RIVER TRENT

[mach1]

WE ARE NEW TO BOATING   

 WE ARE THINKING  OF GOING FROM TORSKY TO NEWARK , BUT A BIT WORRIED , AS ITS  20MILES  OUR TANK IS ONLY 5.5 GALLONS  BUT HAVE  80 LITERS 

ON BOARD ,  ITS A 20HP OUTBOARD    IT DOES ABOUT  1.6 GALLONS PER HOUR SO I WONT GET THERE  WITHOUT  TOPPING UP  IF THER IS NO MOORINGS

 HOW CAN I DO THIS ?????? PLEASE 

[nicknorman]

There are moorings at Cromwell lock, 17 miles from Torksey. If you go up with the flood tide you should make a good speed. What speed does your boat make through deep water?

[peterboat]

With the tide you will make it easy, couple of hours to Cromwell at narrowboat cruising speed, as Nick says there are moorings at Cromwell [normally the floating pontoon is full but last two times this year has been empty] so I see no problems with your journey at all

[mach1]

I DON'T KNOW WE HAVE ONLY BEEN ON THE  WHITAM   

 BUT JUST HAVING A 20HP 4 STROKE FITTED  ITS A 23FT NORMAN  IT DID 6MPH WITH A 2 STOKE 15HP 

 

WE ARE  A COUPLE OF  OLDIES  NEW TO BOATING SO A BIT SCARY,  ONLY DID THE BROADS WHEN WE WERE  30

 

 THEY JUST TOLD YOU TO DRIVE ON THE RIGHT  AND LEFT YOU TO IT  , NOW IN OUR 70s  EVERTHINGS A WORRY 

 

 GLAD OF ANY ADVISE  SORRY FOR  CAPS   CARN'T FIND MY GLASSES

  DOUG

[doratheexplorer]

Are you sure your figures are right?  1.6 gallons an hour from a 20hp outboard sounds awfully high.  Do you mean 1.6 litres an hour?  If your tank is 5.5 gallons, that's 25 litres and at 1.6 litres an hours you'd have about 16 hours of cruising before filling up. 

 

Is your outboard petrol or diesel? If petrol, you really shouldn't be storing 80 litres on board.

 

There is also a pontoon at Dunham where you can stop and refuel. 

 

Get a copy of the Sissons chart for the Trent.

 

 

https://hnbc.org.uk/sites/default/files/trent_leaflet.pdf

Edited August 12, 2019 by doratheexplorer

[mach1]

FIGURES    ARE RIGHT IT DOES ABOUT  4 HOURS    PER 5.5 GALLON TANK  THAT WAS WITH THE 15HP  2 STROKE ,  THE   20LTR  JERRY CANS ARE STORED  IN CARRIERS ON THE BACK OF THE BOAT 

THATS HOW WE   GOT IT 

 

  WHAT WAY IS  ABOVE TORSKEY  IS THAT TOWARDS NEWARK ?  I DONT THINK WE SHOULD BE LET OUT , WHATS A SISSONS CHART ?

 

[nicknorman]

Without wishing to be scaremongering, the Trent between Torksey and Cromwell (a few miles before Newark) is tidal and yo7 should be aware of the tide times and flow pattern. Lock keeper at Torksey can give advice. Since there is flow on the river you should have an anchor in the unlikely event of engine problems. Many people use lifejackets on that stretch.

 

But the general idea is to wait on the pontoons below Torksey lock whilst the tide is going out, then as soon as the tide turns (which it does very quickly) you head off up stream with the flood tide, which gives you a following current. That far up river, the tide comes in over about 2 hours and out over about 10 hours so you don’t want to mist the tide, otherwise you will be battling current all the way. The tidal effect gradually peters out as you approach Cromwell, depending on the height of the tides.

Edited August 12, 2019 by nicknorman

[doratheexplorer]

Then you seem to have a real gas guzzler!

 

Legally you cannot store more than 30 litres of petrol on a boat in containers.  So your insurance will be invalid and you would be open to prosecution should anything bad happen.  Also, storing that amount of petrol is highly dangerous.

 

Reading between the lines of your post, my opinion is that you are not ready for a trip on a tidal river.  Given the other difficulties relating to your boat, I would not do the trip, or if you must, transport it by road.

