What is the smallest motor boat to fit Thames?

Gedimin

Gedimin

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I'm curious, with all the traffic on Thames (Richmond to Canary Wharf), tides, choppy water - what are the minimal measurements that would not be dangerous on the river? Type of boat, length, height of freeboard, depth of V etc. Sorry if the question is silly - I normally do sailboats in the south, but never been on private motor boat on Thames.

And by the way, why there are so few (if any?) private motor boat tours on Thames? Only crazy speedboats or large 100-passenger mammoths.
 
i have done that trip in a 13 foot dory-- richmond to the dome----it gets bouncy past the houses of parliament but nothing dangerous----the most difficult part is the amount of rubbish in the water----i caught 3 fertiliser type bags and had to chuck the anchor out once while i cleared
the prop ----on the plus side i came back with 3 lifebelts and an enormous polyform bouy./fender that were floating about
 
any small boat that you would be happy to take out to sea will do----the anchor is the important bit ----have it rigged and ready to chuck out if needed
 
I've used my 20ft Colvic motor cruiser between Limehouse and Teddington a few times. The boat is fine. It is rough out there but no problem just not very relaxing!

There are a few pleasure boats out but there is very high density of commercial trip boats including the high speed thrill ride ribs so it's always pretty choppy specially around high tide with all the waves bouncing off bridges and walls.

Wind over tide can be a problem as well I had my 57x12ft barge slamming near the millennium bridge once. Bows out of water completely then slammed into the next wave.

My latest boat is a 32x11ft twin screw steel trawler which I think is going to be a bit more comfortable down there. Yet to try it but it's got to be better than a 20 footer !
 
It isn't too bad on the comfort front to be honest. The lack of height reduces the motion considerably.

CJL
 
Smallest boat we ever did the trip to St Kats with was a Shetland 4 plus 2 with a 15 horse Evinrude. Trips were okay but waiting for the lock for an hour or so was seriously dangerous, largely due to the Fast Cats and the Rib Experience boats which delight in coming as close as possible to cause maximum damage to your on board kit and maximum stress to the crew.
 
I went to school on the tidal Thames at Greenhithe. We used to row, sail, and motor all types and sizes from 12ft to 42ft throughout the year and all states of tide.
 
Portland Billy said:
I went to school on the tidal Thames at Greenhithe. We used to row, sail, and motor all types and sizes from 12ft to 42ft throughout the year and all states of tide.
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Worcester lad I assume?
To be fair the Thames is a different beast down there. "Through the Bridges" is a different game altogether.

Having said that do think the OP's question is somewhat piece of string. Like all things nautical 6Ps come to the fore.
 
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