ddaann_99

Good shout that thanks

Thanks for the tip, the Thames does look more appealing to be fair. Just waiting on permission from the owner now!

Thank you kindly all who have commented. I feel far better armed to take this on now. Much obliged!

Greart advice from everyone on here and I appreciate you all takng the time to chime in. I'm comfortable now that I can wind at the bottom of Isis lock, come back up and moor. If it's too busy to moor then heading back towards Banbury and taking a train might be an option as Athy says. We're hiring the boat not from friends/people we know but from a couple who have been privately hiring their narrowboat for the last 5 years or so. They did request an itinerary of names/ages etc from me to satisfy the requirements of their insurance. Beyond that I haven't asked about licenses etc if I'm being honest. In terms of the Thames I'm going to run it past the boat owners to see if they're OK with me taking the boat on the river and if their insurance covers it. Perhaps if I make good time getting into Oxford I'll head up Sheepwash and onto the Thames for a while. A few last questions if you'll endulge me... Is there likely to be enough room to turn my 62' boat at Port Meadow to head back down Sheepwash? Or alternatively, could I pay the Thames day fee at Godstow lock and carry on up to Duke's cut to rejoin the Oxford canal heading North back home?? Is it difficut to moor on this part of the Thames should we want to stop for a couple of hours, eg shallow banks etc? Do you have to pay to use proper moorings on the river? Apologies for the barage of questions here but I like to know what I'm doing in advance of getting there when the panic sets in!

Ahh OK, I understand now. I've been looking at pictures of the lock and clearly mistaken pics of the top for the bottom. Thanks very much. I think I'll head to Oxford and hope to get a mooring and wind at the lock bottom and head back if not. Thanks very much for your patience and advice.

Is it possible for a novice to turn a 62' boat just below the lock though? The signs seem to say 50' winding hole... I take your point about paying for a day's license though and making it a car ocular route including the short stretch of the Thames. Thanks to everyone for your input.

OK so do you mean go down Isis lock and continue heading south it all the way to where it joins the Thames and wind there? Are the currents there likely to cause problems for a novice boater? Where do they take the fee from you for joining the Thames? Cheers

Thank you kindly for the advice. Sorry but when you say the "easy lock" which lock are you referring to? As far as I can tell it's Isis lock or Duke's cut further up North?

Yes, I'm hiring the boat from a family rather than from one of the major hire companies like Black prince etc. Apologies if that's not the correct terminology.

Hi, Hope this post is in the correct place. I'm new here. Me and my family of five are fortunate enough to have secured hire of a lovely 62' narrowboat for our Summer holiday. This will be our second adventure into naviagting the canals and we're all genuinely excited. We'll be setting off from the Napton area just south of Birmingham and I originally thought it would be a good idea to head for Oxford as we have the boat for 10 days. After a little further investigation it would appear that visitor moorings at Oxford are a little on the sparse side and turning around should we fail to secure one (in August), might prove tricky with out 62' long narrowboat! Isis lock winding hole for example appears to be restriced to 50' boats. I did consider heading down the Grand Union to Hemel Hempstead as an alternative but my family were quite taken with the idea of seeing the sights in Oxford.... Is there anyone out there that can advise on mooring/turning at Oxford? I've read about people mooring on the Thames but as this is a private hire boat and only my second time doing this I'm a little worried about river currents and permission to do so etc. Many thanks in advance! Dan