Csail
N/A
Don't often come on here but where do you lot go if your stuck in a river.....don't you get bored of the same river?
Thames boating
- Thread starter Csail
- Start date
rosssavage
Active member
"you're", as in "you are"
oldgit
Well-known member
Speaking as an "outsider",think the Thames is so long as a boaty area that some inhabitants may well travel further than than some coastal types.Down here on the Medway find that our dozen or so trips up to the freshwater bit each year provide a welcome alternative to the vaguaries of the weather which can marr and even prevent coastal boating
We have many folks in our club who spent long happy years on the Thames and who if pushed will admit they did finally fancy a change,but would go back if circumstances changed.
Have friends who keep boats in the Med and spending six hours with that nice Mr Ryanair only to go past the same dreary dull brown bit of coast on every trip would soon get me bored.
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Captain Coochie
Active member
Do you not get bored of the same bit of coast ?
Bilgediver
Well-known member
Only if he ays his dues and gets through the Tiger Bay Barrage....He has the Ely river and River Taff as well as Cardiff Bay to explore but needs spring tides to make it into the big city
.
TrueBlue
Well-known member
The same question occurs to me -
on occasion, when I try to explain to non boaty folk.
We live near on the South Coast and the prospect of churning back and forth on the same bit of featureless shingle backed shoreline had nothing to offer.
Being a raggie had attractions as "proper boating", but I couldn't see SWMBO handling all those sheets - and planning ahead. Anyway it's a short season.
And so to the River. I agree, if one's pleasure is a short hop at weekends, then I suspect we would tire of it pretty quickly, same scenery, same pubs.
However, our style is to spend more time on the water and travel further. The boat is so equipped that I could have worked from it.
We cover the whole of the non tidal bit with occasional forays to the Smoke and up the Lee.
So the short answer for us is NO. Apart from the huge variety of scenery and conditions, the occasional forced stop to negotiate a lock where we can interact with the lock keepers and other boaters is a welcome and often very pleasant break.
This is why we WILL strive very hard to ensure that the locks are staffed by resident lockkeepers in the future. Without them the River descends into not much more than a very big canal.
on occasion, when I try to explain to non boaty folk.
We live near on the South Coast and the prospect of churning back and forth on the same bit of featureless shingle backed shoreline had nothing to offer.
Being a raggie had attractions as "proper boating", but I couldn't see SWMBO handling all those sheets - and planning ahead. Anyway it's a short season.
And so to the River. I agree, if one's pleasure is a short hop at weekends, then I suspect we would tire of it pretty quickly, same scenery, same pubs.
However, our style is to spend more time on the water and travel further. The boat is so equipped that I could have worked from it.
We cover the whole of the non tidal bit with occasional forays to the Smoke and up the Lee.
So the short answer for us is NO. Apart from the huge variety of scenery and conditions, the occasional forced stop to negotiate a lock where we can interact with the lock keepers and other boaters is a welcome and often very pleasant break.
This is why we WILL strive very hard to ensure that the locks are staffed by resident lockkeepers in the future. Without them the River descends into not much more than a very big canal.
Csail
N/A
round here yes...but still got ireland,france and spain on our doorstep.
Richard Shead
Slipped Anchor
So have
Most Thames based boaters!
You have to try the Thames to appreciate it, there is nothing better than meandering up the Thames with a beer in hand when the sun is out.
Equally its a quick blast (ok a bit of planning needed) to the tideway proper.
The Thames is one of the finest rivers not just in the UK but in the world in my opinion.
Most Thames based boaters!
You have to try the Thames to appreciate it, there is nothing better than meandering up the Thames with a beer in hand when the sun is out.
Equally its a quick blast (ok a bit of planning needed) to the tideway proper.
The Thames is one of the finest rivers not just in the UK but in the world in my opinion.
boatone
Well-known member
pheran
New member
We did - get bored that is. We were on the Thames for years with work as the greatest constraint on how far we could go, apart from the annual holiday. But when we retired and had more time, we faced up to just how bored we had become with shuffling a few miles in one direction, then a few miles in the other. So we took ourselves off, changed the boat to something big enough to live on for six months at a time and spent most of the last decade exploring the coast and inland waterways of the near continent. Despite a late start, we still managed to cover 1100 miles in the first year we were over there.
Health problems now mean we have now had to give up continental cruising but it is an experience we thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to any retiree(s) who want to get a bit more out of their boating.