[mach1]

 WE JUST WANTED  TO DO THE TRIP   WE ARE  MOORED  NEAR TATTERSHALL PERMANTLY , SO WE SEEM TO BE LOCKED IN   THE WITAM & THE FOSSDYKE 

 SHOULD WE DO SOME  TRAINING  OR   KEEP  USEING  THESE RIVERS TILL WE GET BETTER 

 

 SCARED NOW  DO OTHER THAT HAVE OUTBOARDS  USE THIS AMOUNT , AS NOT MANY PLACES TO GET PETROL ON THE RIVER ?

[Mad Harold]

9 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Then you seem to have a real gas guzzler!

 

Legally you cannot store more than 30 litres of petrol on a boat in containers.  So your insurance will be invalid and you would be open to prosecution should anything bad happen.  Also, storing that amount of petrol is highly dangerous.

 

Reading between the lines of your post, my opinion is that you are not ready for a trip on a tidal river.  Given the other difficulties relating to your boat, I would not do the trip, or if you must, transport it by road.

A20hp four stroke will probably burn a gallon per hour at full power.At say 2/3rds power about 3 litres per hour.

There is a legal maximum amount of petrol that can be carried not only for your own safety,but petrol carried above the legal amount will endanger a wider area if the worst happens.

Not trying to be clever,but suggest you recruit a more experienced boater to accompany you on your first trip on the Trent.

[doratheexplorer]

48 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:

A20hp four stroke will probably burn a gallon per hour at full power.At say 2/3rds power about 3 litres per hour.

There is a legal maximum amount of petrol that can be carried not only for your own safety,but petrol carried above the legal amount will endanger a wider area if the worst happens.

Not trying to be clever,but suggest you recruit a more experienced boater to accompany you on your first trip on the Trent.

That still sounds high to me but a lot less than 1.6 gallons an hour. At 1.6 gallons an hour, you'd have less than 3hr30mins before your fuel runs out.  I would not risk that.  The pontoon at Dunham is your only safe option.

58 minutes ago, mach1 said:

WE ARE  MOORED  NEAR TATTERSHALL PERMANTLY , SO WE SEEM TO BE LOCKED IN   THE WITAM & THE FOSSDYKE 

 

 

 

You also have the Witham Navigable Drains and the Sleaford Navigation.  IMO your boat and set up is not suitable for a tidal river journey.

[Mad Harold]

1 minute ago, doratheexplorer said:

That still sounds high to me but a lot less than 1.6 gallons an hour. At 1.6 gallons an hour, you'd have less than 3hr30mins before your fuel runs out.  I would not risk that.  The pontoon at Dunham is your only safe option.

Yes,these are pessimistic (safer) figures,at canal speeds (3-4mph) my old 10hp Yamaha used to burn about 1ltr per hour.At higher power settings,the fuel consumption used to increase dramaticaly.

A rough rule of thumb (from my flying days) was, 5 gall per hour per 100hp produced.

[mach1]

Thanks  for the advise ,  we have been to see  the  lincoln lock  by car and torskey spoke to Niel  the lock guy lovley man  he said he would tell us when to go

 

then to cromwell lock  by road to see the lock guy Grag another great guy  he explaned  everything ,

 

 so as advised  we will be   driving // sorry sailing around till next  year  when we have learnt more , not a captain yet only a deck hand !

 

we met  some lovely people on the river  so far , got lifejackets /ankor / big wieght on a rope/ trent map with red lines on it 

 

carnt find the lines ?............so watch out for us next year  it will be the boat with L plate on,

 

 

 thanks   DUG& SANDRA

[Scholar Gypsy]

Good luck.  Here are a few photos of the tidal trent between cromwell and torksey, in case of interest ..

 

https://nbsg.wordpress.com/2019/06/06/spring-cruise-5-cromwell-via-torksey-to-lincoln/

[Alan de Enfield]

19 minutes ago, mach1 said:

trent map with red lines on it 

 

carnt find the lines ?............

 

Yes - its a right pain when someone has moved the red line........ you just have to hope it comes back with the next tide - problem is that it usually doesn't.

 

When you say "anchor / big weight on a rope" what sort of anchor is it ? (pictures ?)

[mach1]

looks like an SAS  climing thing 4 prongs fold down is this ok ?

