Slipways near Brentford on canal or river

[Philip]

Thinking about doing a one way trip from London to Nantwich to incorporate all of the Grand Junction canal and then the Birmingham & Warwick into Birmingham and finally back up the Shroppie, with a detour along the Regents Canal/Paddington Arm to include Islington Tunnel, before turning.

 

Just a couple of questions; are there any slipways in or near Brentford on either the canal or the River Thames? And would a two week time frame be enough to be comfortable, doing it in Spring or early Summer?

 

Thank you

[ditchcrawler]

From Nicks canal planner https://canalplan.uk/ this is the shortest route

 

This is a trip of 191 miles, 5¼ furlongs and 229 locks from Brentford Marina to Nantwich & Border Counties Yacht Club (nbcyc).

This will take 108 hours and 21 minutes which is 15 days, 3 hours and 21 minutes at 7 hours per day.

Edited December 14, 2019 by ditchcrawler

[eid]

There's a slipway in Isleworth on the Thames. See here.

[blackrose]

Yes, at the London Apprentice. I've had my boat out the water there at low tide. You'd have to contact the PLA to use it. 

[Scholar Gypsy]

Some slipways in this long list: http://www.riverthamessociety.org.uk/CMS/FILES/AccesstotheRiverThamesCOMPLETEPDF1.pdf  including two between Richmond and Twickenham bridges, on the south (Surrey) bank.  Some of the rowing clubs along the tideway might be able to help. 

Here's one of the Richmond ones, next to the White Cross pub:  LINK  (the entire tideway is on Google streetmap). If you put the boat in an hour or two  before high tide  then you have time to explore up to Teddington and then nip back down to Brentford 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Scholar Gypsy

[Philip]

Thanks all for the help!

[mark99]

Be careful on the tideway ones. Esp Chiswick. The hard bit on the slipway runs out when the river drops.

 

You could find yourself with a car sinking up to its differential stuck and watching the tide rise 1" per minute.

 

Don't ask how I know. But by fluke of century I got a mate nearby to rush down with a big vehicle with a tow rope to drag out the car just before we lost it under 2m water.

 

The car  with trailered bote overheated on the way home on the m4 to cap an epic day which still haunts me today!

Edited December 15, 2019 by mark99

[Philip]

Are Grand Union (Junction) Canal locks easy enough to single hand?

[Mike Todd]

35 minutes ago, Philip said:

Are Grand Union (Junction) Canal locks easy enough to single hand?

Plus and minus: easier in that you only have to open gates on one side, harder because you will need to rope off, to prevent boat from flying from one side to the other, but that is true even when crewed. In any event, you have to get off the boat up the ladder inside the lock when ascending so take centre line or whatever with you. Going down is not a lot different except that you again need to use a rope to keep boat to one side.

 

I've only done it fully a limited number of times, so full timers at it may have more to say (my experience these days is usually when the crew have gone ahead to set the next lock)

[Philip]

12 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Plus and minus: easier in that you only have to open gates on one side, harder because you will need to rope off, to prevent boat from flying from one side to the other, but that is true even when crewed. In any event, you have to get off the boat up the ladder inside the lock when ascending so take centre line or whatever with you. Going down is not a lot different except that you again need to use a rope to keep boat to one side.

 

I've only done it fully a limited number of times, so full timers at it may have more to say (my experience these days is usually when the crew have gone ahead to set the next lock)

Thanks!

 

For those who have done both, how do these locks (both Grand Junction and the 1930s locks north of Braunston) compare to the wide locks down to Chester - easier or harder?

[David Mack]

Last year I took Belfast from Little Venice to Langley Mill, singlehanding almost all of the way. All wide locks, except for Watford and Foxton. Its doable, and you soon work out your own techniques for doing it efficiently. I quite often choose to haul the boat in/out of locks, even though it is a heavy boat, to save the need to go up and down the lock ladders quite so much.

[mark99]

Single handed both types. Not huge difference.

 

Typical risk assessment

 

Take your time

Don't get distracted (other boaters are worlds worst at doing this to single handers)

Limit trips on roof

Limit lock ladder use

Wear good shoes

Beware ice

 

You know all this already.

