Boating AROUND London

Gavi

Gavi

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My good self and my even better her good self SWMBO are planning our 2007 adventure. Forgive us, as this may become an ongoing post.

We intend to venture in our trusty Freeman 24 from sunny Staines to the wilds of Limehouse and then around the canals and back via Brentford, probably in August. I am interested in knowing:

- other people's similar experiences and what we should prepare
- it is the run-up to christmas and I have added a VHF radio, a training course, and a 4 stroke aux engine to santa's list. Have I missed owt?
- 7 days?

Advice and experiences would be welcomed
 
I used to go into London all the time on Seaspary and it was great fun . You need to work the tides out for Limehouse and for comming out at Brentford . Others will be more helpful as i used to go down on low tide and let the tide bring me back to Twickenham .
 
Without knowing what else you have on the boat and whether you've been beyond Teddington before, it's difficult to comment on what you may need.....
Nav Lights, Anchor - Chain & Warp, Lifejackets. Read up on the PLA Advice to Pleasure Boats (on the web). Monitor Ch.14 on the VHF for London VTS.
May all be something you know or have already ?
If I can help , send me a PM or leave a message on here. I suspect you will gets lots of replies :-)
 
I did the same trip from the wey to Limehouse (stayed at St Cats) on the 1st night in a 16 ft microplus with 15 HP O/B.Watch out for trip boats from westminster their wake will throw you around. the canal system back to Brentford is good a little boring after little Venice. It took 3 days in total, with detours to Greenwich on the 1st day, just to keep away from the trip boats
 
Having for many years frequently ventured fom non-tidal Thames to London (St Kats and Other) and at least twice a year to Euorpe. Starting in a 27 and through 30, 33 and now 37, it is not difficult.
Have never found a problem, however, you need to be aware -realy aware- of the tides and current and be fully confident that you will be there and ready at the planned entry time to the lock. More important - to have a contingency plan if you are delayed and miss the time.

Idealy go with a club or in company for the first time. Also, if single shaft, make sure you have a secondary means of propulsion.

Despite warnings of higher, the stongest Thames current I have ever met is 5 knots.
 
I think I would recommend doing the loop the other way round (go in at Brentford, come out at Limehouse, and take tide back to Teddington) as a first time trip. Main danger is the trip boats, they're like white van drivers on the M25 only much worse, so if you can pick a time to avoid them so much the better. Coming through town before 9am is wonderful, but mid afternoon can be very stressful.
You will often be boarded by the police patrol boats, but that can work to your advantage as the trip boats are very respectful when the police rib is around.
If you do go down to Limehouse work out your strategy for getting in, as the tide will be sweeping across the entrance, ie go past the entrance, turn, come back up against the tide, head for the upstream wall, and let the current push you back towards the downstream end.
If you do the trip a few times theres several variations using Bow creek and lock, and the two canals that cut across to the river Lee.

regards

IanC
 
Definately do it the other way round, go in at Brentford and out at Limehouse, it makes timing the tides much easier. Going down to Limehouse is always tight on time during the summer and you will have to punch the tide.
For the canal bit you may be a bit tight on headroom, don't forget your windless and BWB key, also there are 2 tunnels to go through so you will need a spotlight. Whatever you do don't stop in Camden town or talk to the locals, lots of druggies. There is an undercover police narrow boat patroling around there, so see if you can suss them /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Watch out for submerged shopping trolleys and cars on the last bit into Limehouse /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
If you do the canal first and join the tideway at Limehouse you remove the need to coordinate your tidal arrival at Limehouse. One would normally look for entry from the tideway around slack water to make entry easy which means you will have to punch against the tide from Teddington to Limehouse. Conditions in London are rough and if you could plan your trip so your departure from Limehouse into the tideway was fairly early morning (before all the trip boats start) then you would have a nice ride home, with the incoming tide down to Teddington.
Check with Limehouse what their locking window is.

VHF, anchor & chain etc, LIFEJACKETS. have written plan with timings and phone numbers etc, the Police will expect to see one if you are routinely boarded. Know where you are on the tideway in case you have to quickly tell someone your location. Know what is going on behind you .. some of these tripper boats are FAST.

If you do decide to tidal first , canal after, I would suggest overnight Teddington and depart according to your calculations (work back from the time you want to arrive Limehouse) . Allow yourself plenty of time unless you have a beefy engine. At Teddington you may find other craft that are heading in your direction which may give comfort.

London VTS on channel 14 are there to help so listen to what is going on and dont hesitate to raise them if you have a problem.
regards
martin
 
Yes should have mentioned that you will have to be able to clear the prop at some time. I last did it on an outdrive boat so easy to tilt up the prop, Narrowboats have weed hatches, I had to stop 3 times on the Regents canal to clear ropes, fishing lines and a tarpaulin!
 
Most points have been well aired, but a little bit more local knowledge - here the hated NB users can help.

To my mind the most important consideration against going downstream - especially for a small boat is that you have to cross what becomes a wide stream full of very fast and wash making Cat: trip boats. They give no quarter.

There are a lot more sticky-out-bits going down than up.
If you do the transit upstream you can at least scuttle along the off-side to avoid the nasties.

Getting the tides right is just a matter of ringing BW on 0207 985 7200 who will send you a very useful leaflet called "Tidal Locks Availability", published bi-annually which tells you when to go.
Lock keepers can be very helpful -
Limehouse - 0207 308 9930
Brentford - 0208 568 2779
Teddington -0208 940 8723

and the St. Pancras Cruising Club have some good info on their website.


It's best to go in company - which will probably happen anyway as Limehouse don't want to fill the lock just for one boat - so he effectively makes up a little flotilla for convenience as well as safety.

There's a whole lot of local knowledge available so do talk to the staff, some of actually enjoy sharing their knowledge - that's some of the fun in boating!

Your boat is below the lower limit for VHF so I wouldn't buy a set unless you want to for other reasons, and a hand held will do for monitoring purposes. PLA have a series of repeaters so even a HH should be able to hear and be heard.
 
Wow, thank you all.

It sounds like not being greedy is the answer and going in via brentford... then leaving London for last. it is like eating the veg before the meat.
 
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