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Gloucester to London by canal


keithgell

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On ‎26‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 13:59, keithgell said:

She does not have a mooring organised.  I thought she just needed a canal license to moor on the Lee river.  She wants to live on the boat.

 

 

 

Here we go again...………………….

On ‎26‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 13:19, keithgell said:

Hi

 

Mr daughter has bought a canal bout and I have to get it from Gloucester to London by canal.  What is the best route?

 

I have never handled a narrowboat before, will I pick it up as I go?

 

Thanks for the answers,

 

Keith

Why not go by road much easier...……………..

Edited by Halsey
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1 hour ago, Rob-M said:

For a first journey I wouldn't recommend going up the Avon as the locks can be fierce if not operated carefully. Going up the Severn the wide locks are operated for you so will be no problem, the only wide locks to do yourself will be when you come off the river at Worcester, but these are ok, and then you are in to plenty of narrow locks.

Very much in agreement Rob. The combined time and effort for the 16 user worked locks on the Avon I would rate as being easily more than doing the 30 locks of the Tardebigge flight. When I single handed the Avon the locks were 20 to 30 minutes each for the full cycle. 10 minutes per lock single handing Tardebigge is no problem.

 

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
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Update from CRT for Gloucester lock -  

“Despite success in removing water from the lock by using high capacity pumps, we are currently unable to make the lock watertight (water is leaking in from both the canal and river). This means we can’t create a safe working area for our teams to carry out the required repairs.”

 

They go on to say they are now discussing the possibility of using divers, if that fails then dams etc.

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P&S Marine at Watford seem to be the place to be craned in near London and will give you a nice little run into London to get used to the boat too (once the stoppages are finished)

Heres a top bloke for road transport - http://www.mjtcranes.co.uk/transport/tuckeys/

You may have to be pesistent to get hold of him though..

 

Edited by PaulJ
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IM(H)O it would be a great shame - or worse - if you were not able to cruise the boat to its final destination - even if the reason for having it is 'merely' for accommodation.

You both should learn a helluva lot about boating and boating folk during the journey as well as passing through some wonderful scenery (even the grotty stuff has some charm).

 

The knowledge gained on boat handling - not to mention learning about the boat's  internal workings (and those items which don't work) will be a valuable asset.

 

Is it not possible to have an extension on the removable date - because of extenuating circumstances? OTOH, CRT may be helpful in moving you around the Gloucester obstruction if their works overrun?

 

I would - more than just encourage you, nay, insist that you undertake the journey 'self propelled'. Neither of you may undertake that trip again, or even part of it.

Our first trip on a hire boat was on the Warwickshire Avon in flood   and then the Severn - which was similarly 'full of water'. We just did it - with no regrets or panic. We're still boating some 30 years later.

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1 hour ago, PaulJ said:

P&S Marine at Watford seem to be the place to be craned in near London and will give you a nice little run into London to get used to the boat too (once the stoppages are finished)

 

 

A few months ago I met a brand new sailaway at Common Moor Lock, the first lock you come to when heading from P&S Marine towards London. More at:

 

 

Edited by David Mack
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2 hours ago, David Mack said:

A few months ago I met a brand new sailaway at Common Moor Lock, the first lock you come to when heading from P&S Marine towards London. More at:

 

 

I guess they knew as much as many of us did when we got our first boat-just the standard of boat is somewhat better and more reliable.

Maybe its not the most sensible way of doing things but many years later not a decision I ever regreted and you tend to learn fast..

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A lot more good advice has been posted since my last post on this topic, and in your shoes I would definitely take up the offers of help from celiaken and/or mrsmelly.

Apart from learning about coping with the various difficulties of being a liveaboard on the Lea, your priority at the moment should probably be to get the boat prepared as best you can, whether you end up going to London by road or by water. It's a good rule of thumb that most things cost more in London. Meanwhile you have to wait and see how long CRT will take to get the Gloucester Dock open, and consider what options you might have if it's still closed when your 28 day deadline is up, for example is there some temporary location you could get to and moor at until the lock opens? I don't know that area, but others on the forum with local knowledge could help you.

 

If going by water, the shorter route via the K&A should probably be ruled out because of that stoppage at lock 16 that's been mentioned, as you won't get past there until 2nd April. Also this removes the need to face the perils of the Severn estuary. Get mrsmelly to take you up the Severn and onto the canals, teaching you stuff along the way, and the two of you should cope OK after that. But if you want help with the rest of the journey, ask and someone else will probably come forward. I've done long canal trips myself helping several people from this forum, and the going rate is just to provide your crew with their food and somewhere to sleep.

 

If you end up going by road, depending on the date I may well be available to meet you at P&S Marine and help you for at least your first day's boating getting down the GU  locks to the Paddington Arm. My 60+ Oyster card can get me there, the Metropolitan Line crosses the canal right next to the marina.

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38 minutes ago, Peter X said:

 the Metropolitan Line crosses the canal right next to the marina. 

