Leaving the mooring?

[blackrose]

I work from home (boat) 70 - 80% of the time so I was thinking about leaving the mooring in spring and just plotting up in various places  and going back to get the car as required. I'm at the top of the R. Nene on a widebeam but I've only been about halfway to Peterborough before and unless I leave my mooring my cruising options are very restricted due to work - and due to being on a widebeam I hear you all shout in unison! ?. Never mind - I'm not that interested in the GU anyway, I did quite a bit of it over 20 years ago on my narrowboat and I hear it's busier than ever now.

 

Anyway, if I exit the river and go out onto the Wash I guess I have two choices - go onto the River Great Ouse or cross the Wash and go up the River Witham and eventually join the Trent. I don't know these waterways at all. Is any of this do-able for CCing in summer until I find a winter mooring somewhere? I wouldn't be able to move every day but I could move every few days perhaps.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I work from home (boat) 70 - 80% of the time so I was thinking about leaving the mooring in spring and just plotting up in various places  and going back to get the car as required. I'm at the top of the R. Nene on a widebeam but I've only been about halfway to Peterborough before and unless I leave my mooring my cruising options are very restricted due to work - and due to being on a widebeam I hear you all shout in unison! ?. Never mind - I'm not that interested in the GU anyway, I did quite a bit of it over 20 years ago on my narrowboat and I hear it's busier than ever now.

 

Anyway, if I exit the river and go out onto the Wash I guess I have two choices - go onto the River Great Ouse or cross the Wash and go up the River Witham and eventually join the Trent. I don't know these waterways at all. Is any of this do-able for CCing in summer until I find a winter mooring somewhere? I wouldn't be able to move every day but I could move every few days perhaps.

 

 

 

What is your airdraft ?

 

If you are happy going across the Wash and can get under the Glory Hole in Lincoln the plan is emminently achievable. Winter moorings available at Kings Marina Newark - a good place with every facility you could want with 500 yards of the marina (pubs, restaurants, cinema, supermarkets, DIY shops, etc etc).

 

Moorings on the Trent and Witham tend to be 48 hour so you'd need to move every couple of days, but you could hop up and down the Trent and Witham for the Summer / Autumn without issue.

[blackrose]

7 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

What is your airdraft ?

 

 

It's just over 6ft 

10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

If you are happy going across the Wash and can get under the Glory Hole in Lincoln the plan is emminently achievable. Winter moorings available at Kings Marina Newark - a good place with every facility you could want with 500 yards of the marina (pubs, restaurants, cinema, supermarkets, DIY shops, etc etc).

 

Moorings on the Trent and Witham tend to be 48 hour so you'd need to move every couple of days, but you could hop up and down the Trent and Witham for the Summer / Autumn without issue.

 

Thanks, sounds good.

[David Mack]

Continuous cruising is a BW/CRT concept. Will EA let you do it on the Nene or Great Ouse?

[blackrose]

18 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Continuous cruising is a BW/CRT concept. Will EA let you do it on the Nene or Great Ouse?

I agree it's a concept that's most popularised  on BW/CRT waterways simply because canals are easy to moor on, are generally safer and have that 14 day limit unless otherwise stated. However, I've met plenty of people CCing on EA waters so it's not a new concept. 

 

In terms of "letting you do it" the EA don't really have much of a say. As long as you're mooring and navigating within the terms of your licence you're treated the same as any other river user.

Edited November 24, 2020 by blackrose

[Alan de Enfield]

22 minutes ago, blackrose said:

It's just over 6ft 

Thats fine then.

 

It will take 15 foot beam (Just about touching both sides), there is a slight offset in the two entrances but you'll be fine.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2020 by Alan de Enfield

[blackrose]

Yes I'd easily get under that. Thanks for posting the picture, it looks interesting. What's in the building on top - a pub or shop?

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, blackrose said:

Yes I'd easily get under that. Thanks for posting the picture, it looks interesting. What's in the building on top - a pub or shop?

High Bridge, Lincoln - Wikipedia

 

High Bridge carries the High Street across the River Witham in Lincoln in eastern England. It is the oldest bridge in the United Kingdom which still has buildings on it.^[1] The bridge was built about 1160 AD and a bridge chapel was built dedicated to Thomas Becket in 1235 on the east side of the bridge. The chapel was removed in 1762. The current row of timber framed shops on the west side of the bridge date from about 1550. The two upper storeys of the shops are jettied forward and at the corners there are carved figures of angels. The shops were partly dismantled and re-erected in 1901–02 under the supervision of the Lincoln architect William Watkins.^[2]

Bridges like this were common in the Middle Ages, the best known being London Bridge, but most have long since been demolished because of their obstruction to the river flow and to shipping.

 

The 'Glory Hole'

The Glory Hole is the name given by generations of boaters to the High Bridge in Lincoln.^[3] It has a narrow and crooked arch which sets a limit on the size of boats using the Witham and going from Brayford Pool, at the start of Foss Dyke, to Boston and the sea.

Since the 14th century the bridge has contributed to floods in Lincoln and after any heavy rain the bridge is virtually unnavigable, which may be why it got its name.^{[clarification needed]} A design by William Jessop in the 19th century to reroute the waters of the Witham through the south of the town was never implemented.

The bridge is both a grade I listed building^[4] and a scheduled monument.^[5]

[pearley]

I'd echo what Alan has said about Kings Marina. A nice place to stay and all facilities nearby.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Worth reading up about Wash crossings. I've not done it, but there is a little bit more too it than just hang a left for Boston. Tides, deep channels, weather, VHF, pilots etc.

