|
On giving the larger ship the right of way we were given a friendly wave from the
bridge and as she passed they gave a blast on their horn, the wave was returned and we both went on our way. I thought at the time that I had not seen a ship as tall as that one even sat watching them pass when the
deep water channel was at our side of the river. We tied up in Brough Haven and as we left yours truly managed to put one foot in the water, leaving me to walk to the shop with a wet boot and sock. This was
very amusing for the rest of our party. After our visit to the shop we had an uneventful return voyage.
One day as Jan's yacht was setting out for a day's sailing from the haven they missed the deeper
channel as they turned the bow towards the haven entrance and became caught on the mud on the right hand side as you look towards the Humber. What I do remember from that day is that I was in the rowing boat at the
time and took a long rope into the boat and with the intention of trying to pull the yacht clear ... but the mistake that I made left them still on the mud and me in the water.
As I rowed towards Barley's Dock the rope suddenly started to slide over the side and I made a grab and stopped it but my movements and the boat having turned meant that in seconds I was in the waters of the haven and the boat turned over. I could see that I was underneath it due to the dark shape over me so I headed to where I saw a light brown coloured light and came up at the side of the upside down rowing boat and found that I was stood on the bottom which allowed me to turn the boat over, still half full of water giving weight to it so that when pushed hard into the mud it was held there. Once I had made the rope fast to it I was then able to throw the other end up to friends who were on the bank. They in turn fastened the end around a bush and with this done I pulled myself out of the haven through deep thick mud onto the bank and made my way home for a wash and brush up and then a complete change of clothes.
"Wash and brush up" were the right words to use as when Dad and Mum saw me they had a laugh and Dad would not let me in. He got out our hose pipe and yard brush, while Mum sprayed me with water Dad
proceeded to scrub me down fully clothed using the yard brush and when the mud was washed off my cloths, I stood in the back yard in my underwear and was hosed down before I was washed again with hot water and
soap! Once clean I dressed and returned to the haven.
Looking back on that days happenings I think that if someone had been there with a camera they would have been able to get some very comical shots
or better still if they had been able to film what went on then it would certainly been one for the TV pogrammes that show peoples funny slip ups.
The Fishing Trip
During the 1960s a small fishing boat was moored in the Haven at what we called
Barleys Dock and the owner came now and again to check that it was all right and to work on the boat. Some of my pals and I made friends with the owner and his party as we were always around playing in the area
somewhere.
The boat was named `Alert`. It was of wooden construction with two masts, cabin and wheel house. One day we were invited to a day’s fishing on board `Alert`. This would entail an early start
as we were to sail from the Haven at Winteringham into the River Humber and out towards the river mouth. The morning was fine and warm with a flood tide meaning that the river would be higher than its normal level
and as I arrived at the Haven `Alert` was level with the top of Barley`s Dock.
It only took a few minutes for the water to flow over on to the hard standing and make its way up to the end of the road down to the dock getting deeper. When the time came for us to depart we had to push `Alert` away from Barleys Dock as the keel (bottom) was over the top of it and with us all on would have been unable to sail. Once into the Humber we made our selves comfortable for the journey.
As we headed past South Ferriby I was given the chance to steer.
This was a new thing for me because I had only sailed under canvas before and not with an engine and steering had been with a tiller whereas this was by a wheel that was on a rear wall of the wheel house and when moved one way the boat went the opposite way! This took some getting used to. As we were passing the place where the Humber Bridge now stands the owner took over for the rest of the way.
When we arrived at our destination between Humberston and Cleethorpes the anchor was dropped and the lines baited and fishing commenced. We had a good day out but did not have much success with
catching anything, I remember a small crab and the one that got away as it broke the surface of the water. Having a good day we sailed home on the incoming tide back to Winteringham and when secured again and the
boat closed up, we departed to our respective homes.
|
