From Crouch to Thames

rubberduck

rubberduck

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Looking for confirmation of my plans please. We are planning to come up the thames next week & stop at st Kats until mon / tuesday week following. Then planning to head further up locking out about HT + 1 Hr,leaving AM, a slow amble up to get under hammersmith (4.5m air draft & 1m + water required) Destination Penton Hook. Then back down again. What have I got Wrong ?
 
Would have thought the first lock out at 6am would allow you most time to nip up smartish to get under the bridge with max headroom and then a slow crawl up to Richmond using the tide to carry you up to Richmond. ?????
 
This will be 1st time past St Kats so want to take our time taking in the sights. Also prefer going against tide at that speed as she is a large powerful outdrive cruiser & will steer better. Happy to be corrected however.
 
rubberduck said:
This will be 1st time past St Kats so want to take our time taking in the sights. Also prefer going against tide at that speed as she is a large powerful outdrive cruiser & will steer better. Happy to be corrected however.
Click to expand...

Prob me being a bit dim as usual but if you come out of St Kats on the 6am lockout the tide will already be flooding and if you intend turning right to go upstream towards Hammersmith/Richmond the boat will be going with the tide ?
You will probably have problems going slow simply because the tide will be ripping up there and you will have to going quite fast on top of that to maintain steerage,should be fairly calm at that time of morning due to trip boats not having got underway at that time of day.
Be suprised if you can manage less than 8/10 knots as you go through.
If you leave st Kats on a falling tide and then need to wait for tide to fall in order to get under Hammersmith suspect you will have trouble getting to Richmond at a sensible speed(no wash) before running out of water.Rowers encountered on journey will cause considerable delays in estimated journey times.
Other more experienced boaters may wish to comment.
 
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I would echo OG's concerns.

We leave as early as possible, or you'll end up aground (potentially) between kew and syon reach - it turns into a stream here at low water.

We've been forced to wait by Putney bridge for hours for the tide to turn before, illegally hanging off a commercial mooring cos there was no where else to stop!

If you really want to pootle, leave at HW+1, meander around, then back to imperial wharf to wait for the afternoon flood to start.

London Thames is a great experience, but you have to manage your trip around the tides so you arrive at Richmond at at least mid tide. An extra advantage is the use of the mid tide sluices at Richmond, as the lock has no bollards and very, very slimy chains! It's also £5 to use the lock, and free through the sluices.
 
Just to reiterate what's already been said. Personally I'd always take the first lock out of St Kats and take the tide with you. I'd never punch a falling tide from St Kats to Richmond. You'll be amazed how quickly the water falls away and how long the journey can take especially if you encounter rowers. Coming back up river last year I reckon we lost a good hour or more due to wall to wall rowers, and I'd not want to be in that position sweating it on a falling tide.
 
Great answers, never would have known about richmond sluices. OK, so we come out of St Kats day b4 we want to go up river, use Imperial & leave on a rising tide. How long does it take to Hammersmith & richmond from St Kats & Imperial @ sensible speeds ?
 
Leave St Kats ASAP, and get under Hammersmith with a large aircraft!

Then dawdle...watch your depth at Kew!!

Only my humble opinion...
 
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