Favourite boat on the river

Outinthedinghy

Outinthedinghy

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 May 2008
Messages
1,643
Location
The River
Visit site
Whats your favourite boat on the river? I mean boats generally moored on the main stream so most people who go up and down regularly would know the boat.

Mine is the little boat moored just down stream from the Beetle and Wedge on the same side, it looks like a little yacht tender. a real honey.

there is something magic about it.
 
One of my favourites since I was kid is a little slipper launch with a hardtop, can't remember the name but its in the middle of this photo
trb2005-grp1.JPG
 
Outinthedinghy said:
Whats your favourite boat on the river? I mean boats generally moored on the main stream so most people who go up and down regularly would know the boat.

Mine is the little boat moored just down stream from the Beetle and Wedge on the same side, it looks like a little yacht tender. a real honey.

there is something magic about it.
Click to expand...

The little cream cabin cruiser? Believe it or not she is very very old. 1929 I think.
 
Thats the one, lovely boat I had guessed she was probably 1920's.

The little slipper with the cabin on is on a trailer here at the TTBR, can't remember the name even though I walked past it about half an hour ago....

Lovely boat, is it for sale I wonder?
 
byron said:
Problem with all these lovely old craft is maintenance. My neighbour has just forked out £20,000 on his Slipper.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't cost that unless there is something seriously wrong or you let the boat really deteriorate. But you are right that you need to budget a couple of thousand a year for maintenance or else after 5 years you get a much larger bill than 5x2k. Slippers should be cheaper to maintain though than larger vessels.
 
MY fave boat is my own one! She's gorgeous!

I like a lot of the big Brooms though, and a few others is has to be said...
 
Little cream boat

Outinthedinghy

Was this the one which took your fancy? If so she's a "Jenny Wren" designed by Arthur C Robb with the design published in the December 1945 edition of Yachting World. Most of the Thames based versions were built by Wilsons at Sunbury.

regards

IanC
 
Last edited:
The 'little cream boat' was built I think in 1929. I have spoken to the owner who gave me the build date but as it was over a year ago my memory could be faulty. I recall at the time I was astounded by the date.
He takes it out quite regularly but last time out I saw him being towed back.
Wasn't the Jenny Wren an outboard driven craft?
 
Jenny Wren

Byron

The owner of the cream boat "Anthus" might find the attached thumbnails interesting. We had Straight Across in Duntons yard at Shepperton for the winters 64-74, and there was a sister boat to "Anthus" there for a couple of winters which was the "Magpie" boat, ie the children's programme of 60's & 70's. Years later it was in the Terry Taplins yard at Weybridge in very poor condition.

IanC
 
Last edited:
I don't know the guy, I just saw him on it one day and swung by in my launch to ask him about it.
The "Jenny Wren" I vaguely remember borrowing one for a few days in about 1964. The mast was removed and it had a 20hp Johnson.
I well remember 'Magpie' I appeared in it myself with Jenny Handley who was on my Toughs Cobra 33 this was about 1976 or 1977. The program was about the League of Venturers who are a land/beach/sea rescue outfit on the Solent entirely manned by kids.
 
The Magpie programme's boat was at one stage called "Mankadoo".

I used to see her regularly when I was on school cross-country runs. (We ran from the school in Broom Road, across the suspension bridge to Ham, then up to Kingston Bridge and then down through Hampton Wick and thus back to school).
 
The kingston run!!!

Ramage said:
The Magpie programme's boat was at one stage called "Mankadoo".

I used to see her regularly when I was on school cross-country runs. (We ran from the school in Broom Road, across the suspension bridge to Ham, then up to Kingston Bridge and then down through Hampton Wick and thus back to school).
Click to expand...

Man I remember those! fizzled out towards the end of my days there as there was always fisticuffs with Greycourt....
 
The boat was done up, had a carving of a magpie on the bows, big launching ceremony, went done the tideway and came back to Duntons with loads of damage.

IanC
 
There are so many craft on the River that I would lust over, but with a penchant for Long Thin things, I would go for one of the following:-

Alaska

Nuneham

Streatley

but then they are "commercials", so perhaps infra dig :p

Alaska has a lovely mooring - which prompts me to ask - Oh, Byron; fount of all knowledge - how did "Showboat" ever get to Harleyford?

Assuming that the rear cabin or even the whole superstructure was added later, she looks to me too tall to have navigated some of the bridges (?Cookham).

If ballasted to reduce the height, then she'd have touched the bottom in a multitude of places.

Dost thou know?
 
I heard that it can never go back DOWN river because it is now too wide - I assume one or more locks have narrowed since it came up, probably due to those awful vertical bits of wood used to strengthen the lock walls.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

I
Turkey vs Greece for cheap boat storage on handstand + refit – advice needed!
Replies
13
Views
1K
Wansworth
W
cyberkryten
We finally bought a boat - Merry Fisher 895s2
2 3
Replies
41
Views
2K
Cathy*
C

Share this page

Top