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Baby Blue - Pictures & Information from current owner (2007)

Current owner: Richard Petter: Email Richard from here ?

Baby Blue - named to complement Mel Ashton's charter boat 'Oxford Blue' was initially used by Mel as part of his 'Narrowboat Charter' business at Stanley Ferry (near Wakefield).

At one stage she was re-named 'Bacon Butty' by another owner. I changed her name back to Baby Blue and her home mooring is Blue Water Marina (Thorne, South Yorkshire).
(thanks for that Richard - I never liked the change to Bacon Butty - Mel).

My friend - John Cousins - often accompanies me with his boat "Let it Be" - John's home mooring is Stanley Ferry Marina (near Wakefield).

Baby Blue on The Wash ! - Thursday 14th June, 2007
picture from current owner Richard Petter - 6th November, 2007 - navigation notes below
picture taken from 'Cherie' by her skipper Eric

A View from Baby Blue - on The Wash ! - Thursday 14th June, 2007
picture from current owner Richard Petter - 18th November, 2007 - navigation notes below
(I still think 'flat bottomed boats' are safer on 'flat water' ! - Mel)

Navigation notes by email from Richard Petter:

I hope this doesn't get tedious for you!
We left Boston on Thursday 14th June. My pilot was Henry Irving, who wrote the book called Tidal Havens of the Humber and Wash. His friend David Nesbit came along for the ride.
There were 5 other boats booked out around that time, but the locky would only let four out at a time, so one of them - Cherie - with skipper Eric, came with me and paid half the cost.

Wednesday was a lovely day, sunny with light winds, but my pilot couldn't go then so we went the next day. Forecast was E Force 4 becoming force 6 later. My pilot assured me we would be sheltered by sandbanks, so we went. As it happened, an exceptionally high tide combined with the wind, covered the sand! At the Welland outfall I decided to continue rather than run for shelter as BB was handling the sea very well. The photos were taken about half a mile short of the Freeman channel. When we turned across the waves in that channel, she hardly rolled at all, just steadily being lifted and lowered by the waves. When we were through the channel we turned S.E. for the Nene Roads and had a larger sea on our port quarter. That was when we got too busy to take photos, as we estimated the waves at 4 ft.

I said it must have been a 'hairy' trip - Mel.

Cherie gave us a laugh as her toilet seal leaked and she dumped a load of slurry onto her cabin floor! After about 15 minutes of this behaviour, with BB lifting the whole of her swim out of the water, and immersing her exhaust pipe the rest of the time, we lost sight of the land and all the buoyage, so steered by compass. Visibility was not good. Finally we picked up the Nene Roads buoy, on the nose, and soon after entered sheltered water. The trip took six and a half hours, about half of that in the waves and mostly at half throttle. The really worrying part was that I couldn't get insurance for the trip. I was very glad that I had done a lot of work on her before we set off, and she repaid that in spades. She is a remarkable boat and I am very fond of her. I am hoping to explore the Humber havens in her this year.

Baby Blue 'Under Sail' on the River Aire near Knostrop !!
(picture taken by - and received from - John Cousins on 9th April, 2007)

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