Season Summary.

We have been home for a while now and it has made me realise one of the reasons why we like being away on the boat, we are just so busy when we get home! I have had a look at our cruising for this year though and here is a short summary.

We were only aboard for 108 days which is much less than normal, and all due to, as my regular readers will know, the fact that Hull has been UK City of Culture this year and we have been home a lot to sample the delights of this year in the sun for our city and as volunteers to spread the happiness to all our visitors, old and new. ( Another quick plug as if you haven't been to visit us yet there is still time, and there is still plenty to occupy your time. Many visitors come for the day and can barely scratch the surface. A weekend is much better, but even then many visitors tell us they will come back as there is still much to see and do after a couple of days).

At the start of our years cruising and soon after we had left Streethay Wharf we passed under the Drayton Manor footbridge. It wasn't as sunny as in the past, but it was the beginning of March.

We started the year at Streethay Wharf where the boat had been repainted over the winter and we ended it down the Rufford Arm of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Fettler's Wharf Marina. Our route took in the following navigations:-

1.  Coventry Canal                                            21. Peak Forest
2.  Birmingham and Fazeley                             22. Ashton Canal
3.  Grand Union, Saltley Cut                            23. Rochdale
4.  Digbeth Branch                                           24. Calder and Hebble               
5.  Warwick and Birmingham                          25. River Calder
6.  Oozells Loop                                               26. Aire and Calder
7.  Birmingham New Main Line                      27. New Junction Canal
8.  Netherton Tunnel Branch                            28 Stainforth and Keadby
9.  Dudley Canal No.1                                      29 River Trent
10. Dudley Canal No.2                                      30. Humber Estuary             
11. Lord Ward's Canal                                       31. River Hull
12. Birmingham Old Main Line                        32. Beverley Beck
13. Birmingham Canal Navigation?                  33. River Ouse
14. Driffield Navigation                                     34. River Derwent15. Staffordshire and Worcestershire                 35. Selby Canal
16. Shropshire Union                                         36. River Ure
17. Shropshire Union, Middlewich Branch       37. Ripon Canal
18. Wardle Canal                                               38. River Aire
19. Trent and Mersey                                         39. Leeds and Liverpool
20. Macclesfield                                                40. Rufford Branch.

In that lot there were eight rivers so we seem to have done our share this year. Four of those rivers have been tidal, five if you include the Derwent that is 'sort of tidal' with a barrage at the end.

Punching the flood tide we crept down the River Trent passing the ocean going ships moored at Grove Wharf.

Past Trent Falls and into the Humber we wound our way round the Whitton Channel following the buoys and floats, but cutting as many corners as we dared to save time. The wind was more than had been predicted and just after this point there was a bit of a chop, but we were soon in the lee of the south bank again.

When we navigated up the River Hull we were getting new views of our city. It was great to see signs of the history of the river too.

Whitgift Lighthouse on the River Ouse. The white square with black background is one of the transit boards to ensure that deep drafted vessels stay in the deepest water as they cross from one bank to the other.

In distance we have traveled around 687 miles and passed through 454 locks

Year          Miles          Locks
2013           627            519
2014         1027            764
2015           752            524
2016           776            558
2017           687            454
TOTAL      3869         2819

I wonder if anybody has calculated the average amount of energy used per lock, as it is certainly adding up to a few calories now. I don't really have anything to compare these figures with as everybody cruises in their own way, and speed. but you can see that this year we did less miles than we have done and less locks.

Near the bottom of the Wolverhampton 21 locks. Despite their number they are always a pleasure to work as they are well maintained and quick to fill and empty.

Our plan for this year was always to be 'Up North' to make it easier to get home to participate in Hull's year. This also meant that we would be off the boat a lot more than usual. I have never kept figures of days cruising before but even the 108 days of cruising was only just more than the 106 days we were at home between the start of March and the end of September! If you look at it that way the 687 miles is quite impressive really. 

The lower number of locks completed this year is accounted for by the fewer days aboard but also due to the fact that we were on several river navigations where the locks can be few and far between. Looking at it that way 454 doesn't seem to be too bad at all either.

The Wigan flight certainly were hard work but not the herculean task that required two bowls of porridge for breakfast. The seasonal lock keeper is there to assist normally, but of course it was his day off when we transited, and due to the weather the only boat that was coming up the flight cancelled so we didn't even have the benefit of filled locks for half of the trip.

We have coloured in several parts of the map that we hadn't been to before and it is always nice to explore new ground, but also passed through familiar waters too. I never thought that I would ever convince Helen to take to the Humber estuary and career under the Humber Bridge on a spring tide but we did have a great journey and this year will long live in the memory for the trips around home waters for us.

The furthest north we have been so far Ripon Basin. The trip up to Ripon, via York, on the Rivers Ouse and Ure was very pleasant and I would recommend it to all. The worrisome bit for most would be the leg from Selby to Naburn in the tidal reach but it honestly not nearly as bad as many folk make out. If you choose a neap tide time it is even simpler.

This has also exaggerated the difference with cruising in the Northern reaches to those further south. It is much less busy. There is much less competition for moorings etc, less worries about whether you need to leave early or late, or moor early to make sure of a spot etc. In essence, much more easy going. To counter that is the argument that the northern canals are much harder work eg. The Rochdale, Huddersfield, Leeds and Liverpool, and it is true there are plenty of locks, and occasionally not enough water, but the scenery, oh the scenery, more than makes the effort worth while. It is also countered by the fact that the Sheffield Navigation and the Aire and Calder are largely push button locks. I don't know what I'm saying all this for as the last thing I should be doing is encouraging others to come up this way too. However there is a bit of a 'use it or lose it' thing and if nobody comes no money will be spent on maintenance. One of my other places of pleasurable quire boating is the backwaters of the Birmingham Canal Navigation and there are parts of that system that rarely sees a boat either.

At the summit of the Rochdale canal you could almost mistake the electricity pylons for a ski lift in the summer Alps!

The bucolic views to the west of Skipton are almost reward enough for getting that far, with still plenty more locks, and plenty more scenery to go before the summit.

All in all a wonderful season of boating and despite only being actually aboard for half of the time a trip never to forget.