Going to London

[Salty Sealine]

Last Saturday I went down river from Windsor through Teddington and nearly got to Kew Gardens, before turning round as I was concerned about Richmond bridge and the gates and so moored for the night back on the (proper - I'm waiting for the abuse!) non tidal part of the river.

I would really like to take my boat down to London proper before the end of October, but am not confident to do it by myself. If anyone is thinking of going to London could I tag along?

 

[ms1]

perhaps you might consider joining a cruiser club who have often have several 'tidal cruise in company' trips during the season ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEY4Ztak9IE

 

[alruss]

Tidal thames

What is the problem with Richmond bridge? The only problem with the tidal stretch, is mooring up, there are not many places to do it. As long as your boat is reliable, capable of at least 6 knots and equiped with a Radio go for it. Where are you going to go? If like me you are happy to just be out on the boat then you can come down with the morning tide and back up on the afternoon tide, bring a packed lunch, as a stranger you will find stopping to eat difficult.
If you want me to meet you, I'm in Putney, pm me to exchange tel nos. Alan

 

[oldgit]

Richmond Barrier.

That confusing heap of scary metal blocking the Thames,is a bit of a unknown quantity even for some olde salts.First time we went through it was all a bit daunting,so got some help from forumites for our initial transit.
Boatone was kind enuff to post a picture of the evil contraption and indicated the best times to turn up and depart in order to go straight past.
The lads at Teddington will also help on when to best leave their lock for an easy passage downstream.
After bit it is quite nice to see the old pile sitting in the river,cos it means we are nearly safe and sound in the wimps bit of the river.

 

[Salty Sealine]

Am I correct in thinking that Richmond Bridge has gates that slide up between the arches 2 hours before and after high tide? So does one then use the lock? Is the lock manned 24/7 like Teddington?

The boat (Sealine F33) has a radio although I do not have a licence, but I've got a mobile phone!

My intention was to leave Teddington early in the morning, down to London, ideally to Tower Bridge and then back to Teddington. Not sure if I can go further than Tower Bridge in one day, although for a first time perhaps Tower Bridge will be enough.

I know there is commercial traffic on the river and sight seeing pleasure boats, so is there anything I need to know about them. Is it obvious which arches to go through on the various bridges?

Is the speed limit 8 knots or more?

 

[Salty Sealine]

Time to go through Teddington

Possible dates would be the 3rd or 17th Oct. So what time would I need to go through Teddington and when should I turn around? Many thanks

 

[Brayman]

You need to check the tide times, Richmond is 1 hour after London Bridge, the barrier is open 2 hours before High Tide Richmond until 2 hours after - roughly. Forget about morning/evening, high tide is what matters. If you want to get to Tower Bridge you will probably want to go down on one tide and back on the next because 4 hours punching the tide won't get you there and back, that will also give yo uplenty of time and a following tide.
You also ought to go onto the PLA web site and obtain their pleasure boaters guide to the tideway. IT gives ALL the details on bridges and a lot more.
I could work things out for you but it is better you do it for yourself so that you FULLY understand why you are doing what you are doing and when.

 

[alruss]

High water @ London bridge on 3rd Oct is 0206bst, low water 0727, h w 1415, low 2050.
At Teddington lock, add for h w 1hr 1min low water add3hr 15 min. Can not do 17th Oct
because my tide table is blank on that page. The speed limit is, below Wandsworth bridge,
an advised 12 knots but not obligatory. Wash is the main speed restriction, so slow past moored boats, including house-boats. The distance you travel, I would think you could
get to the barrier or Greenwich Yacht Club. They might be open on Sat, ring them. We travel,
at approx 9 knots from Putney to the estuary on one tide, then up the Medway on the incoming tide. So Greenwich from Teddington should be O K, wait for tide to turn then run back up with the tide, giving you +2-3 knots over the ground, with no wash implications.
Richmond Bridge, half lock is manned whenever I have used it, quite late into the night, not
sure on 24/7.

 

[boatone]

Why the rush? All that lovely river and landmarks and you want to do a there-and-back in a single day .....for what reason?

If you've never done it before I cant emphasise enough how much better it would be if you could go down river with an in company cruise, stay in St Kats or Limehouse overnight and come back up river a day or two later.

Take Brayman's advice and get all the PLA info so that you can see what issues you need to be aware of.

Remember, once you're on the tideway you have left the kindly shelter of the non tidal river and things are very different. Depending on whether the tides are springs (highest highs and lowest lows) or neaps (lowest highs and highest lows) there can be massive differences in tidal flow which can either sweep you along or stop you dead in your tracks depending which way you are going.

 

[johnmercedes33]

Greenwich Yacht Club is open every weekend from 1pm-6pm Bar and food.
Visitors most welcome but I suggest avoiding Oct 3rd as we are holding the 'London Regatta' with about 90 boats attending

 

[ryds-steve]

look out for the large amount of floating debris once you get onto the tidal thames, some of it is more than capable of damaging your hull or prop. also it can get pretty busy with all the passenger ferries in certain parts, they are suprisingly quick! Keep a your eyes peeled and you will be fine. I think there is no better way to see london than from the water.

 

[teddington_lock]

Salty Sealine , ring me at the lock tomorrow morning ( 0208 940 8723 ) and i'll work the times out for you , and we can have a chat. As Brayman says though , you should try and work it out for yourself , so you become used to doing it . We can advise as necessary.