 

The ones I do a lot at the mo on my own are the River Wey.... now when going up on these you definately have to be careful!

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, mark99 said:

Single handed both types. Not huge difference.

 

Typical risk assessment

 

Take your time

Don't get distracted (other boaters are worlds worst at doing this to single handers)

Limit trips on roof

Limit lock ladder use

Wear good shoes

Beware ice

 

You know all this already.

 

The ones I do a lot at the mo on my own are the River Wey.... now when going up on these you definately have to be careful!

I think No2 is the biggest risk single handing or with a crew

[Philip]

The slipway at Isleworth looks the best bet. Is it as complicated making the preparations to use the Thames in London as it is for the Manchester Ship Canal? I might be tempted by a trip up to Tower Bridge and back before making the journey north!

 

The other option I'm looking at is forgetting the Thames altogether and using the slipway at Harefield marina, then boating down to Brentford before turning around, so that I'm still starting from the beginning. How long does it take from Harefield to Brentford please?

[Scholar Gypsy]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

The slipway at Isleworth looks the best bet. Is it as complicated making the preparations to use the Thames in London as it is for the Manchester Ship Canal? I might be tempted by a trip up to Tower Bridge and back before making the journey north!

 

The other option I'm looking at is forgetting the Thames altogether and using the slipway at Harefield marina, then boating down to Brentford before turning around, so that I'm still starting from the beginning. How long does it take from Harefield to Brentford please?

If you want to try the tideway (a challenging and  busy stretch of water) I would recommend taking the Regents canal to Limehouse and then going up-river to Brentford.. You'll need VHF radio, and someone qualified to operate it (NBs under 45' are exempted, but it's still very useful).  I would also strongly advise lifejackets, anchor etc, and a well maintained engine (in particular clean fuel).

 

Depending on when you want to travel you will need to book passage at Brentford and Limehouse. It is not really feasible to do a return trip from Brentford to Tower and back in a single day.

 

Lots more advice here:

• PLA guidance: https://www.boatingonthethames.co.uk/Cruising
• A website built by narrowboaters: http://thamescruising.co.uk/ 
• A blog of a recent tideway trip that I did, going down to Limehouse:  https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2019/11/12/tideway-trip-from-teddington-to-limehouse/

If you want experienced crew then several people (including me) offer to do this...

 

[Philip]

11 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

If you want to try the tideway (a challenging and  busy stretch of water) I would recommend taking the Regents canal to Limehouse and then going up-river to Brentford.. You'll need VHF radio, and someone qualified to operate it (NBs under 45' are exempted, but it's still very useful).  I would also strongly advise lifejackets, anchor etc, and a well maintained engine (in particular clean fuel).

 

Depending on when you want to travel you will need to book passage at Brentford and Limehouse. It is not really feasible to do a return trip from Brentford to Tower and back in a single day.

 

Lots more advice here:

• PLA guidance: https://www.boatingonthethames.co.uk/Cruising
• A website built by narrowboaters: http://thamescruising.co.uk/ 
• A blog of a recent tideway trip that I did, going down to Limehouse:  https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2019/11/12/tideway-trip-from-teddington-to-limehouse/

If you want experienced crew then several people (including me) offer to do this...

 

Thanks for your advice and offer. The Thames through London is something I'd like to do and in a way would be a shame not to do it while the boat is there, but will only have two weeks max to get from near enough central London to Nantwich, so leaning towards Harefield Marina as the 'launch pad'...at the moment!

[Scholar Gypsy]

5 hours ago, Philip said:

Thanks for your advice and offer. The Thames through London is something I'd like to do and in a way would be a shame not to do it while the boat is there, but will only have two weeks max to get from near enough central London to Nantwich, so leaning towards Harefield Marina as the 'launch pad'...at the moment!

That sounds quite sensible!

[blackrose]

On 17/12/2019 at 10:01, ditchcrawler said:

I think No2 is the biggest risk single handing or with a crew

I usually do a No2 before setting off in the morning when I'm single handing that way I don't need to leave the helm. Or did you mean slipping on a No2 left by an inconsiderate dog owner? ?

Edited March 3, 2020 by blackrose