Lock Block

 Dredger in mid stream

Much cooler this morning and in-spite of a prolonged mass attack by mosquitoes last night, we appear to have escaped unscathed! Several large craft passed us this morning before we set off, including the dredger in the above photo which we met this just below Lemonroyd Lock. We hovered some way back from the gates while the keeper emptied the lock - the resultant torrent of water created waves which had us rocking as if we were at sea!

 Waiting at broken lock

Having made it out of the 13'6" deep Lemonroyd Lock, we motored on for about a mile to Woodlesford Lock only to find a tug and dredger barge moored against the bottom lock gates. We went and spoke to the lock keeper who told us that the lock had been broken since 18:30 the previous evening.

 A lifejacket is essential wear for an electrician!

There were already electricians working on the problem which was eventually solved by disconnecting one of the top sluice mechanisms - a slow lock is better than one which doesn't work at all!

 Baby Grebes

Spotted this little family of Grebes along the way - I don't think we have had a picture of a cute baby Grebe before!

Moorings in Clarence Dock

By mid afternoon, the sky was really black and rain seemed inevitable, but we made it into Leeeds without donning waterproofs. We are moored in Clarence Dock on a pontoon with water and electricity which is great. We had a wander round Leeds just after most shops had closed, but did find a catalogue store which had a decent chandlery section which stocked large fenders at very good prices and which would have been great for mooring against the shelving concrete in York. So, we bought 2........wheelbarrow wheels! These are a much more compact solution to the York mooring problem, when floated on their sides between the boat and the wall. We plan to spend the day in Leeds tomorrow, visiting a couple of art galleries and the Royal Armoury.