Saul Junction via Severn, Avon, GU to Bascote

[rustynewbery]

Try looking at Farsons digital webcams for the Severn and Avon, especially Tewkesbury. They are live and show  river levels!  Both rivers are really no  go during the current stormy weather.  The Avon can go up and down in a heartbeat while the Severn is more predictable coming from deepest Wales, look you.

 

Good luck when you finally get under way.

[ditchcrawler]

22 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

@The Dreamer was talking specifically about Avon lock at Tewkesbury, not all the locks on the river.  That one is manned (well womanned actually!) and is usually operated for you. 

Yes, she is particular who she lets in. Getting on the Avon from that end without a licence is not easy.  I also paid to moor overnight below the lock when I went up the Severn from Gloucester last summer.

[john6767]

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

Yes, she is particular who she lets in. Getting on the Avon from that end without a licence is not easy.  I also paid to moor overnight below the lock when I went up the Severn from Gloucester last summer.

Surely she is happy with anyone who pays out the £50 for a licence.  But you can only go through the lock during opening hours.

 

Looking at the Avon webcams it is running high at the moment as you would expect!

[rustynewbery]

This from the webcam at Tewkesbury Severn level

[ditchcrawler]

Just now, john6767 said:

Surely she is happy with anyone who pays out the £50 for a licence.  But you can only go through the lock during opening hours.

 

That was my point

[rustynewbery]

Only fit for duck and swan at present??

[Dre]

Finally moved onto the boat... Good thing Saul Junction is such a pretty place cos I'll be here for the foreseeable future! ???

 

[TheBiscuits]

6 minutes ago, Dre said:

Finally moved onto the boat... Good thing Saul Junction is such a pretty place cos I'll be here for the foreseeable future! ???

 

Good stuff, hope you are enjoying it.   I'll just remind you of our earlier conversation:

 

On 12/02/2020 at 21:25, Dre said:

So.... If I'm gonna wait some time for the Severn to behave... What suggestion do you have for a new boater on a new boat to get busy with?

Practice... Maintenance... Brass polishing??? 

 

On 13/02/2020 at 10:29, TheBiscuits said:

Take a cruise down to Sharpness just because you can.  

 

Run the engine hard for quite a few hours to see if the boat can cope with it before you try to navigate the Severn.

 

If your new-to-you boat hasn't been worked hard by previous owners, it could overheat when you run it hard for a long time.

 

You won't get a better spot to work it hard on a canal than on the G & S - it's big enough and has a higher speed limit than most canals, so you can open up the throttle on a tin slug quite a bit more than usual., and keep it there for a while. 

 

If it can cope with 4 or 5 hours solid cruising at high revs you will be fine going up the Severn when it's open again.  If it can't you are much better finding this out on non-moving water than when you are on the river!

 

 

[stagedamager]

Once the levels drop your timetable is fine. We picked our pair of boats up from Saul Junction in October 2014, and our days were as follows......

Evening to Gloucester. 

Day 1 Gloucester to Comberton Quay above Strensham Lock.

Day 2 Comberton Quay to Stratford.

Day 3 Stratford to Tom 'o the Wood

Day 4 Tom 'o the Wood to Wolfhampcote

Day 5 Wolfhampcote to Cosgrove

Day 6 Cosgrove to MK.

 

We did about 12 hour days and with a pair the southern stratford was double locking. We were on a schedule but it wasnt too bad.  Good luck with your trip.

 

Kind regards

 

Dan 

 

[Dre]

Thanks for the reminder. That's great advice. 

I'm also thinking of doing a full service. I have the specs from Beta Marine's pdf but I'll check for codes and take pics/measurements of filters and belts. I guess any motor factors around here should have them. 

Been looking at how to change skin tank coolant but still not sure how.

High winds forecast so I'm gonna wait before I go for my first cruise. 

So far I've replaced the RCD as it had blew up on test and empty engine bilge of a couple of inches of water. Clean water so I guess it's rain. Also cleaned Morso and flue and made my first fire!

Gonna check the electrics as in preparation for the new lifepo4s that I've ordered. 

 

Cheers

 

Dre

[Dre]

Just now, stagedamager said:

Once the levels drop your timetable is fine. We picked our pair of boats up from Saul Junction in October 2014, and our days were as follows......

Evening to Gloucester. 

Day 1 Gloucester to Comberton Quay above Strensham Lock.

Day 2 Comberton Quay to Stratford.

Day 3 Stratford to Tom 'o the Wood

Day 4 Tom 'o the Wood to Wolfhampcote

Day 5 Wolfhampcote to Cosgrove

Day 6 Cosgrove to MK.

