The Very Large Tidal Trent.

Sunday 4th August 2019 in Saxilby.
A beautiful sunrise, reflected in the river, greeted M when she got up to make her morning tea.

Last evening's lock keeper was very relaxed and said that, as the river is eight feet above normal, the tides between here and Torksey Lock (the entrance to the Fossdyke) make very little difference. There was so much water, you could almost ignore the map of the channels.
This morning's younger lock keeper was much more cautious and would have preferred for us to wait until high tide after lunch. Another boater, who knew the water well, pursuaded him to let us go just after 11:00.

Because the river level had dropped about a foot overnight and the tide was still rising, the river flow was not as fast as it was yesterday, so our progress was swift but not quite as spectacular.
This whole area sits on huge gravel beds and, in the past, 300 ton gravel barges regularly worked up and down the river. All that is now left is the loading conveyor belts and chutes sticking out into the river. Nowadays, it all goes by road. Pity.

The gravel industry has largely been replaced by power generation with huge power stations dotted along the river. Apparently, this area can supply up to a quarter of the nation's power needs.

The river's course northwards is quite tortuous as illustrated by our guide books. Nicholson's on the left is the standard canal guide book but the chart on the right is the up to date river chart that shows the correct (red) line to take to avoid the shallows, of which there are many. Normally, running aground is a real risk if you do not follow the chart, but today with so much "fresh" (extra water) in the river, water depth is not so much of a problem.

The fact that it is important to have the latest chart is illustrated by the fact that Nicholson (this version is 2012) says go to the west of "Butler's Island", while the current river chart says go to the east as the west is too shallow!
Where there are significant problems, such as sunken islands, large warning signs give you good notice.

In just under three hours, we completed the 15 miles to Torksey Lock and the lock keeper opened the gates for us. It turned out that there was just three inches difference in levels between the Trent and the Fossdyke, so the lock didn't take long to fill!

Behind us were the huge floodlock gates, which have been closed on and off this past week. We were amused to see a collection of teapots on the lock gates!

Leaving the lock, there were no apparent moorings that would fit a 60ft narrowboat. Too many cabin cruisers! We decided to go on to Saxilby, about five miles further on, where the lock-keeper said there are good moorings.
Even at Saxilby, most of the moorings were taken up with cruisers but we managed to slip in with a few feet to spare.

Our reward was a pair of gin and tonics, Guy is concentrating very hard trying to work out how to make them (after all these years, he still can't get it right). "You just can't get the gorillas", said M.

We were very amused to see how marginal was the clearance between some of the cruisers and the low bridges. Only just!! The skipper's relief was clearly audible!

Today: 21 miles, 2 locks and 4.7 hours.
Trip: 257 miles, 132 locks and 145.3 hours.