On we went then, down through Nether Lock alone, the last lock on the Newark section before getting back onto the Trent proper. And the Trent proper was windy, with a strong current, both of them behind us, so it was another rapid trip. The river was wide again, and quite winding. A fabulous experience.
As we approached Cromwell Lock some hours later, we saw the floating pontoon on which we were wanting to moor. There was plenty of space for us. Which was just as well. The wisdom is that, on a river, you moor pointing upstream. We were pointing downstream as we approached. Grace tried to slow down as we got closer, but the combined forces of wind and water wouldn't let her. Reverse gear had no effect. She did get the boat close enough to the pontoon for me to jump off onto it, however. At which point we both realised that we were going to have to turn Kantara there and then. I wound the bow rope a couple of times around a dolly, halting the advance of the front of the boat. Whereupon the stern continued at high speed and the boat swung around 180 degrees until she finished up alongside the pontoon, facing downstream. I have honestly never before seen any part of the boat travel that fast. It was all over in a matter of seconds. Very exciting! A perfect bow-spring. Almost immediately, a plastic cruiser came and moored behind us. How fortunate it'd not been there when we arrived! We tied up and went in for lunch.
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