Woke up aground but was soon floating again on the incoming tide. Got some advice from Matt Sharman one of the helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and like-minded members of the UK Wayfarer Association and after chucking a few bucketfuls of water at the centreboard and a bit of wiggling it was free.

A couple of fellahs out sailing a catermaran came by and asked if I needed help, they advised me about a sail loft (Sail Register) in Market Rasen. Thanks for asking and the info guys.
When the water dropped again I went ashore. There were a couple of chaps at the Humber Mouth Yacht Club. I enquired about showers and Steve (rear-commodore) warmly invited me to use the facilities. Thank you Steve and the HMYC.

The sail loft were kind enough to fit me in on a while you wait basis even though they have a long lead time for orders. So took a taxi and two shakes of a lamb's tail later my sail was fixed. Thank you Sail Register.

Got back to Tetney haven and had a much needed shower, squelched back to the boat, did a bit of fiddling, then food and passage planning particularly the crossing of Humber shipping lane which looks very busy, busier than the solent for big ships I reckon.

Sunset at Tetney haven from my boat

Me waiting at anchor for high tide having dropped Marky-Boy off on Sunday 28th May

Monday 29th May, rest day at Tetney Haven

Poked my head outside the tent this morning and it was grey, cold, windy and drizzly, a bank holiday Monday in Cleethorpes. The rest of the day continued in the same vein - perfect day for staying under cover, keeping warm and toasty eating lots of grub. I'm largely eating boil in the bag camping food. Today's flavours were; full breakfast, chili con carne with rice and rice puddings. Also made some instant cheese 'n onion mash and finally made use of the fresh onion that i've been carting around by chopping half of it up to mix in.

Stuck my head out for a second time when the tide had receded and took some pictures of oyster catchers, boats and sand fort, then noticed that I had come to rest two metres or so from a precipice!

Precipitous Mooring


Listened to a couple of radio programs and there are lots of natural noises; surf, and every so often the wind would play in the rigging making an aeolian harp sound that was a bit like Tibeatan throat singing. Then there is a deep gurgling sound when there are wavelets and the tide comes in or out under the boat. It's a pretty tranquil spot even when the wind is coming from the north-east.

Nearby boaties and Haile sand fort (is that Marky-Boy's footprints?)

When The tide came in again in the evening I moved a bit further inland, I'll be aground longer and be able to access the land, i'll also be more exposed to grockles.

I did very little productive today, fiddled about with the tarp/tent a bit so it's a bit more
resistant to rain and wind

Tech update

So far the solar power has worked great, i've got a marine panel the lead of which goes through a waterproof gland into the waterproof forrard hatch to a power controller and LiFePO4 battery. The tablet that i was hoping to use for navigation is not really practical, in it's waterproof bag, when wet, touching the screen doesn't work. S'pose I could use it uninteractively. I also have nav software on my waterproof 'phone which works much better plus has a built in compass, needs to be tied on tho'.

Drier weather forecast for tomorrow, hopefully do some boat fiddling and get on the trail of a sail loft/sail maker.

Subday 2ith may,Mablethorpe to Tetney Haven

Got off  the shore at Mablethorpe easily with an off shore wind and the boat floating away about 30 minutes before high tide, then discovered that the centreboard was jammed (up) by the gritty Mablethorpe sand.
  Sailing up the coast,  with strong wind from the side was doable, but going up through mouth of the Humber in lighter wind was frustrating so I resorted to engine. Saw a seals head poke up several times looking at us, it felt like it was just one animal playing hide and sèèk. While dropping off my crew mate Mark I  noticed that the tiller extention universal joint  is nearly broken ,  so that makes three things that I need to fix before moving on; tiller uj, centreboard and reefing cringle so I might be spending a bit of time at Tetney which is an anchorage that dries out (onto hard sand apparently) and floods at high tide. The forecast is for the weather spell to break.

Saturday 27th may, Boston to Mablethorpe

Me and Marky Boy went through the grand sluice lock at Boston at 10.50 and then tied up to a pontoon to get reefing lines set, mast up and ready for sailing action. All was set fair for a good sail with a wind from behind forecast by inshore waters to be force 4 or 5 and the ebb tide flowing in the direction of our travel. The wind felt pretty strong when motoring down the confined channel of the Witham estuary, but when we got out there were just a few white caps on the waves so not too bad. We settled into an hour on hour off watch system with my very inexperienced crew mate getting his first real taste of helming. Our ambitious aim was to dry out on tetney haven in the mouth of the Humber or alternatively land on a beach;.decision to be made for 8pm which was high tide.

