From sue.butler@upn.co.uk Thu May 6 20:59:59 1999 Date: Tue, 12 May 98 18:43:02 GMT From: Sue Butler Reply-To: canals@blacksheep.org To: canals@blacksheep.org Subject: Trip report - Bank Holiday on Stella Hello all, I have got to catch up with my messages.... I have got to catch up with my messages.... I have got to catch up with my messages.... I'm having a very busy time at work, and have been boating more in the last 6 weeks than in the previous 18 months! Well, Terry and Sue must be home now after their fortnight on Stella, so welcome home to them, and I hope they had a great holiday. They were kind enough to invite Neil and I to join them when they came through Leeds and Wakefield over the bank Holiday weekend. Is this a "tripGIG"? For Neil and I it was several totally new experiences all at once: - being on the canals in Yorkshire - river navigation - electrically operated locks - more than 2 boats in a lock (in fact 8 boats in a lock!) - travelling with another boat (their friends aboard Midama joined us) - dismantling the amazing collapsible chairs on an Ownerships boat When we packed the car on Saturday our neighbour said... Where are you off to THIS weekend? They looked confused when we said Leeds!!!! ( After all, I work there 5 days a week) It is very strange to travel through the heart of a city you know well by canal and river. It felt odd to moor in the middle of Leeds, and to spend the night there. I don't think our neighbours will ever appreciate this. Even when we walk canals, we don't head for Leeds, so the sheer beauty of stretches of the L&L as it drops down into Leeds itself surprised me. The view of the city and waterfront as we left on the Aire and Calder was impressive, and made me quite proud of the place! The size of some of the locks on the A&C was incredible. I think Stewart and Jo reported on a trip through Lemonroyd lock a little while back - and believe me, it is as big as they said! Fortunately we didn't create a tidal wave, as we were operating it ourselves, but the size of the paddles and gates and the force of the water going out as it emptied.... it defies description! We learnt a lot from our hosts and their friends over the weekend. Our concerns about river navigation have now been laid to rest. Clearly, it is to be approached more cautiously than canal navigation, but now we have experienced it we now feel confident about taking Jemima out on a river. We stopped at the Boat (Allerton Bywater) for a lunchtime drink - this is a pub to be recommended for its friendliness. (And the sporting fame of the landlord's father who was behind the bar). We packed 8 boats into a lock on the Aire and Calder - with room to spare - even if the GRP cruiser that came in last did so reluctantly!! We moored at Stanley Ferry overnight - a nice quiet mooring apart from a generator humming into the small hours! We visited the Dewsbury Arm on Monday - taking Stella right to the very end for water and a pump out. We spotted Owlet (but didn't see Stewart or Jo). Going right to the end of the Dewsbury Arm is a bit like going into a funnel - it gets narrower and narrower, between lines of moored boats (some very newly painted), until you can get no further. We moored up to the trip boat, and Neil having taken the bow rope to tie on, emerged seconds later with a pint of 'Bombadier' - as dispensed by the bar in the trip boat! He claims he was forced to buy it in return for breasting up! (Unfortunately I couldn't use the same excuse for trying it myself - but it was very good so I didn't need any other excuse!) Sue Waldren then reversed Stella out of the arm with real style. Neil and I were VERY impressed. If this is how you can reverse after a RYA course, we are going soon! We travelled on to Mirfield where there is a station handily placed by Bridge 18, and here Neil and I reluctantly left Stella after a really lovely weekend! Many thanks to Terry and Sue! Sue and Neil 1/12 Jemima D.