Boston
August 30, 2021
HM 153. Boston - where keel yachts normally don't go.
Yachts are strictly forbidden to enter the commercial port of Boston, so I was extremely grateful to Phil Godderidge the deputy HM for welcoming Good Dog after we arrived at his lock gates at the precise time we had been told. We were berthed between a Russian coaster and a very large stack of recycling bales which were being shipped off to The Baltic for "heat treatment".
It is difficult to believe that 450 trading ships visit this port every year, all who navigate up the River Witham with no difficulty, albeit with a pilot. It just shows how canny the Victoria Port Group are to run a trading port deep in the East Midlands. Here they import a huge range of products including olive pellets (biomass fuel), microsilica (a concrete additive) and telegraph poles.
Phil himself had worked on P+O cruise liners and cross channel ferries before returning to Boston. He told us that nice houses are remarkably cheap in this part of Lincolnshire. When we walked into the town we found out why. Boston is home to a higher proportion of eastern European immigrants than anywhere else in England and 75% of the population voted for Brexit. Walking around the town centre, both my crew and I did feel that we "stood out" ... and I don't mean our sailing boots!
The imposing tower of St Botolph's church was completed in 1520. Ironically known as The Stump, you can see it from half of Lincolnshire. Its most famous vicar, the Rev Cotton, inspired "break away" Christians from the area to move to America, and the very first Pilgrim Fathers set out (unsuccessfully) from a nearby quay on the River Witham in 1603 (photo 6), 17 years before the Plymouth team finally made it. Hence, Boston Massachusetts.
Note for sailors - Boston is straightforward to navigate into, but a twin keel is recommended as there are no harbour walls to tie up against and you would need to lie on the mud.
Yachts are strictly forbidden to enter the commercial port of Boston, so I was extremely grateful to Phil Godderidge the deputy HM for welcoming Good Dog after we arrived at his lock gates at the precise time we had been told. We were berthed between a Russian coaster and a very large stack of recycling bales which were being shipped off to The Baltic for "heat treatment".
It is difficult to believe that 450 trading ships visit this port every year, all who navigate up the River Witham with no difficulty, albeit with a pilot. It just shows how canny the Victoria Port Group are to run a trading port deep in the East Midlands. Here they import a huge range of products including olive pellets (biomass fuel), microsilica (a concrete additive) and telegraph poles.
Phil himself had worked on P+O cruise liners and cross channel ferries before returning to Boston. He told us that nice houses are remarkably cheap in this part of Lincolnshire. When we walked into the town we found out why. Boston is home to a higher proportion of eastern European immigrants than anywhere else in England and 75% of the population voted for Brexit. Walking around the town centre, both my crew and I did feel that we "stood out" ... and I don't mean our sailing boots!
The imposing tower of St Botolph's church was completed in 1520. Ironically known as The Stump, you can see it from half of Lincolnshire. Its most famous vicar, the Rev Cotton, inspired "break away" Christians from the area to move to America, and the very first Pilgrim Fathers set out (unsuccessfully) from a nearby quay on the River Witham in 1603 (photo 6), 17 years before the Plymouth team finally made it. Hence, Boston Massachusetts.
Note for sailors - Boston is straightforward to navigate into, but a twin keel is recommended as there are no harbour walls to tie up against and you would need to lie on the mud.