It was with great excitement that we awoke to a gloriously sunny day and not a breath of wind. It was clear that the Wash crossing would go ahead as planned.
I had spent half the night lying awake thinking about the things that could go wrong and what I would do in such circumstances, but the excitement and adrenaline suppressed any tiredness.
We rose early and had our breakfast then readied ourselves for positioning outside the lock adjacent to the Grand Sluice that separates the Lincolnshire lowlands from the sea. The lock is unusual in that it operates in both directions.
At low tide the lock holds back the river Witham and flow from the river is controlled by the giant sluice gates, this way the level of the river is maintained except in severe flood conditions. High tides bring a water level higher than that of the river so the sluice then prevents the tide from extending upstream.
Due to this arrangement passage through the lock can only be achieved when the water levels are equal, usually an hour or so either side of high tide. Passage has to be booked although on this occasion the pilot had already done this for us.
Awaiting departure at the Grand Sluice |
We were all in place for 8.30 am ready for a 9.30 departure. Daryl, the pilot, arrived and gave us a briefing, stating that he would communicate with us via the radio, and advise along the way. My main concern was that we would be following the larger boat and that we may struggle to keep up but Daryl reassured me that there is no point in rushing as all timings were controlled by the tides.
With every one in place we were informed by the lock keeper that high water had passed and that the level was dropping. He commenced opening the upstream gates before finally opening the downstream pair and signalling that we could proceed via a green light. Seren Rose went first followed by us then the two other boats, we sailed straight through the lock and were quickly into the ebbing tide heading down the haven through the town.
The Haven, Boston |
We made good progress as the tidal flow soon picked up taking us past the fishing boats that had recently moored up on the incoming tide.
Fishing boats moored in Boston |
Leaving the channel from Boston |
Looking back towards Boston |
The wash from this boat reached us shortly afterwards with several waves over three foot high, I quickly maneuvered the boat to face these head on to minimise the rolling effect and thankfully got through to calmer waters.
A screenshot showing our route, the dark line is the plotted route and the red arrow is our position. |
We could make out the village of Hunstanton on the south shoreline and sand banks to our right with seals sunning themselves in the lovely weather.
To my surprise the pilot took a more easterly turn heading across the channel that would take us into Kings Lynn, we found out later that this was to minimise the effect of the swell on Seren Rose. We eventually made a right turn into the channel then headed over to the sandbanks.
We ran the boat up onto the sand alongside Seren Rose, there was no need to use the anchor as the ebbing tide left us sat firmly on the sandbank.
Running up onto the sand |
I got our ladders out and climbed down onto the sand carrying Scruff down with me. She enjoyed her time here running around exploring and digging with a whole new range of smells for her to experience, I did have to keep a close eye on her as there were a few Jelly fish around. We returned to the boat and ate a late lunch as it was around five hours since our departure.
Waiting for the tide Photo by Cherryl Holliday |
Strolling on the sands Photo by Cherryl Holliday |
The lovely Seren Rose |
Distant seals |
We spent almost hour with the seals before turning round and heading back into the channel to join the swift tidal flow taking us in towards the Great Ouse estuary and Kings Lynn.
The channel narrowed and we were joined by a couple of fishing boats that kindly past us with a minimum wash.
Kings Lynn |
The approach here is tricky, as there is a large sand bank on the approach, it is necessary to circumnavigate this before pulling up onto the lock landing. Seren Rose hit the landing head on before turning broadside onto the pontoon, unfortunately this left me little room to get round and the tide started to pull us round towards the mouth of the New Bedford river, this could have been a real problem as it would have been difficult to turn and stem the tide. Again fortunately I managed to recover the control and with great relief crept up to the pontoon.
Entering Denver Lock |
Seren Rose locked through first, followed by us. Luckily there was space on the moorings so we tied up and jumped onto dry land for the first time in 11 hours.
That was it, another bucket list item fulfilled, and I have to say it was a great experience, we finished the day off with a celebratory drink, in the Jenyns Arms with Cherryl and Ian before retiring early to recover from the excitement of the day.
Safely moored on the river |
We intend to explore the Great Ouse and some of its tributaries before returning back to Denver and a short tidal trip across to Salters Lode and the river Nene.
Useful contacts Wash pilot - Daryl - 07909 880071 - washguide@gmail.com
Ian on Seren Rose videoed the crossing we appear as a small dot in several places you can watch the video using the following link https://youtu.be/PO6N3zTkXkE
I took a short video in the deepest part of the crossing https://youtu.be/OCQ5_SXEIYo
Looking back out to the Wash |
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