Lakes for motorboats near Henley

[Captain_Barnacles]

Hello fellow motorboaters,

I am the proud (and new) owner of a Saver Open 495. To register on the inland waterways is going to take weeks but in the meantime I'd like to take it for a spin somewhere. Question is, where? I live near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. Can anyone tell me if there's any private lakes or the like where I can take my boat and play about a bit?

Thank you in advance

 

[Andrew M]

West Thorpe Lake certainly used to let boat owners use the water. Dont know if it's even still going as a ski lake. Just over the roundabout from Marlow over the Marlow bypass, gate entrance into the farm and lake is on the right. Worth googling.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Members only.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

HOME | westhorpewatersports

 

[Pump-Out]

Try here: Isis Water-Ski & Wakeboard Club | Scheduling and Booking Website
But everywhere shut, at the mo, of course.

As an aside I think that you can use your launch on the river provided the application has been submitted, with all the supporting paperwork, BSSS and payment.

 

[russ]

Try Russell Power boats in Eversley. (No connection)
They have a private lake for jet skis and I believe small boats.

 

[Captain_Barnacles]

West Thorpe Lake certainly used to let boat owners use the water. Dont know if it's even still going as a ski lake. Just over the roundabout from Marlow over the Marlow bypass, gate entrance into the farm and lake is on the right. Worth googling.

Good call. I checked out their website and they allow you to bring your boat and have a 4 hour session. Thank you.

 

[oldgit]

I am the proud (and new) owner of a Saver Open 495. To register on the inland waterways is going to take weeks ??????
Open boat no BSS. Turn up and launch buy your licence on arrival .

Pop over to the Thames forum for launch sites,prices and procedures.

 

[Captain_Barnacles]

Members only.

They have a 45 acre lake exclusive to members and a 22 acre lake for visitors. However, who's going to turn down money at this moment with what's going on? I'll give them a call today. Thank you for replying.

 

[Captain_Barnacles]

I am the proud (and new) owner of a Saver Open 495. To register on the inland waterways is going to take weeks ??????
Open boat no BSS. Turn up and launch buy your licence on arrival .

Pop over to the Thames forum for launch sites,prices and procedures.

I went onto Gov.uk. Looked at mooring (as I didn't want to keep launching the boat every time I wanted to go for a pootle dow the river), went to fill out a form and it asked for Thames License registration details. Found the license form, then it asked for BSS certificate number. Found a BSS certification guy who says I may not need a certificate but I will need to contact the EA. Honestly, this country was founded on it's rivers and canals system and now they make it so hard to just plonk a boat on it and go 8mph. I could do it and play dumb and do the forms after (especially if I don't need the safety certificate). Thank you.

 

[Captain_Barnacles]

Try here: Isis Water-Ski & Wakeboard Club | Scheduling and Booking Website
But everywhere shut, at the mo, of course.

As an aside I think that you can use your launch on the river provided the application has been submitted, with all the supporting paperwork, BSSS and payment.

Yes, ISIS looks great, loads of space too. Thank you, I'll certainly give them a call.

 

[Captain_Barnacles]

Yes, ISIS looks great, loads of space too. Thank you, I'll certainly give them a call.

Arghh just checked their website and it says "Due to the Corona pandemic, the club will only be open to MEMBERS ONLY. Sorry, no guests permitted on site." Annoying.

 

[Seastoke]

Remember one thing if you go a poodle down the river! you have to come back up.

 

[Captain_Barnacles]

Remember one thing if you go a poodle down the river! you have to come back up.

Great shout seastoke. I'm interested to see how far I can go at 5knots.

 

[mlines]

We have 3 "local" to Henley.

WestThorpewater sports - members only but have a "day member"scheme when we last enquired.

Russelpowerboats - Eversley (this is "long and thin" - therefore hard to get up to speed as you have to virtually stop at the turns at the end. I will add some pictures (no video) in a subsequent edit. Slipway is poor quality.

Taplow Board and Ski (Now Wakeplus) - they do a lake hire package - Slipway is now partially obstructed so a difficult launch. Here is us using it for own boat use (around 2012) ....

 

[mlines]

These were taken in 2010

 

[Captain_Barnacles]

These were taken in 2010

Thank you for the pictures, what a lovely boat! Hopefully I will have as much fun in mine.

 

[Time Out]

Hello fellow motorboaters,

I am the proud (and new) owner of a Saver Open 495. To register on the inland waterways is going to take weeks but in the meantime I'd like to take it for a spin somewhere. Question is, where? I live near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. Can anyone tell me if there's any private lakes or the like where I can take my boat and play about a bit?

Thank you in advance

If you want to use the Thames you can (subject to the speed limit!) you can buy a day licence from the EA over the phone, I did it yesterday, it took 30 mins from call to landing in my inbox, printed out and ready to use tomorrow.

 

[Easticks28]

I went onto Gov.uk. Looked at mooring (as I didn't want to keep launching the boat every time I wanted to go for a pootle dow the river), went to fill out a form and it asked for Thames License registration details. Found the license form, then it asked for BSS certificate number. Found a BSS certification guy who says I may not need a certificate but I will need to contact the EA. Honestly, this country was founded on it's rivers and canals system and now they make it so hard to just plonk a boat on it and go 8mph. I could do it and play dumb and do the forms after (especially if I don't need the safety certificate). Thank you.

Do they have a 'visitor' toll ? They do here on the Broads, and you are exempt from BSS for 28 days under that, and if you subsequently take out full registration the visitor toll is allowed against that.

 

[Time Out]

Just buy a daily or weekly for now. very simple and done over the phone