Loggo
Member
Has anyone any comparative experience of boating rivers (Thames,Severn,Broads,Trent etc.) and care to name a favourite ??
TrueBlue
Well-known member
Thames - obviously
Severn.
Big locks; as it used to carry seagoing boats. Operator controlled; can't see them.
Very high banks, so you can't see the countryside.
Very few mooring places.
Most folk use it as a place to get somewhere else.
Nene
Very pretty
Manual locks
Seven guillotine locks unelectrified, and emasculated by Elfin Safety, so a complete s.o.b to wind. SWMBO wont go there again because of them. Otherwise we enjoyed our trip to Fotheringay and back.
Nominate the Thames.
oldgit
Well-known member
Wobbe wobble ?
"but still got ireland,france and spain on our doorstep."
But "we" on the Thames get a nice selection of decent pubs and resturants with a wine list at the end of each and everyday day plus a nice peaceful 8 hours unworried slumber,in contrast to wobble wobble at 45 degrees for hours and hours on end and, a luke warm fray bentos pie for supper closely followed by 3 hours disturbed kip fretting in the dark until the early weather forecast confirms the wind and sea state will be just as bad as the late night one six hours before but only in your sea area.
"but still got ireland,france and spain on our doorstep."
But "we" on the Thames get a nice selection of decent pubs and resturants with a wine list at the end of each and everyday day plus a nice peaceful 8 hours unworried slumber,in contrast to wobble wobble at 45 degrees for hours and hours on end and, a luke warm fray bentos pie for supper closely followed by 3 hours disturbed kip fretting in the dark until the early weather forecast confirms the wind and sea state will be just as bad as the late night one six hours before but only in your sea area.
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SimonA
Active member
I live right next to the Nene, my boat is on the Great Ouse.
The locks on the Nene are hard work, plus there are a few very low bridges to watch out for. The plus side is you can go all day and not see another boat.
No Regrets
Active member
How could anybody get sick of the Thames?
140 miles of varying scenery, from the natural seclusion of Oxfordshire, through the celebrity laden shores of Berkshire, down to our fantastic Capital city and beyond to the muddy shores of Essex and Kent, with access to the southeastern coast and Europe.
In between, lots of smaller Rivers and Canals to explore, each leading to an entire network of other tributaries.
What's to be missed compared to elsewhere?
Thames boating is also statistically very safe (Unless moored at harleyford as I type...) and predictable, with almost any sub 40 foot vessel being suitable for day to day use, including generic Narrow boats.
140 miles of varying scenery, from the natural seclusion of Oxfordshire, through the celebrity laden shores of Berkshire, down to our fantastic Capital city and beyond to the muddy shores of Essex and Kent, with access to the southeastern coast and Europe.
In between, lots of smaller Rivers and Canals to explore, each leading to an entire network of other tributaries.
What's to be missed compared to elsewhere?
Thames boating is also statistically very safe (Unless moored at harleyford as I type...) and predictable, with almost any sub 40 foot vessel being suitable for day to day use, including generic Narrow boats.
Andrew_Fanner
New member
I've boated reasonably regularly on the Bristol Avon, Severn and Medway as well as the Thames and enjoyed all of them. The Thames still has the most variation between busy commercial waterway to quiet and remote countryside and has some of the best, and most famous, views in the world. On the Severn I always felt that the journey itself was a necessary evil between stopping points. The Medway was always let down by being awkward in places, even though I still regard it as my "home" river! I have fond memories of the Bristol Avon, some great pubs, Bath and Bristol Docks.
CX54WEK
New member
We are based on the Fossditch/Witham so have easy access to the Trent, Ouse and Humber as well as the Wash Estuary and the Norfolk Coast. Plus a multitude of smaller inland rivers and dare i say it canals if we so wish. It may not be the most upmarket of places to keep a boat (although dont let the residents of Burton Waters hear that
) but it offers a wide variety of cruising grounds with relatively cheap mooring fees, running costs and maintenance fees.Our favourite inland waterways have to be the Norfolk Broads though. It is where our love of boats and boating began, which is why we are heading there for our summer holiday this year.
We have yet to visit the Thames but it is high on our list of places we would like to visit with Naughty-Cal. It will just have to wait its turn.
Brayman
Active member
I want to be there when you come to the Thames and you come face to face with No Regrets! I may even sell tickets.
CX54WEK
New member
I want to be there when you come to the Thames and you come face to face with No Regrets! I may even sell tickets.
Whys that then?
No Regrets
Active member
He sells tickets to subsidise his Boating
