It was just after 0800hrs when I arrived at the marina. The journey by car is fifty miles from the home of Mr & Mrs T Steele and takes me on average just under an hour. Fuelled with coffee and with the sun shining I set about unloading the car and then removing and stowing all the boat covers.

I had in mind a list of jobs and checks to do so popped some music on and set about being busy.
First issue of the day was no power to the depth sounder and speed log, it was only by chance that I tried to turn them on so early otherwise we would have been in real trouble. I spent about half an hour with the tester tracing the power to and through the switch and then to the back of the units. The issue was actually a parted connection just before the back of the units (which is a pain to get to). I must have dislodged this when I was fitting the new VGA cables a couple of weeks ago.
One issue down but there’s always more. I moved on to looking at our new onboard computer as it was having a few teething problems post installation!

At 1030hrs Eric arrived with his guest for the day Willis. A discussion on timing for departure prompted me to check HW at Cromwell Lock and swiftly returned with answer “half an hour?”
Burning and turning at 1100hrs, tracker running (this will be the first test of my bespoke tracker software) we slipped our berth in Farndon at 1106hrs.

With just a light breeze and warm sunshine we cruised downstream to Newark Marina for a quick fuel stop and then on through Newark Town and Nether Lock continuing on to the end of the Tidal Trent at Cromwell Lock. A BW Barge in the small lock at Cromwell provided a “breath in” moment as we eased slowly past and through into the large lock chamber.

Out onto the Tidal Trent and then at 1520hrs we rocked up at Torksey Cut. The 72 hour pontoons were full with mainly narrow boats so we made our way to the waiting pontoon and at 1530hrs we were secure alongside. It didn’t look like anyone of the narrow boats were departing anytime soon so after checking with the lock keeper we made fast for the night.

It’s tradition for the RIB to come out in Torksey, usually for a quick spin before we remove the outboard and stow it on the Fly Bridge for sea. Temperamental is a bit of an understatement but after some frustration and finally resorting to using a little EasyStart, she fired up which gave Willis the opportunity to take her for a blast out on the river.

Willis returned (with a beaming smile) so I hopped in to try and get some photos and video of Torksey from the water … big mistake! Stall, start, stall, start…you get the picture. I was left stranded (and without oars) being taken by the flow down the cut. Luckily a little breeze eased me over to the river bank where I was left with no option but to get out. Yuk! Lovely sinking mud, both feet went straight in. Not a happy bunny! I dragged the rib along the bank (and round a barge) and eventually made it back to the pontoon.

Shoes off, washed and then left to dry we focused on taking the outboard off and securing for sea.

To end Willis’s day onboard we strolled up to the White Swan for a meal, joined by Mrs Willis (Jill) and Mrs Tim (Tara) who had both driven up to meet us. With good food and great company it was a perfect end to our first day. Willis and Jill left us at 2300hrs leaving myself, Tara and Eric onboard for the night.

Tomorrow will be a long day, Torksey to Grimsby is the plan!

I took plenty of video footage today so hopefully (when I get the time) I will edit the clips together and publish on the site.