 

we thought this would be so easy 

 

 best doug

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, mach1 said:

looks like an SAS  climing thing 4 prongs fold down is this ok ?

 

we thought this would be so easy 

 

 best doug

 

No - it is no good at all.

 

One of these ?

 

 

That is really the worst possible type'

 

 

Have a look on Gumtree or Pre-loved  for something that looks like these :-#

 

You should really be looking for a "CQR" or a "Plough" type of anchor with a weigh of about 15kgs.

You need to attach (ideally) 60 feet of 10mm anchor chain and then 40 feet of 19mm rope.

 

These types of anchor :

 

CQR

 

 

 

Bruce

 

 

 

Plough

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[nicknorman]

14 minutes ago, mach1 said:

looks like an SAS  climing thing 4 prongs fold down is this ok ?

 

we thought this would be so easy 

 

 best doug

No, that sort of thing is only good for rocky sea bed. For muddy gravelly rivers you need a Danforth type.

 

https://www.svb24.com/en/danforth-anchor.html#fullSize

Edited August 26, 2019 by nicknorman

[mach1]

THANKS  I THOUGHT ALL  ANCHORS WERE THE SAME

 

 BEST DOUG

[Alan de Enfield]

27 minutes ago, mach1 said:

THANKS  I THOUGHT ALL  ANCHORS WERE THE SAME

 

 BEST DOUG

No - they are all totally different and different designs for different conditions. Add into the mix an improvement in designs and there are many to choose from.

 

Many narrowboaters use the Danforth type - they are not very good at 'holding' but they fold flat so store easily on a boat with not much room - its a performance against convenience choice they have to make.

With your boat it can be kept in the 'proper place' on the bow and ready to deploy so a better performing anchor is no problem for you.

 

Anchor comparison 

Danforth 29 / 70

Bruce 40 / 70

 

 

 

I have a 'Bruce' on my cruiser, and a Mantus / Manson Supreme on the  Catamaran

 

(The cruiser at Cromwell on the Trent)

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[mach1]

THANKS ALAN  

 but why do i need an anchor  its a 23ft cruiser  dont i just moor up ( puzzeled doug)  are we to old for this ?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

16 minutes ago, mach1 said:

THANKS ALAN  

 but why do i need an anchor  its a 23ft cruiser  dont i just moor up ( puzzeled doug)  are we to old for this ?

Its main purpose for us inland boaters is to stop the boat in a flowing river if you have engine failure. Hopefully you'll never need it, but if you need one you will really want it to work! Better than being swept on to a weir, or on to a mud bank on a falling tide.Gives you time to sort the problem out, or have someone come to your rescue.

 

Jen

Edited August 26, 2019 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Alan de Enfield]

34 minutes ago, mach1 said:

THANKS ALAN  

 but why do i need an anchor  its a 23ft cruiser  dont i just moor up ( puzzeled doug)  are we to old for this ?

 

Going back a few years the Army had a night exercise on the River Trent - a boat was swept over the weir at Cromwell and 11 of the 12 died.

There is a memorial to them at the Lock.

 

Rivers are dangerous places - unlike the canals where if the engine stops you can get off and walk to the bank.

 

A few years ago we were at Cromwell lock when a boaters engine stopped, the current 'got him' and was taking him towards the weir, he dropped anchor (which failed to set) it was dragging and eventually set with him only 100 yards from the weir.

We eventually got a line aboard and towed him back to Newark.

 

Without an anchor the outcome may have been very different.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Alan de Enfield

[nicknorman]

And even without the presence of weirs, when you get “down and dirty” on a tidal river like the Trent, you don’t want to be out of control subject to the whim of the currents following an engine failure. Dragged through bushes and trees, through posts and mooring jetties etc by an inexorable 3 mph (or worse) current.

 

Of course if your boat is properly “sorted”, the probability of an engine failure is quite low. But even so with the dire consequences, a relatively cheap safety measure like a decent anchor makes sense. If it is a new to you boat, and you are unfamiliar with its foibles and reliability at high power, it would be foolish to not have a decent anchor.

[Stewart Kirby]

Ignorance is bliss. We left Keadby with a New Zealand couple who had just bought a narrowboat from Thorne the day before. They had half a days experience, no anchor, no VHF, a crappy single page chart. They had no problems, but it could have been very different.