Riding the tide

One of many power stations we passed

We entered Cromwell lock this morning - the lock is absolutely vast making us feel very small. As we left the lock we looked back at the largest weir on the Trent with a very strong current to contend with. We headed downstream at high tide, and made good progress with the current pushing us along. The wind was whipping up waves which reached about 18 inches high in places - quite exhilerating!

A shag on sentry duty

We tracked our progress closely on Trent charts to ensure we didn't run aground on the many shoals and sunken islands. This shag was sitting on what appeared to be a rock which was in mid stream but not on any of the charts! Most of these birds are pretty timid, but this one stood his ground apparently keen to ensure we saw the rock!

Torsey lock with Banjo in the distance

After about 3 hours we turned across the flow and entered the cut at the entrance to the Fossdyke navigation. The Fossdyke was apparently dug by Hadrian in 120AD - an incredible feat. The lock at Torksey is complicated in two ways - the mechanisms are pretty unique, and there are two sets of opposing gates to cope with the variation in river levels.

Moored on floating pontoon in the sunshine

We are moored on floating pontoons which go up and down with the tide - we are about 3 feet higher this evening than we were when we arrived.

Sheltered mooring for the night

We had originally planned to set off at 10am Tuesday to meet the high tide at Keadby, but the keeper at Cromwell lock told us that the lock at Keadby would be unmanned in the afternoon and so we would need to set off at 07:30! Having spoken to other boaters at Torksey and to the lock keeper, this has changed again due to sand build up at Keadby, and we now plan to set off at 07:00 - an early night tonight!