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Southern GU cruising advice


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57 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Maybe it is an option but I have not seen it. I always thought that a 'mobile' was registered to the person and could be used on any boat.

 

My handheld has its own license. It's also recorded on the fixed (Ships Radio) License. 

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1 hour ago, Quaffer said:

I hope you enjoy your visit to the southern Grand Union and London.I usually spend the "off season"( Nov-March) on the southern Grand Union mooching about and spent December 19 -Feb 20 in central London,where I also volunteer for CRT.

 

Never had any problem finding moorings on the southern GU. The busy part of the Paddington Arm starts at Kensal Green,and if you want a towpath mooring from there you may have to take what's available ,as opposed to where you might like to target.The bookable moorings at Little Venice,Paddington Basin and the London Canal Museum are popular because they give visiting boaters certainty.

 

The Regents Canal is generally nose to tail ,but gaps will appear.The same applies to the Hertford Union .Breasting up is common and the liveaboard community is much younger and more idealistic than you experience elsewhere on the canal system.I've never had a polite request to breast up being turned down,but if you can ask first.

 

South of Mile End on the Regents Canal there are far fewer towpath moorers,but this may give you pause for thought about stopping there.Strength in numbers does seem to apply ,and never forget that you are in Inner London.

 

Limehouse Basin has excellent 24 hr moorings,while most of the Limehouse Cut is uncrowded but maybe for a reason .The towpath around the Olympic Park and up to Hackney Wick is very popular and crowded but generally gaps will appear from Hackney Marsh ,with a noticeable thinning out after Stonebridge Lock.

 

As part of the on going discussions about the London Mooring Strategy,CRT said they will produce a mooring "heat map" for the London canal system so hopefully this will back up my comments.

 

Try not to be put off by negative comments,especially from people who never visit the London Canals.

Lovely stuff.  Thanks for all the info!  I'm more than happy to rub shoulders with the young and idealistic.  Makes a change from many of the grumpy old t*ssers from the midlands! :D

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Just now, blackrose said:

 

My handheld has its own license. It's also recorded on the fixed (Ships Radio) License. 

 

As are mine but they have their own callsign not attributed the the boat.

 

My licence is entitled :

Ships Radio Licence / Ship Portable Radio Licence

 

(and covers both)

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1 hour ago, Phoenix_V said:

afaik the requirement is to have a vhf for which you need a (free) licence you don't need a licence to operate it if you don't use it or only use it in an emergency.

Not correct, the PLA regulations state that you must have VHF and a qualified operator on board

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2 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

This year I'm thinking of exploring a new (to me) waterway.  The GU South of Braunston.  My plan is to cruise from Braunston to London and back from April to August, or thereabouts.

 

I know things get busy in London.  I've walked the Regents canal from Little Venice to Limehouse in the past and seen the wall-to-wall double moored boats, and wish to avoid that.

 

My idea is to cruise towards London, moving on about once a week.  Then when things start getting too busy to moor up easily, take a couple of weeks off work and cruise straight into London, stay on booked moorings (Paddington maybe?) for a few days and then head back to where things are quieter.

 

My question is, where do things start getting awkward for mooring?  Tring?  Berkhamstead?  Hayes?  I have no idea really.

 

And no need for the usual 'London is a shitehole' comments.  I happen to love London.  It's a truly fabulous city.

 

Thanks all, D

It would be a shame to cruise all the way to London and not go right through. Limehouse is an easy day from Paddington where there are 24 hour moorings. Worth exploring the Bow Back rivers whilst you are around there. Also the Lee and stort are worth doing but you would need a week extra to get to see the nice bits.

 

we have a overnight bookable  mooring at the London Canal museum in Kings cross as an alternative/addition to Paddington.

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20 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

It would be a shame to cruise all the way to London and not go right through. Limehouse is an easy day from Paddington where there are 24 hour moorings. Worth exploring the Bow Back rivers whilst you are around there. Also the Lee and stort are worth doing but you would need a week extra to get to see the nice bits.

 

we have a overnight bookable  mooring at the London Canal museum in Kings cross as an alternative/addition to Paddington.

I'm concerned that I'll be cruising for hours to find a mooring.  I'd looked at the museum moorings and there are drawbacks, especially if I want to stay put for a week, which I do.

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6 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I didn't get one and I've got a couple of 'fixed rdaio licences' (one for each boat) and a couple of licences for portable radios.

 

Any chance you can post the content / context of the email ?

Could it be this  https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/limiting-exposure-to-emf?fbclid=IwAR1eTi3Muoqh8ps4sP8VfwMBgKDBi7FN20XURAe4LxXi2GZwbj5KwTULS5k

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Just now, ditchcrawler said:

Yes, that's the one. My technical adviser will let me know if I need to replace my radios ....