Richmond is 24 hour manned , but if you are arriving back at Richmond approaching low water , you need to be a little bit careful in Syon Reach , where it can get shallow.

What we have a lot of people do is , go down on an ebb tide , see the barrier , float around for a bit , and then use the flood to bring them back up to Tedders in a day .

Personally i would make couple of days of it ...

Down to London / Barrier , into St Kats / Limehouse , night out .

Come back to Tedders the next day.

 

[Cliveshep]

I have done Weybridge (River Wey 2 locks from 8.00am )to Limehouse and back to Kingston in one day, stopping at Molseley for pump out and water fill, all with foul tides i.e. locked Richmond dead low water, punched the incoming to London Bridge where it changed, got down to Limehouse, got bounced by a River Police launch on the plane passing close alongside (about 30 ft away) scareed SWMBO witless and was forced to turn back (9.00pm). Got back to Kingston at 1.30 in the morning, dog-tired, SWMBO, mother-in-law, neice, and both kids all fast asleep the swine, having single handed it through Richmond at midnight (I had to phone them to open up as it was low water again pretty much of course, and Teddington at 12.45 am (they were awake although I had asked Richmond to bell them and say I was coming.

Oh, and it rained the whole day as well!

I don't recommend a return trip in a day. The River is dark at night, bridge channel lights easily confused with the sodium light on the top (they're the same colour) and through Hammersmith and Kew there is little light to reflect of the water with the trees on either bank so navigation is a bit hit and miss.

Stay at Limehouse and come back the following day if you can sort the tides out.

BTW - through both upper and lower pool the river is like a ploughed field with the wash from countless river buses bouncing back off the sides and meeting the wash from the next one passing. It makes an uncomfortable passage.

 

[teddington_lock]

Teddington at 12.45 am (they were awake although I had asked Richmond to bell them and say I was coming..

Slander




We're always awake. Richmond never phone us at night either.

 

[oldgit]

Make a weekend of it,down to Teddington first evening moor up and dinner somewhere in High street.Wander down to lock to ask advice from kindly lock staff as to best time to appear at crack of dawn.
Nice early start to annoy wife and kids and to get nice smooth passage before evil trip boats get started.
Arrive at nice Marina(St Kats) or old dump(Limehouse)your choice and lock in.
Stay overnight and allow tourists and oiks to admire your boat(St kats)or local felons(Limehouse) as you casually lounge around on deck looking cool.
Do stuff in London just outside dock (St Kats) or miles away(Limehearse)
Lock out and turn left err right enjoying your status as a hardened river user.
The End.

If you anything resembling this you turned the wrong way

 

[boatone]

Arrive at nice Marina(St Kats) or old dump(Limehouse)your choice and lock in.
Stay overnight and allow tourists and oiks to admire your boat(St kats)or local felons(Limehouse) as you casually lounge around on deck looking cool.
Do stuff in London just outside dock (St Kats) or miles away(Limehearse)

Hey you Old Git - your remarks about Limehouse are a scurrilous slur on an excellent marina that offers many advantages over St. Kats.

1. It has a wider tidal window and the locking procedures and staff make St. Kats seem like amateurs.
2. Its only two stops away from Tower Hill on the DLR so hardly 'miles away' from anywhere and, its actually closer to Greenwich, Canary Wharf, Excel and even, if for any perverse reason one wished to go there, Lewisham.
3. For those of us that dont enjoy the luxury of fabulously wealthy part time employment in manky mudway low cost deprived obscure where the hell is London anyway environment, Limehouse is CHEAPER !
4. Its only half an hour further down river and, if the tides are right, one can have a nice little see the sun rising jolly back to St Kats before all the nasty trip boats start churning up the otherwise peaceful pool outside the grossly inefficient lock that we seem to see more of waiting outside than actually using to get in.
5. Some of us dont actually like being gawped at by day trippers from places like Manchester and Maidstone with snotty nosed kids screaming and saying worrying things like 'that boat looks as if its sinking Mummy'.
6. George Formby never sang any songs about St. Kats .....
7. Limehouse is REAL east-end, Pie and Mash/Krays/Commercial Road territory, not manky make believe tourist trap rubbish like Kats. (How can anyone eat in that ghastly so called Dickens Inn ?

Nuff said......all in jest, but there's many a true word etc etc....

 

[Cliveshep]

Slander




We're always awake. Richmond never phone us at night either.

Probably because Richmond are always bloody well asleep!

 

[oldgit]

"scurrilous slur on an excellent marina "

your up then !

 

[mlines]

For those of us with smaller boats (18ft), is there somewhere we can drop it in off a trailer, do the sights, and return? Is there such a time as a "quiet" time (SUnday mornings?) when the big boat wakes will not be so frequent?

Martin

 

[Brayman]

Barrier closure

You should be aware that the Thames Barrier is closed all day on Sunday October 4th and that a sailing regatta is taking place around Greenwich and thus out of bounds, so calculations of speed over the ground need to take account of the lack of flood tide on that day.

Also, re the St Kats - Limehouse dogfight above.
The big advantage of St Kats is to sit on the boat with your morning coffee watching all the city types walking to work and then in the late afternoon with G&T in hand watching them walking home again - so relaxing.