The happy Thames

I agree with 'outinthedinghy'.
The widebeamers may 'pay their way', but the sheer size of them and the space they need is detrimental to others enjoyment.
A very selfish breed of craft.
Perhaps we need a maximum length ruling - 45 ft would be a good start.
 
100% agree with OP. We’ve had 5 years now of taking our electric barge from Brentford to Oxford and back over the 6 warmer months and love it. We do contribute to the obstacles in the water with 2 kids and a flotilla of paddle boards and kayaks, but are all pretty good at keeping out of the way. We love the variety - big town / city shops and restaurants one day, a remote field the next… and the uncertainty about where you might be able to stop adds to the sense of adventure.
 
Outinthedinghy said:
Anyway I'm having a run from Henley to Oxford this week so anyone running engines while stationary is forewarned.

You will be torpedoed ;)
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never found a installed genny to be a pain, unless they are moored next to you, however the nasty two stroke banshee horrors frequently found rattling away on the river bank .
 
Anyway going up river I noticed that the moorings between the school above Sonning lock and the Oracle park now have "no mooring at any time" signs, courtesy of the EA.

Those were quite handy moorings.

I could understand it if it was private but seems a dodgy precedent for the EA land.

Or maybe oracle park pulling a fast one ? The signs are well made on proper posts and have Environment Agency printed on them.
 
Outinthedinghy said:
Anyway going up river I noticed that the moorings between the school above Sonning lock and the Oracle park now have "no mooring at any time" signs, courtesy of the EA.

Those were quite handy moorings.

I could understand it if it was private but seems a dodgy precedent for the EA land.

Or maybe oracle park pulling a fast one ? The signs are well made on proper posts and have Environment Agency printed on them.
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Are you able to identify these moorings on the EA list that they provided some time back
 

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Probably. The signs look very new. I did chat with the lock keeper there as he came out with his ash pan but the moorings are above the lock so I had not seen the signs. If I see him on way back down I will ask.

I think the ones between the school and the lock are still available but other side of the school was 325m of very nice peaceful visitor moorings.

I know that Oracle have a man in a caravan to manage their site and they don't do signage.
 
Came dowstream from Penton Hook for our Xmas cruise yesterday and we were the only boat on the river. I think this is the first year when we have done this that there isn't a single yellow board notice on the Thames and it is around 10 deg and quite warm for the time of year.

Most moorings totally empty and good to see Winifred and the splendid restored Amadeus at Weybridge.

All the locks were on self service but there seemed to be a lock keeper at each one doing tidying of offices and lock gardens so we made good passage down to our first stop at lower sunbury as they all came to help. Fab Chinese meal at the Moon in Moon and all you can eat for around £20. They cook everything to order rather than a buffet so it is a great way to try out things and it was very busy.

Lovely to see the d'oyly carte island and moorings being used again too and they have made a lovely job of making it another great place to moor on the Thames.

A few slumboats on desborough cut and further down towards sunbury lock but a lot of the narrow and un-named boats seem to have gone now but it is winter so they may return and the mess some of them make on the bankside is disgusting.

Next stop Hampton Court Palace for Xmas day on board boaty and the river is so calm and peaceful at the moment so get out there and enjoy it.
 
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We were out last two weekends, always enjoy the quiet times of the year, we were around Windsor and Runnymede, all locks were on self serve but did get some assistance at a couple of locks, only saw one or two boats moving all weekend.
Earlier in the year when were upstream there were noticeably fewer cruisers about, often surrounded by wide beams.
Penton Hook is slowly filling up with wide beams, especially since West London boat sales moved in. Have a look in the hard standing yard to the side of the craning area, it’s full of brand new shiny ones!
 
I see that even a ‘happy’ thread can run aground of the rocks in the river…. Lol

The widebeam thing is interesting though. I can’t work out if people are feeling ‘not happy’ about all widebeam boats or just certain ones?

I suspect it’s the latter, simply because it’s a big river and there is, really, plenty of space for everyone.

But it’s a ‘big river’ with a lot of ‘not quite perfect’ boats of all flavours lining the banks in certain places. (I’m trying to maintain my happy thoughts here….). Some of these watercraft have slight imperfections that are causing them to slowly sink, some have their former beauty hidden behind tattered tarpaulin that haven’t been looked underneath for years. Many many boats on the river and in marinas haven’t seen a cleaning brush or any TLC in an age, and lay in the water looking like the unloved children from Oliver..

There are all sorts of em. Yes, some of them are of the widebeam variety, but I’m guessing more aren’t. If you have a pet hate for one sort of boat or another, I’m pretty sure that’s what you’d notice more of, but there are plenty out there.

