over and make a cup of tea"! We have arranged with the lock keeper at Selby, to go through the lock at 07:30 tomorrow, to meet the flood tide on the Ouse. He also warned us that the River has quite a bit of rubbish in it including fallen trees and dead cows and that we should keep a sharp lookout! So, its back to life jackets, VHF radio and strong currents again! as we head for our most northerly mooring tomorrow night, in York!