Main Image: Boston Marina
Crew: Kim Hollamby, Jake Kavanagh.
From: Boston Marina, River Witham.
To: Boston Marina, River Witham via Chapel Hill.
Port engine start hours: 474.0. Finish hours: 475.1. Hours run: 1.1.
Stbd engine start hours: 473.5. Finish hours: 477.3. Hours run: 3.8.
Log start: 5548.8nm. Log finish: 5565.6nm. Distance run: 16.8nm.
Navigation log (full commentary follows below)
1200: underway with five guests. Drop to stbd engine.
1310: through Langrick Bridge on two engines. Clear spans okay. Drop to port engine and notice a knocking sound, found to be from area of P-bracket.
1440: turn around at Chapel Hill.
1540: through Langrick Bridge.
1630: alongside Boston Marina.
Commentary
Kim Hollamby reports:
A day entertaining guests gave us the excuse, if any were needed, to push off along the River Witham to see how far we could get in the four or five hours available. The big question mark was the bridge at Langrick; some we had spoken to the night before were confident we would get under it, a few thought it was unlikely and others sucked their molars in a ‘maybe, maybe not’ kind of way. Our Nicholson Ordnance Guide to the Waterways was of no help at all, not giving individual bridge heights, a bit silly in my opinion.
The first reaches of the Witham run ruler-straight, suggesting that man had a hand in their creation. This was indeed the case, the original main course being a big horseshoe that finally met Boston where the tidal reach curls around the port. One result is that the first few miles towards Lincoln might be considered a little bit boring, especially those who don’t have Missing Link’s advantage of a flybridge from which to obtain occasional glimpses across the tall embankments to the low-lying countryside beyond. But we had five people aboard who rarely go boating and two crew who had yet to explore this territory, so everything was fine, especially when intermittent rain showers finally gave up forcing us into a game of upstairs, downstairs.
Langrick Bridge
