Morningmist

Many thanks Drayke & John6767 for the marinas that stock smokeless Coal, when I get closer to Reading I will give them a call. I have telephoned leaving massages for Chris on Fuel Boat Merchant, but as, yet I have had no reply. Many thanks to you all for your help.

Closures on this part of the Thames as far as I am aware have all been lifted, I have tried to contact Chris by email and phone without success. I believe we passed by his barge in Staines Upon Thames the other day, but it looked very much still laid up. So I will try to contact him again.

Many thanks for that information, Magnetman, will definitely call into Bourne End Marina when passing. Moored up today, enjoying this gentle breeze!

Thank you, PD 1964 I have done as you suggested and have been able to open up a couple of useful leads. No coal yet, but there is hope.

Slightly off track, We are livaboards on a narrow boat making our way up the River Thames, currently at Windsor slowly making our way towards Oxford. We are running low on smokeless coal. Anybody out there who knows where we can stock up? We don't have access to a vehicle.

Slightly off track, We are livaboards on a narrow boat making our way up the River Thames, currently at Windsor slowly making our way towards Oxford. We are running low on smokeless coal. Anybody out there who knows where we can stock up? We don't have access to a vehicle.

Yes, that's just about our lifestyle as well, progress driven only for the need of fuel, water, provisions and the sense of curiosity. Thank you for your honest insight to winter voyaging, with added delays due to river levels and winter stoppages, and for the valuable advice given by local lockkeepers.

Admittedly ferry gliding a 70ft narrow boat for the first time will concentrate my mind somewhat, but at a displacement of 25 tons I don't even want to imagine the damage I could cause if it all went wrong. So I think I will take it quite easy, and I don't need unnecessary self-imposed excitement at my stage of life, been there dun that!!!, My engine is the standard Beta 43 driving an 18" Crowther propeller, so I hope it will be up to what I ask of it. Thank you all again, this is giving me plenty to think about and the link with the tidal gauges is excellent and live webcams as well, 90 cubic m of water per second is a lot of water, certainly far more than can come out of some CRT water taps!.

Brilliant, thank you very much for the links, have just signed up for their notifications and newsletter.

Cheers for that, and respect duly given to old father Thames. Apart from the warning boards, does the Environment agency or Thames Authority issue navigation notices similar to CRT? Is there a suitable App or web page to follow or download?

Point taken, What's a greed board???? Joking, I have read something about these boards, but have yet to see one and judge what it really means to the river flow. Again, advice very much welcomed and appreciated.

Thank you all for the very useful comments and information, it has helped me make up my mind to go for the Gold licence and enjoy my time on the Thames. Firstly, it's obviously the right time of year to buy the licence, and as there are clearly free mooring to be had albeit on a short term basis I can continue my meandering along slowly, I am 71 and still have to do all this and the Pontcysyllte, the Caldon, and much more, so I shall take my time and do this section of the waterway justice before moving onto another adventure. I have yet to experience cruising on a river, and your various helpful comments and obvious enthusiasm for the Thames has inspired me to embrace the challenge fully. Thank you all again and wish you all a good cruising 2022.

Thanks for the advice about the refund from CRT, if I end up buying two X monthly licences it will cost me more than a Gold licence, so another way of asking my question is, is 5 or 6 weeks enough time to cruise the Thames and the Basingstoke canal and get up to Oxford without having to rush, or because of the lack of free moorings 6 weeks would be a complete overkill? I appreciate that many would push through this area in probably a week, but being now retired, rush is something I have now left behind on the other side of the towpath.

As livaboards we currently have a standard CRT Licence to continually cruise. We left Foxton Locks on the Leicester section of the GUC in June 2021 and have been slowly making our way South down the GUC and are now at Hemel Hempstead area. Our Plan is to continue south down to London, Regent's Canal, Lime House Dock, and then back up the Thames to Oxford and then up to Braunston, possibly detouring to visit the Basingstoke canal and/ or Bristol. Given that we have never cruised the Thames before, is it worth going for the Gold Licence? Or would it be more realistic to just buy the appropriate river licence as needed? My understanding from the various guides seem to suggest that most moorings on the Thames are charged for, which may mean that our leisurely progression may have to pick up speed a little so as not to be prohibitively expensive. Any advice would be most welcome.

Our walk through wet room is quite large for a narrow boat (70ft) being 7ft long, the distance between the shower area and the loo is approximately 700 mm. I understand that this would put the loo in zone 3. Given all the very helpful advice given on this site, I am coming to the conclusion that fitting a 240 v appliance in any sort of bathroom on a boat is not really such a good idea, so its back to the option of a cassette or a pump out. Thank you all, for your advice and guidance, I am very grateful for helping me make a decision.