Jen

[calara]

The Great Ouse is nice as well. It gets progressively narrower the further upstream you go - but you should be able to get to St Ives easily enough. Some beautiful countryside, interesting towns and villages - and it's still EA so if you're already registered there should be no issues.

 

Get a pilot for The Wash if you haven't been across before - and never go out in any wind with a north in it!

 

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Worth reading up about Wash crossings. I've not done it, but there is a little bit more too it than just hang a left for Boston. Tides, deep channels, weather, VHF, pilots etc.

Jen

Yes I would get a pilot if crossing the Wash

Edited November 24, 2020 by blackrose

[pearley]

1 hour ago, calara said:

The Great Ouse is nice as well. It gets progressively narrower the further upstream you go - but you should be able to get to St Ives easily enough. Some beautiful countryside, interesting towns and villages - and it's still EA so if you're already registered there should be no issues.

 

Get a pilot for The Wash if you haven't been across before - and never go out in any wind with a north in it!

 

Yes, the Great Ouse is great which is why we are selling our narrowboat and moving onto a widebeam over there. Although the main reason is our son lives at GMC anf our doctor and dentist are there.

 

But Blackrose doesn't say how wide he is. 10ft is maximum for ease of locking.

[blackrose]

1 minute ago, pearley said:

 

 

But Blackrose doesn't say how wide he is. 10ft is maximum for ease of locking.

12ft. When you say ease of locking, how wide are the locks?

[Ex Brummie]

We moored at the visitor moorings just below the Glory Hole one night, and at about 1am, were awakened by the shouted most impassioned female voice in some foreign tongue. There was absolutely no-one in sight anywhere near. The buildings above have a very chequered history, part of which showed hostel type accomodation  for unfortunate females.

[GUMPY]

19 minutes ago, blackrose said:

12ft. When you say ease of locking, how wide are the locks?

3.35m at St Ives, well the lock is wider but the gates are 3.35m 

 

Locks below that and some above are 4.0m

Edited November 24, 2020 by Loddon

[Scholar Gypsy]

20 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Yes I would get a pilot if crossing the Wash

Here's some detail, including contact details for one of the pilots, Daryl.  https://scholargypsy.org.uk/washing/  He did a couple of crossings last year with a Dutch Barge, between  Nene and Great Ouse.  I can find their contact details if you are interested.

[blackrose]

47 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

We moored at the visitor moorings just below the Glory Hole one night, and at about 1am, were awakened by the shouted most impassioned female voice in some foreign tongue. There was absolutely no-one in sight anywhere near. The buildings above have a very chequered history, part of which showed hostel type accomodation  for unfortunate females.

That's probably the real reason it's called the glory hole! ?

Seriously dude, are you trying to tell us you heard a ghost? 

Edited November 24, 2020 by blackrose

[ditchcrawler]

47 minutes ago, pearley said:

Yes, the Great Ouse is great which is why we are selling our narrowboat and moving onto a widebeam over there. Although the main reason is our son lives at GMC anf our doctor and dentist are there.

 

But Blackrose doesn't say how wide he is. 10ft is maximum for ease of locking.

I remember @Biggles getting stuck at St Ives lock with his boat. The lock is in this blog, sorry the formatting has gone poor. https://nbharnser.blogspot.com/2012/08/friday-17-aug-2012-st-ives.html

[blackrose]

42 minutes ago, Loddon said:

3.35m at St Ives, well the lock is wider but the gates are 3.35m 

 

 

Thanks, that would be as far as I can go then.

39 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Here's some detail, including contact details for one of the pilots, Daryl.  https://scholargypsy.org.uk/washing/  He did a couple of crossings last year with a Dutch Barge, between  Nene and Great Ouse.  I can find their contact details if you are interested.

Thanks. If you have details please send me a PM

[ditchcrawler]

43 minutes ago, Loddon said:

3.35m at St Ives, well the lock is wider but the gates are 3.35m 

 

Locks below that and some above are 4.0m

And a kink in the wall below it, so length comes into it.  That is what stopped Biggles getting in.

[calara]

1 hour ago, pearley said:

Yes, the Great Ouse is great which is why we are selling our narrowboat and moving onto a widebeam over there. Although the main reason is our son lives at GMC anf our doctor and dentist are there.

 

But Blackrose doesn't say how wide he is. 10ft is maximum for ease of locking.

41 minutes ago, Loddon said:

3.35m at St Ives, well the lock is wider but the gates are 3.35m 

 

Locks below that and some above are 4.0m

 

We are 3.5m and sailed through St Ives. I think the the 3.35 is old info - the EA have adjusted the dog leg now and it's slightly wider - but it will still depend on length (we are 17m). We went as far as Hemingford Grey - the last lock was very tight and I don't think 3.56 would get through. Still plenty of the fens system to explore through - including some very small waterways - Burwell, Wicken, Little Ouse, etc. Even the FRC is interesting for a day or so.

 

 

[john6767]

Once you have got across the Wash, and then to the Trent, you could hang a right and go to Keadby.  From there you have lots of big CRT canals to play with.

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Once you have got across the Wash, and then to the Trent, you could hang a right and go to Keadby.  From there you have lots of big CRT canals to play with.

 

The North is built for "fatty's"

 

 

 

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, john6767 said:

Once you have got across the Wash, and then to the Trent, you could hang a right and go to Keadby.  From there you have lots of big CRT canals to play with.

Wouldn't I be hanging a left at Keadby if I was coming up from the Wash, R. Witham and then going down the Trent heading north?

Edited November 25, 2020 by blackrose