  Well, the wind got up and a couple of times I stopped focusing on the job in hand and when the kicker got caught up in a tail end of rope it resulted in accidental gybe number 1, after which I noticed that the second reefing ringle at the leech of the sail had pulled out. Then as the wind got up more, we were doing loads of long surfs down waves coming from right behind with the wind similar then I had accidental gybe number two which very nearly resulted in a capsize with a fair bit of water getting into the boat. Marky did a grand job of getting out the bailer & the self bailer worked well too. Then we noticed that the boom fitting at the gooseneck had been pulled out. So we dumped the boom and sail in the boat and proceeded under foresail alone which was plenty. The conditions were such that if i had known that we would have such heavy weather in advance I wouldn't have left Boston. The seas became very choppy with waves breaking around us, we were even surfing with just the foresail. The option of running up onto a beach was not looking very attractive either. But things were stable and safe on the sea running before the wind on the jib alone.

  As the day wore on the wind dropped a bit and the sea became a bit smoother with a long swell and a beach landing began looking more feasible. Around 7pm it looked like running onto the beach was definately our best plan and just after high tide we aimed for Mablethorpe. Got landed OK, turned the bow towards the sea and soon the boat was settled. We landed right outside the lifeboat station and one of the crew came over to see all was OK, he said it had been a force 6. I  fixed the boom, Mark bailed the boat, we put up tent and fired up the stove. Plan is to pick up the high tide when it is back again tomorrow at 8.20am, it'll  be a bit lower than today's .

Rest and reorganise day at Boston

Marky Boy and I restocked with water and petrol, met up with the lock keeper who will let us out to sea tomorrow at 9.50. The target is Tetney haven in the mouth of the Humber where we can dry out on the sand, if we don't get that far then we'll land on a beach. Spent the afternoon on tidying up and fettles to be ready for sailing as safely as poss.

The weather looks set to be extremely fair with a moderate following wind and only a few possible thunderstorms to be wary of. Today was - scorchio; with avoiding sun-frazzle a major priority and the day ended with a perfectly clear sky.

Cromwell lock to Saxilby, to a tree, to Boston, 23rd,24th,25th may 2017

Tuesday may 23rd 2017, cromwell lock to saxilby
This morning started of with a good shakedown of equipment and techniques. I was booked to go through cromwell at 8am.I lounged in bed a little too long so wasn't fully prepared for the trip under motor to Torksey lock but planned to moor the other side of cromwell and sort the kit out. So I set off, single-handed, just before 8 and then the engine ran out of fuel. I knew it was low so was ready with the petrol can and splashed some in, however engine was still dead.I talked with the lock keeper on VHF radio explaining that i'd paddle back to the mooring & figure engine out he said that I should be smart about it because the current was taking me towards the weir next to lock! I had to paddle really hard and consequently the paddle blade broke off! I was able to deploy the oars to prevent disaster, phew :-) Turned out i'd switched the petrol tap off.
Motoring to to Torksey was straight forward, arriving at 12.15pm. I waited in the searing noonday sunshine until 6 for the tides to be right for the lock to open, so rigged a brilliant sunshade with an emergency blanket.

and then it was a motor along the Fossdyke navigation (built by the Romans) to moor up in Saxilby.

Wednesday May 24th, Saxilby to a riverside tree.
Had a relaxed start to the day, my crew mate Mark's mum had seen me in Torksey but was not sure if I were the geezer Mark had been with, happened to be in Saxilby, found me out & we had a good chat. Then Marky joined the crew, planning to be along for several days and we had an uneventful motor down the rest of the Fossdyke to join up with the River Witham. They meet up in the centre of Lincoln town in a bowl called Brayford Pool, the final part of the Fossdyke runs through a narrow channel called the Glory Hole which is bridged by an old wood framed building. In the hot sunshine it felt like Amsterdam or somewhere else foreign.

The day was another onslaught of intense sunshine making the trip very mellow & enjoyable in Marky's company & interesting because it is his old stomping ground.
The Witham is very picturesque (well, it is a river after all) with reedy margins, very little traffic and lots of wildlife. In the evening I saw a snowy owl.

Marky fancied wild camping so we tied up to a tree and had a comfortable night with plenty of room in the boat for two.