 

We did about 12 hour days and with a pair the southern stratford was double locking. We were on a schedule but it wasnt too bad.  Good luck with your trip.

 

Kind regards

 

Dan 

 

That sounds faaaaast! 

 

I had two weeks to get to the stoppage just before Bascote via Stratford but I think I'll probably go up to Brum via the Severn when it opens as the Avon seems quite messy.

[stagedamager]

It wasnt that fast we were towing!!

We came up from Gloucester to tewkesbury during the back end if a bad storm and at times we were barely making 1/2 mph.....

And that's with 75hp!!

[Onewheeler]

40 minutes ago, Dre said:

Thanks for the reminder. That's great advice. 

I'm also thinking of doing a full service. I have the specs from Beta Marine's pdf but I'll check for codes and take pics/measurements of filters and belts. I guess any motor factors around here should have them.

Beta Marine are based near the canal at Quedgeley. They are happy for customers to call for spares. Very helpful. Make sure you know the engine model and date, or serial number.

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Onewheeler
addition

[Dre]

12 minutes ago, Onewheeler said:

Beta Marine are based near the canal at Quedgeley. They are happy for customers to call for spares. Very helpful. Make sure you know the engine model and date, or serial number.

 

Wow, that's awesome! You make TripAdvisor and Google redundant! 

 

You wouldn't fancy giving me some driving lessons would ya? 

[Ianws]

1 hour ago, Dre said:

Thanks for the reminder. That's great advice. 

I'm also thinking of doing a full service. I have the specs from Beta Marine's pdf but I'll check for codes and take pics/measurements of filters and belts. I guess any motor factors around here should have them. 

Been looking at how to change skin tank coolant but still not sure how.

High winds forecast so I'm gonna wait before I go for my first cruise. 

So far I've replaced the RCD as it had blew up on test and empty engine bilge of a couple of inches of water. Clean water so I guess it's rain. Also cleaned Morso and flue and made my first fire!

Gonna check the electrics as in preparation for the new lifepo4s that I've ordered. 

 

Cheers

 

Dre

Do you need to replace the skin tank coolant? If you need to it is messy from what I can tell. Are you bothered about the antifreeze or anti corrosion properties. You can check the antifreeze protection by testing. Changing the whole system won’t be cheap as it is a lot of antifreeze and from what I understand (welcome other ideas) may involve emptying the current coolant into your engine  bilge and removing it.There is often a bleed screw somewhere on your skin tank in the engine bay. 

[Dre]

1 minute ago, Ianws said:

Do you need to replace the skin tank coolant? If you need to it is messy from what I can tell. Are you bothered about the antifreeze or anti corrosion properties. You can check the antifreeze protection by testing. Changing the whole system won’t be cheap as it is a lot of antifreeze and from what I understand (welcome other ideas) may involve emptying the current coolant into your engine  bilge and removing it.There is often a bleed screw somewhere on your skin tank in the engine bay. 

I have no idea... All I know is that I want to ddo an engine service and the coolant should be replaced every two years 

[cuthound]

13 hours ago, Dre said:

I have no idea... All I know is that I want to ddo an engine service and the coolant should be replaced every two years 

 

If it needs changing I would flush the system with water thouroughly then change it for Ford Super Plus 10 year antifreeze at a 50% concentration.

 

Not cheap but means you only have to do a messy job every 10 years rather than 2 or 5 years.

 

https://www.msds.ford.com/cpc/productDetails.asp?pgn=2&FIRNo=194810

[nikvah]

On 12/02/2020 at 15:44, Dre said:

 

All I found is the info on the Avon Navigation Trust and there seem to be no stoppages in their warnings 

Hi There, 

now you've decided to enjoy the G&S for a while flooding may not be an issue when you move on. If you do come up the Severn and onto the Avon their website is worth checking out again: http://www.avonnavigationtrust.org/ the info you want is at the top of the home page:

 

Current and Previous Navigation and Flood Alerts Click: HERE ,right click the blue HERE and open, the latest Alert states, 

State of Readiness: FLOODCON 1 (see table below) Critical flooding most locks and mooring sites are only accessible by RIB.

 

Previous stoppage alerts (7/2/20) name Bidford Grange and Evesham locks as closed and others with shallow approaches caused by silt until further notice.

 

There are also links to EA sites for water levels and predictions https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/station/2050 for measuring stations along the way and links to Farsons Watercams.

I hope this helps.

Cheers, Nik?