We left Littleport at 9:40 and had an uneventful journey to Denver Lock where we moored at lunchtime. We needed to lock onto the tidal River Ouse but couldnt do so until the tide was sufficiently high for us to pass over the mudbanks. Also there were 3 other narrowboats ahead of us in the queue. By 6 pm conditions were right and the lock was ready for us to, oddly we thought, ascend. Oddly because when we had come the other way we also ascended from the tidal section.
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| In Denver Lock |
Once through the lock its just half a mile or so of tidal waters before a left turn to Salter's Lode Lock. The turn is not easy as the lock has a narrow entrance making an acute angle with the direction of travel. Also of course there is the tide coming in countered to a varying extent by the river waters flowing down and some dangerous mudbanks.. We had a slight problem as I misjudged the turn and we got pinned by the tidal flow against a fence in the water, However as we were close to slack water, a short period of calm before the tide turns, the engine had sufficient power to spin the boat against the tidal flow and get us into the lock. Embarrassing but nothing to worry about.
One of the previous boats had major problems with the then strong tide. They had turned too soon and caught a mudbank. The tidal flow then pushed the boat over to the extent of raising the bottom of the hull above water level. The lock keeper who was watching thought that the boat could well have capsized.
After the excitements we were happy when we moored for the night at Salter's Lode at 6:30.
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