I hate to break it to you - but you can't just jump off the train next to the marina! It's a long drop and in any case, that sort of thing is frowned upon. You have a 15 minute walk from either Watford or Croxley stations... ?

https://goo.gl/maps/YxMfLJKEjAK2

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Indeed, I knew that. It's not unknown for companies to have their own railway station, for example I think there's one called IBM near Greenock in Scotland, but somehow I don't think the marina is important enough to get one.

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You could always lift out at Saul Junction and go back in at Calcutt, that would still give you a good boat run through London to the Lee and would hopefully sort any problems before you leave your daughter to it. I suggest calcutt because they have their own lifting cradle and can drop you in the GU

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14 hours ago, Peter X said:

Indeed, I knew that. It's not unknown for companies to have their own railway station, for example I think there's one called IBM near Greenock in Scotland, but somehow I don't think the marina is important enough to get one.


IBM have been [got the grant, built the building] and gone.

Last time I passed there was acres concrete rubble and suchlike, those green fields lost forever.

Edited by LadyG
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14 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

You could always lift out at Saul Junction and go back in at Calcutt, that would still give you a good boat run through London to the Lee and would hopefully sort any problems before you leave your daughter to it. I suggest calcutt because they have their own lifting cradle and can drop you in the GU

If the OP is paying to lift and road they might as well go as close as possible after all the boat is unlikely to move again?

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2 hours ago, Halsey said:

If the OP is paying to lift and road they might as well go as close as possible after all the boat is unlikely to move again?

It would appear the OP has it sorted as he hasnt looked in for three days.

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On 26/02/2019 at 18:03, Peter X said:

If an inexperienced boater is going to do a move by water, first read the CRT boater's handbook and get someone to help you especially for the first part of the journey, and especially when on a river. As for the Severn, even people with experience of other rivers will hire a local pilot if they want to go down onto the K&A.

Even on a canal, I feel it's a good idea not to attempt to go single handed until you have done at least a week with someone as crew. It's so much easier to do the locks if there are two of you.

It seems it won't be a single handed trip and there will probably be help (assuming it's happening at all), but whilst that is probably good advice I just wanted to point out it's not impossible to go single handed as a first timer - it's what I did, though admittedly I'm far from a normal narrowboater (I'm far from a normal anything!) and had gots lots of experience on sailing boats. Yes locks are easier with two, but whilst the first couple of days were a bit hairy, by the end of my trip I was locking almost as fast as crewed boats (I reckon I probably lock quicker than a lot of crewed boats now I've got the routine nailed). Meanwhile as mentioned, the non-tidal Severn is a real doddle - the locks are powered and manned so you just sit on the boat whilst somebody else does it for you, not even any need to tie off to anything IME. As I don't think it's been mentioned, until 24th March Severn locks are closed Tuesday and Wednesday, other days 08:00 to 16:00 but you have to book passage 24 hours in advance by phoning Gloucester lock. From 25th March hours are 08:00 to 18:00 no need to book. I happen to have this open as I was just checking myself (and looking forward to the 25th, I really need to be able to move on Tuesday or Wednesday if I'm going on a trip!) https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/13858/opening-times-for-the-river-severn-and-gloucester-and-sharpness-canal-2018-2019

 

Oh and I think it's already been covered, but despite having plenty of experience on tidal waters (including the Severn estuary) in smaller craft there's no way I'll be taking my NB from Sharpness to Bristol until I've got a year or so of experience under my belt - that fundamentally ruled out some of the possible options I was looking to buy which would otherwise have involved a long trip round via London.

On 02/03/2019 at 06:38, Rob-M said:

Going up the Severn the wide locks are operated for you so will be no problem, the only wide locks to do yourself will be when you come off the river at Worcester, but these are ok, and then you are in to plenty of narrow locks.

The barge locks to get up to Diglis basin are easy (so long as you don't get the unwanted help of a CRT chugger - maybe I should relate my tale about that on here...) If you were feeling nervous you should be able to find somebody to help if you wander up to the basin, lots of helpful folks here.

On 02/03/2019 at 11:30, OldGoat said:

IM(H)O it would be a great shame - or worse - if you were not able to cruise the boat to its final destination - even if the reason for having it is 'merely' for accommodation.

You both should learn a helluva lot about boating and boating folk during the journey as well as passing through some wonderful scenery (even the grotty stuff has some charm).

I couldn't agree more - my delivery trip from where I bought the boat was one of the best adventures I've ever had (and I've had some pretty incredible ones) and likely to be the best boating trip I'll ever have. Getting my boat out of the marina it was moored in with 10 minutes experience at the helm of a NB is still the hardest thing I've yet had to do though!

Edited by aracer
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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Maybe not relevant for the trip but Gloucester lock is to remain closed for the foreseeable future.

 

http://narrowboatworld.com/11350-severn-causing-problems-to-lock-repair

Yeah, I think we've done that and I know most of my post is academic - you still have to phone Gloucester lock to book passage through the other Severn locks for the next couple of weeks though.

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Update from crt on Gloucester lock. 

They will install a temporary dam so they can drain and repair the lock.  Latest plan is to start installing the dam from 25 March.  No indication of when the lock will be useable, guess they need to drain it to asses the work required.

 

I am planning on going up river in mid April................

 

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