I think that if they could find a way to remove all of the unlicensed boats ( yes I know…. Ha ha…….Haha…. Etc) there really would be plenty of river for everyone. We popped out for a short day cruise below wallingford in the summer, on a day that an EA boat driver was perhaps a little less chilled than is common, because they had been sticking enforcement notices on everything. There were an amazing number of boats with the red and white notices stuck to the window, including a really surprising number of nice looking boats floating at the bottom of nice looking houses. Didn’t see stickers on many widebeams though, and I think his enforcement enthusiasm had run out just before he reached any of the scruffy, filthy, lets over run the towpath with all my litter type liveaboards. Anyone know where you buy the cloak of invisibility that these boats use so the EA can’t see them????
 
Hello Gavin, your post is a welcome view of the happy side of boating and is a reminder that the Thames is a wonderful river that we really enjoy being on. We use our boat most of the year, probably only January and February that it is little used, depending on river conditions of course. It always amazes me how some boats only seem to be used for 2 weeks each year, whilst I enjoy warm weather boating I like this time of year when the river is really quiet.
Even though we saw many longer boats on the river we managed to moor more or less where we wanted whilst away for a few days or a few weeks, so you are correct there is plenty of room for all. We had many a laugh and chats with many of the wide beams owners, more than ever before. I don’t dislike any boats, it’s just that I don’t like widebeams as much as cruisers, barges and the many other types of boat we all see, I love the diversity on the river and get great pleasure watching all the different boats go by.
 
I'm on a cruise up river left Henley day before yesterday now at Shillingford. The River is wonderful, as always and a joyous thing it is to be able to enjoy it at this time of year with summer levels and no lock closures.

Just brilliant. I might even have a go at Lechlade.

Lechlade in December is not something I have done before!
 
At Hampton Court Palace now and just us, two wide-beams and a narrowboat here but it was deserted when we arrived this morning.

The river is amazing and almost flat calm for the time of year as the reflexions are evident.

Once again self service boards at the one lock down from Sunbury but as we tied up the lock keeper came out of his hut and saw us through so her ladyship didn't even have to get off.

A few nice pints of Aspall cider in the mute swan with a good friend and all set for a full Xmas dinner on board tommorow.

It is 10 deg and only down to 6 at night so compared to home on the North Pennines it is very good for the time of year.
 
Well the River seems to be turning red.

I turned around at Clifton Hampden and back down in Henley now. Quite a lot of water about but levels not up much.

Interesting to see how this goes as the met office have rain on the forecast for most of the next week.

Could be quite exciting.

Moored at fawley for the night it's nice and wide here but still some movement on the River. Marsh lock was about 60% drawn (rough estimate I did not inspect the weir closely).


Rowers arrr out no doubt trying to get a personal best on SOG.

Hmm. Maybe speed over water would be more useful?
 
Nice tootle down to Shepperton Lawn and once again lock keepers appear from nowhere to help us out!

stopped at The Anglers Walton for some turkey, gamon and stuffing butties with coleslaw and cranberry sauce and now the only boat at Shepperton Lawn!

I have seen all those yellow and red boards upstream so just one more night out at Laleham then back to the safety of the marina!
 
There was a delay on the updates to the river conditions websites which could have caught people out.

This morning the website was showing yellow from Marsh down but yesterday afternoon Marsh was on red. So that had not been updated in 15 hours...

Hambleden this morning all 4 large gates open on the weir. Very much red boards but was showing as yellow this morning.
 
I hope you get back ok Teddingtown. River conditions changed quite quickly over Christmas.

Re boats not moving: I typically clock up around 200 engine hours a year on mine and I logged over 800 miles in 2021; I’m out as often as I can, and yet someone said to me that my boat doesn’t move much.
Being retired, I’m usually out on weekdays and tend to go home for the weekends when the river is busier, get laundry done, see family members who work all week etc., then back out Monday or Tuesday. He works M-F and only goes to his boat on weekends, hence he normally sees mine unattended on its home berth.
 
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Only spotted one narrowboat yesterday, heading upstream through shillingford. Flow has picked up quite a bit in the last couple of days and levels slowly rising.

Hope everyone gets to wherever without too much excitement…

The view out of the window today is definitely in ‘bleak beauty’ mode. The wind blowing downstream is making the flow look even faster and the river appears even grumpier than it actually is, and a couple of the swans heading towards Benson are certainly doing over the speed limit…

It might not be cruising weather, but still view to enjoy.
 
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