Manchester Ship Canal

We've reached the River Weaver and what a big adventure we've had getting here! First we spent 20 minutes trampling through undergrowth in search of Mr Whiskers, whose GPS signal was blocked by something and only started transmitting to our phones once we were close by. Reunited, we quickly descended the two narrow locks in the Waterways Museum and approached Whitby Bottom Wide Lock just after our appointed time of 10:15am. We couldn't moor at the lock landing because of a sunken boat so we roped up to metal bollards outside the hotel.

A swing bridge blocked passage through the lock which confused us, because we'd booked passage. We steered to the other end of the basin to see if there was another exit, but returned to the lock with the knowledge this was the only way out. The CRT were supposed to liaise with the council to open the bridge but something had obviously gone wrong. Vicky called the number displayed on a sign and the operator said to bear with them, they'd look into it. 20 minutes later Will called back to be told no booking had been made. When he read out the email confirmation, he was told they'd get someone out. Another 20 minutes passed and a rather tired council employee who had been on his way home pulled up in his van, checked Will's confirmation email and donned his hi viz and working gloves. He was happy to help and chatted while he chained off either end of the bridge. Apparently they were always having trouble with communication from the CRT re times. They had waited for boats for hours in the past, some of whom didn't turn up.

During this time we'd been radioing Eastham Port Control, advising them of our delay. They'd radioed back to say there was a large ship passing and to hold fire. Some time had passed since this communication so while Vicky was hesitant about entering the Manchester Ship Canal (MSC) without permission, Will was sure the ship would have passed so we swung a right when we reached the wide channel. Luckily the wind wasn't too strong so Rainboat had no problem making headway eastwards. Will had called the CRT to let the operators of Marsh Lock, at the entrance to the Weaver, know we'd be delayed and was checking the map when the prow of a humongous ice breaking ship came into view ahead of us. Oops! "Rainbow, Rainbow, this is Fore Viken. We did tell you to wait at Ellesmere. You're going to have to turn around". Not needing to be told twice, we executed a hasty U turn and nipped into an abandoned dock we'd passed earlier. Will radioed an apology and confirmed we were out of the way while we cowering there and watched the 150m long vessel with a tug at either end pass by. Mistakes are made and this potential disaster was averted. The captain seemed to appreciate our grovelling apology as he radioed back saying it wasn't a problem, then approached the darkened floor to ceiling windows high up in the control room and gave us a wave. Our relief fuelled our extra enthusiastic return waves.

After this the journey went relatively smoothly. Will apprised the CRT of our further delay and Vicky protected the laptop map from the showers, until it ran out of battery. We continued to track our progress against the various industrial works and the yellow, numbered waymarker bollards on each side of the channel. Only a narrow ridge of land separated us from the tidal Mersey Estuary and as we moved away from the oil refineries we were treated to a wonderful array of bird sightings; Little Egrets, Greylag Geese, Pied and Grey Wagtails, Sandpipers, Starlings and different gulls. It felt invigorating and exciting to be travelling somewhere so different to what we are used to.

Crossing the mouth of the River Weaver as it flowed into the ship canal, we spotted Marsh Lock and steered in, apologising to the two CRT lockies for our repeated delays. They were happy enough to see us and sanguine at our late arrival. Tossing the centerline up, we were tied to a sturdy mooring bollard while the gates were closed and supersized windlasses were used to open the upstream paddles. Although the rise wasn't substantial, the lock was one of the largest we've been in and would certainly fit over 20 narrowboats inside, with one CRT official quoting 29!

Jubilant and relieved, we exited Marsh Lock and backed up to the floating pontoon adjacent. The trip had taken lot of research, planning, trying to get hold of people who didn't answer phones, £85 for the Seaworthiness Certificate, £55 for passage on the Manchester Ship Canal and a certain amount of courage. It didn't go to plan at times but there were no disasters and it was exhilarating in many ways. We were here, on the 20 mile long River Weaver, where we would spend the rest of summer. We were both happy and content, able to look back with a sense of achievement and forward with expectation.Read more