Overnight precautions

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ryds-steve

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Hi All

Generally how safe is it to overnight on the thames?

My wife and i spent our first night on the boat earlier this week, we moored on an island just below Sonning and really enjoyed it but after reading stories of people being set adrift ect i cant help being a little concerned.

We generally use the boat from Reading to Maidenhead but will be eventually venturing further afield.

Obviously it depends a lot on where you moor, i'm guessing it's best to choose somewhere 'in the middle of nowhere' rather than near a town, and are there any places in particular to avoid?

Any useful tips would be much appreciated, plus hopefully some reassurance that these problems are unusual rather than the norm.

Thanks....
 
Without wanting to tempt fate, I have never really had a problem in twenty years of bibbling about on the river, although i have heard one or two stories.

As OldGit says on this thread you should be able to obviate a lot of problems by dropping an anchor, also use rings etc where available and loop your lines back to the boat - I think any passing miscreant may pull out a mooring pin but they are unlikely to jump on your boat.

Mooring miles from anywhere is nice, but so is exploring some of the great riverside towns and villages, don't be put off!
 
One particular area to avoid is outside the swimming pool in Abingdon. Mill Meadows in Henley is another area where sometimes boats are set adrift.
 
Anchor in is always a good idea but ive never been set adrift . If you drop the anchor just over the side of your boat then others comming in late wont snag on it and if you do come adrift you will just go away from the bank by half you beam ( depending on how you do it )
 
Don't want to tempt fate either but in thirty odd years i've yet to meet anyone personaly who has been set adrift, i never drop the anchor. Just make the boat secure as you would normaly, river is safe as anywhere so just use common sense.
 
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Thanks for the comments guys, i'm feeling much more confident about our next trip out,

Good advise dropping the anchor whilst moored, that will go a long way to me actually getting some sleep....

Cant wait for the weekend now......:)
 
Its pretty safe , just use common sense.

Some people have a cable made up that they can pass through a ring on the shore and back onto the boat and secured with a padlock.

That way even if they CUT your lines , you'll stay put. Any good chandlers can crimp you up a cable.

Did 6 years of Henley week moored in Mill Meadows , oiks everywhere , but never set adrift.
 
apollo said:
Hurley Lock moorings also a well known hot spot.
Click to expand...

Stop being a doom and gloom merchant !

How long have you been on the Thames?
How many times have you been 'interfered with' ? (Mooring-wise, that is !)
How many people do you know that have been interfered with - and I mean actual confirmed incidents, not just leaning on the bar tittle tattle......
 
I was set adrift in an open neck shirt

Only once in 25 years some drunken oaf tried to set us adrift in Windsor - just by the kiddies fairground thingy - but made so much noise I woke up before the job was completed.
 
boatone said:
How many people do you know that have been interfered with - and I mean actual confirmed incidents, not just leaning on the bar tittle tattle......
Click to expand...

I can confirm one actual incident, Brocas at Windsor 1981 during the royal wedding celebrations, saw a Freeman 23 mid stream early in the morning flipping yobs from that posh school down the road:D
 
I was almost set adrift in my Princess 435 at Windsor a few years back. They had let my bow go and were working on the stern when my dog went on deck to say hello. It was his claws tapping above my head that woke me. I leapt up and they ran off. Other than that I have had no experiences.
 
boatone said:
Stop being a doom and gloom merchant !

How long have you been on the Thames?
How many times have you been 'interfered with' ? (Mooring-wise, that is !)
How many people do you know that have been interfered with - and I mean actual confirmed incidents, not just leaning on the bar tittle tattle......
Click to expand...

Have had kids board the boat at hurley and may have untied if had not chased them off.

Also woke up at lady linseys lawn in the middle of a rave with kids smoking dope as far as the eye could see.

Like others hassle at park opposite brocas.

Not doom and gloom just unfortunate experience.
 
Reading alongside near Tesco is a place to avoid. Even during the day with boats moored as far as the eye can see two scroats came aboard presumably to steal things but wife was aboard and they ran off.

I have been set adrift before, pins pulled out, but only once and not on the Thames. Several times on the River Wey though in the past although the culprits were caught.

Bring your lines back aboard is good, generally the Thames is fine, certainly where we moored, away from towns, there is unlikely to be any problem. I've never had a problem in my 40 years on-and-off on the Thames.
 
Ermmmm

Did 6 years of Henley week moored in Mill Meadows , oiks everywhere , but never set adrift.[/QUOTE]

We were 16, some would consider us the oiks.....

On saying that there was always at least one person up all night....
 
We were set adrift at Abingdon, outside swimming pool, along with about ten other boats. OK as we had anchor down. Certainly Henley/Mill Meadows has had boats let go as well.

IanC
 
Sorry I'm one of those that has been set adrift (in my previous boat, a Birchwood, ten years ago). Above Sonning lock, where there are no mooring rings, and quite a lot of pedestrians and cyclists on their way to Reading. Both mooring spikes pulled out and just thrown into the river, fortunately the next morning we were just a few metres from the bank as there was a slight wind towards the bank and a low flow towards the weir. When mooring there now or similar places I tend to put a spare line round a tree.

But in 20 years of boating on the Thames I guess that's not bad.
 
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