Hello pleased to meet you all

[MajorClanger]

Hello I’m a complete novice, but I’ve always had the bucket list idea in my head… I do a lot of canoeing, but big boats I’ve had a go a few times in narrow boats… I’ve seen a vessel on eBay that I would like 44ft fly bridge … I would want to be able to navigate the river Witham across the Wash and down the Great Ouse to Bedford… is the boat too big is my idea not possible your advice would be most welcome

 

[Tranona]

Buying a 44' Flybridge off ebay as your first boat rings the largest alarm bells you can imagine. I suspect if you did try you would live up to the forum name you have chosen.

Welcome, by the way and suggest you look at the sort of boat most people use in the area you want to cruise and gain some experience of what owning and using a boat is about. Hiring a boat on the Broads would be a good start. 44' flybridges are rich mans' toys and will eat you out of house and home - even more so if they are of the type that get advertised on ebay.

 

[[2574]]

Hello I’m a complete novice, but I’ve always had the bucket list idea in my head… I do a lot of canoeing, but big boats I’ve had a go a few times in narrow boats… I’ve seen a vessel on eBay that I would like 44ft fly bridge … I would want to be able to navigate the river Witham across the Wash and down the Great Ouse to Bedford… is the boat too big is my idea not possible your advice would be most welcome

I doubt a 44’ fly bridge boat would get under the bridges and might be too beamy for the locks too. Non-starter I reckon. Way too big. As a starter boat for the river you could do worse than find yourself a 24’ Viking with a 15hp outboard on the back. I took our Viking 20 up to Bedford from Ely, nice trip, but draught and height limited for sure. I’ve also done Denver to The Wash - I suspect you’d have issues with height under those bridges too given the rise of tides needed to get the necessary depth of water.

 

[Sneds]

I can only Agee with Tranona

 

[Sneds]

Perhaps have a look at an ex-Broads hire boat, perhaps something like an Elysian 27?

 

[Momac]

Hello I’m a complete novice, but I’ve always had the bucket list idea in my head… I do a lot of canoeing, but big boats I’ve had a go a few times in narrow boats… I’ve seen a vessel on eBay that I would like 44ft fly bridge … I would want to be able to navigate the river Witham across the Wash and down the Great Ouse to Bedford… is the boat too big is my idea not possible your advice would be most welcome

No chance on the Witham , not sure about the Great Ouse
Seems way too big for a first boat
Beware of scams on ebay

If the Witham where would you start from ?

 

[Bigplumbs]

I thought there was already a long Standing Member called MajorClanger ?

 

[Croftie]

I thought there was already a long Standing Member called MajorClanger ?

Slight variation on the name Major_Clanger
Joined 15 Oct 2016
Last seen Yesterday at 21:36
Messages 1,289

 

[Bigplumbs]

Hello I’m a complete novice, but I’ve always had the bucket list idea in my head… I do a lot of canoeing, but big boats I’ve had a go a few times in narrow boats… I’ve seen a vessel on eBay that I would like 44ft fly bridge … I would want to be able to navigate the river Witham across the Wash and down the Great Ouse to Bedford… is the boat too big is my idea not possible your advice would be most welcome

Simple Answer..... Don't do it... Way Way too much boat for those Rivers

 

[MajorClanger]

Thankyou for your replies the reason I like the 44 ft is because I intend to spend a lot of time in her and I like my creature comfort..the suggestions given don’t really emspire me would there be some other suggestion of a nice looking boat preferably with fixed double cabin and en suit … I know I ask a lot .. Thankyou in advance

 

[[2574]]

This is a good Ouse boat: Sancerre 33 Boat for Sale, "Warrior" at Jones Boatyard

A 44ft sea going flybridge motorboat would be an eternal liability on the river. You need a river boat..

 

[Momac]

No good picking any boat if you can't get it under the bridges on the rivers you mentioned.

 

[MajorClanger]

I used to live at Great Barford on the great Ouse now I’m at tattershall bridge on the witham and would like a boat capable of travelling between to two rivers up to a price of £75k

 

[Greg2]

I would echo much of what has already been said.

I would suggest thinking about what you really want to do - are sea trips really for you or do you just like the idea? The Wash is not for novice boaters because all rivers/ports are tidally restricted and there are lots of sands that dry out at low water so knowing your onions in terms of navigation is very important. At low water there are no safe havens nearby so if you have a problem it could turn into a big one.

If you really want to cruise the rivers that you have mentioned forget a flybridge boat - height and beam (width) are crucial due to the size of some locks so find out what the maximum sizes for boats on those rivers are to inform your search. We bought our first boat from LH Jones and that isn’t a bad place to start looking.

 

[[2574]]

I used to live at Great Barford on the great Ouse now I’m at tattershall bridge on the witham and would like a boat capable of travelling between to two rivers up to a price of £75k

What you really don’t want is two big turbocharged diesels offering 400hp+ on the river, single engined 50hp much more suitable for lots of reasons. If you lived at Barford you know pretty well that you couldn’t get a 44ft fly bridge boat through the bridge.

 

[snowbird30ds]

Anything with much mor than 8'2" airdraft is not going to do it, at 8'2" I had to take horns off the roof many times for offord lock in a normal summer, and if it draws much more that 2'8" it will be touching the bottom on lots of the gt.ouse.
Cruisers bigger than 35' are rare on gt.ouse for very good reasons, they don't fit.
Save loads of dosh and look at old ocean 30's/ RLM 31's/Princess 32's/Sancerres, fly bridge is a huge no no.

 

[Parabolica]

I used to live at Great Barford on the great Ouse now I’m at tattershall bridge on the witham and would like a boat capable of travelling between to two rivers up to a price of £75k

in 1979 my Dad bought a brand new Fairline Fury mkII from Harry Kitcheners in Bedford. It was his (our), first boat and i was eleven.

On our first boating holiday, from Bedford destined the Wash, I remember the drama of the very first lock which if i recall correctly, was only a handful of inches wider that the boat itself and the guillotine didn’t clear the screen by much either. Similarly the next obstacle was Barford bridge which we barely scraped through also. Having lived there you must know that. Our boat then was just a 26’ sports boat and the pain of making our way along and regularly grounding the outdrives too, meant we never returned choosing Buckden marina instead fir home as things got better from there on.

If you want a 44 footer with a flybridge then i’d suggest you are choosing to have a coastal boat only, pure and simple. A halfway measure would be a Broom type boat with a raised rear helm that is not as high as a flybridge but still you would have to be Thames based such as Harleyford or Broads based. I’d rule out the Ouse for anything much beyond 30’.

However, don’t be put off by the boats‘ size as others have suggested, as with the right tuition for half a day or so to get you going (if staying river based), you’ll be absolutely fine. For Coastal usage though, of course you should do things properly and get the relevant courses under your belt.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Do your research. Look at all the Bridges on those Rivers and find out their heights. Also Factor in any tide, Also look at any width restrictions there might be. This is stuff you need t properly research yourself. People on here cannot do it for you

 

[MajorClanger]

Thankyou for all your words of wisdom.. I’m disappointed I can’t have the fly bridge and I continue to look … I intend to live about for many weeks at a time I just found this .. hopefully it’s not too big but still has all I want from her

 

[Bigplumbs]

Have you researched the Bridge heights