Thursday 25th may 2017, Riverside tree to Boston
Woke up like it was the drought summer of 1976, hot and clammy at 7am with a clear sky and the sun getting hotter as it got higher. First thing on my agenda was to dive into the river; it was so warm, I had a bit of a wash and could easily get back in the boat 'cos the water was shallow where it was moored. Then it was motoring along, making progress towards Boston and the prospect of getting under sail. We stoped at a waterside pub, the Piewipe and had refreshments. Gave a tow to a couple of sixty-something gents who were doing a long distance canoe relay & pootled along the very attractive river.

I did quite a lot of splashing about with me feet and hands in the cooling river and once tied up at Boston dived in again, the water being surprisingly warm. There were loads of kids around Boston doing the same thing too,it had been such a hot day.
The weather so far on this trip has been amazing; scintillating scorching sun day after day.

Gunthorpe bridge to Cromwell lock,Monday 22nd may 2017

Pretty straightforward day today, all motoring with the outboard 'cos of a few bridges so it was simpler to keep the mast down. Saw cows,tweety-birds ,sheep & some quiet parts ofthe trent. The few locks I went through, on my own, were all manned. It would take some skill & expertise to do a lock solo. Passed through Newark which I have travelled through several times before by road, mainly while scuttling around the country spending all my life fitting security tagging systems in shops.

Newark castle & town lock

Will overnight at cromwell lock but currently moored up at the Muskham arms enjoying a bottle of red plonko & food cooked by someone else.
;
Just leaving t'pub mate number three rang up and arranged to meet me back at Cromwell . Good on ya Phil, had a damn good blather amonst the tranquil watery surroundings with the hubbub of A1 traffic noise in the background (all them poor souls)

Sunset at cromwell lock

21st may, sunday, gunthorpe bridge

Lots of fun today, mate number two joined as crew to assist in negotiating locks as I had no idea what to expect and what a sound boat mate Marky is. There were a variety of locks, the first few were manned & a doddle and for some we were on our own.
The first snag of today's journey was literally that. We decided a bit of rowing would be fun untill the first bridge when the mast would need to be lowered. We rowed along happily boating when,it felt like,we got caught up in a branch or summat, couldn't see anything to snag on or how owt on t'boat could be caught,tried again,snagged again,so started outboard and again stopped by some invisible force. Once we tuned into the cries of fellow boaters realised that the MAST was snagging on a telephone line :-) That's another bit of experience gained.
The journey was great fun, a sunny day and lots of fellow boaters chatting. It was dead cool to see a town (Nottingham) which you are familiar with from a tangential, watery point of view. At one point I had a very quick pint (making progress was the main plan today) in a canalside pub,went over the road bridge to get back to boat and recognised a major thoroughfare thru town.
Downstream from Nottingham the river has the smell of freshly treated effluent, there is a faint tang of it in the air where I am moored.

Sawley marina 20th may 2017

All went really well today,I got all the kit assembled without any panic,had great assistance from a mate, Ash.I wasn't certain that the boat could hold all the kit i it wanted to take. Amazing, it just swallowed it all up, I'm lacking nothing.so I'm launched and ready to travel through the Nottingham canal tomorrow

¿ What ? ¿Why?

A couple of years ago i decided that i could do with an adventure, to give my life some texture after a lifetime of grey, suit & tie office work. The job consumed two hours every day just in commuting! and the rest of the time i'd have to try to conform to corporate social values. Not my natural environment.

I've had a couple of previous excursions from working life, four months cycling through Spain to Morocco and three weeks walking the Pennine way. These were fleeting chances to be independent, deciding for myself what to do with each day. Years later i now have the space to do what i want. And what i want is to travel in the UK, meet loads of people, have loads of new experiences and savour some of the time i have on our planet.

When i wuz a youth a teacher said: "There are three things you need to enjoy life - time, money and energy.
When you're young you have energy and time, but no money,
In mid-life you have energy, hopefully makin' money, time is tied up in family, work & consumerism.
When old you have time, hopefully some money, but no energy."
Fortunately, at 56 years old, i am in good health and my employers have given me the whole of 2017 as a sabbatical.

I did a bit of sailing fifteen years ago when work took me to Bermuda. Deciding that sitting indoors playing computer games was not a positive way forward, i started racing a Laser sailing dinghy tuesdays and sundays for a year or so. With no previous experience my philosophy was 'how hard can it be? it's just string, sticks, sail, water & wind'.

I was surprised that when a couple of friends learnt that i'd bought a sailing dinghy, they wondered whether i planned to sail around the uk in it. I guess that the intention has been gestating in my brain for years.

So, here we go :-)
i plan to launch into the river trent on 20th May 2017, head to Boston & then go north. Sounds like an adventure.