First trip of the season.

As Gwyn was doing something on Good Friday we decided to take our Easter break a week earlier. This turned out to be a great idea as the canals were quiet and the weather was unseasonably good.

We decided we would go up to Sheffield and do the Tinsley flight. A Lockkeeper has to be booked 24hrs in advance as the lock paddles are all locked because of vandalism. We booked the "Lockie" for 11.30am on the Saturday morning. We departed Blue Water marina on Friday morning with the plan of spending the night at Eastwood lock which is in striking distance of the flight. We were a little ambitious with this plan as the trip to some 10hrs which is a little long for a days cruise. It was an uneventful trip apart from Waddington's lock where vandals had cast adrift one of Waddington's large barges and it was wedged across the canal.

This was unceremoniously pushed out of the way by a boatman in a large barge who appeared from nowhere and swore the whole time without taking a breath cursing every child born in the last century, their families, ancestors, dogs and anyone who may have known them! He was really funny, and very efficient with the barge.

Having spent the night at Eastwood lock arriving there quite tired we duly met Derek the "Lockie" and proceeded up the flight. Tinsley flight is not a continuous set of locks like the Bingley 5 rise it has pounds and short bit of canal between the locks. There are a few doubles and we were told it rises by about 100 feet. We passed through uneventfully apart from some anglers who took umbridge at Derek riding his bike between locks. One also swore at one of our crew Ben who is 12. Unfortunately, he never told us until the end of the day so nothing could be done. Derek simply told them if they did not move their poles he would simply ride over them.

We entered Victoria Quay in Sheffield basin and spent quiet night. The next day the women went off to find a Marks & Spencers and for an exploration of Sheffield centre. Victoria quays is a newish development and seems full of life. The moorings are covered by a security guard and CCTV. There are refuse bins, waterpoints, limited 240v hookup and a portable pump out station (I'm not sure why it was called portable). There is a large barge the A39 which is licenced and does trip up the "cut" daily. All in all a nice place to spend some time. However, there are limited spaces and I guess in high season moorings would be at a premium.

We decided to do the return trip over 3 days to ease the strain. We descended the flight, again with the help of Derek and moored back at Eastwood lock. The next day we aimed to get to Barmby Dun and spend the night there leaving a couple of hours trip back to Thorne on the Tuesday. The trip back was uneventful apart from being spat at by youths on one of the Bridges just outside of Sheffield. I did manage to stop the boat and give chase but I had little chance with the head start they had.

We had intended going out Easter weekend but the weather turned very cold and windy so we did not bother.

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