 

http://cfl.xmpxes.com/Res/58285286/7619109944/ca76ec83-1da5-48eb-84a2-71563cc03af0_ofcom_publication_logo_rgb_72dpi.jpg

 

 

Licensee:

SIMON JUDGE

Customer Reference:

XXXXXXXX

 

Dear Licence Holder,

We are writing to make you aware of some important changes that we are proposing to make to your Wireless Telegraphy Act licence(s) issued by Ofcom.

In February and October last year, we issued two public consultations on our proposal to formally require licensees to comply with the internationally agreed levels in the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Guidelines for the protection of the general public from electromagnetic fields (EMF). We refer to these levels as the ICNIRP general public limits. In October, we also issued a Statement setting out our decision to formally require licensees to comply with the ICNIRP general public limits and we recently published an update on how we propose to implement that decision.  

We are now writing to you to inform you of our proposal to vary the terms and conditions of your licence(s) to require you to comply with the ICNIRP general public limits. In accordance with the Wireless Telegraphy Act and your licence(s), we are giving you notice of our proposal by publishing a General Notice on our website. 

We’ve put all the relevant information about our proposal including the General Notice on a dedicated EMF webpage ofcom.org.uk/emf. Here you will find details of the licence variation process alongside the background to the changes and lots of FAQs to help you understand what our proposal means for you. 

If, after reading the above information, you wish to make a representation to Ofcom in relation to our proposal to vary your licence(s), you have up until the 18 April 2021 to do so. However, if you do not wish to make a representation you do not need to take any action at this time. More information on the representation process can be found by visiting the Ofcom EMF webpage.

We will consider all representations before coming to a final decision on the variation of your licence(s). We will publish our final decision on the EMF page of our website by 18 May 2021. We will explain whether we have decided to vary your licence(s) to include the EMF condition. If your licence(s) has been varied we will send you an update of it or information on where a new version can be obtained from. 

In future we intend to make greater use of General Notices published on our website and may not individually contact you to inform you that we have published one. We would therefore urge all licensees to regularly check the Ofcom website or subscribe to email spectrum updates by going to the following page on our website ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/email-updates.

If you have any questions about this change and what it means for you, further information can be found on the dedicated EMF webpage using the address provided above.

Yours faithfully, 

Ofcom

http://7cpbhc9r.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/I0/01020177f8621433-f627f621-efa6-4bdd-ad12-f17c352c81de-000000/43qIv2mc99bsIWqZUrbXQodpYEc=204

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1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

I'm concerned that I'll be cruising for hours to find a mooring.  I'd looked at the museum moorings and there are drawbacks, especially if I want to stay put for a week, which I do.

 

I can understand your concern but in many many visits there I have ever failed to find a mooring in Little Venice/Paddington albeit you will probably have to breast up. initially.  

 

If you are staying for a week a towpath mooring will most likely become available after a while but to be honest being on the outside can be preferable as the towpath there is very busy.

 

There are of course bookable moorings in Browning's Pool and Paddington Basin but I can't remember the time limit.

Edited by Tim Lewis
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40 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

 

I can understand your concern but in many many visits there I have ever failed to find a mooring in Little Venice/Paddington albeit you will probably have to breast up. initially.  

 

If you are staying for a week a towpath mooring will most likely become available after a while but to be honest being on the outside can be preferable as the towpath there is very busy.

 

There are of course bookable moorings in Browning's Pool and Paddington Basin but I can't remember the time limit.

When I've walked along from Victoria Park to Camden, I've kept a look out for space and seen nothing. Perhaps I've not noticed from the towpath.

 

LV/Paddington bookable moorings are up to a week.

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7 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

When I've walked along from Victoria Park to Camden, I've kept a look out for space and seen nothing. Perhaps I've not noticed from the towpath.

 

LV/Paddington bookable moorings are up to a week.

 

If you walk from Victoria Park to Camden you don't go through Paddington!

 

 

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4 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

By the way did anyone else get an incomprehensible email from Ofcom yesterday?!

It wasn't incomprehensible just a bit complicated. In effect it means that under possible new rules if VHF is running 25watts  no one should be allowed within about 1.6metres of the aerial when transmitting, if they are you have to work out exposure levels to see if they are in danger.

I first thought it was to do with my Amateur licence rather than VHF, glad it's not as that would get complicated.

We will see what happens after the consultation ?

 

 

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1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

I'm aware of that, but we were discussing my concerns about leaving Paddington and heading east to explore the rest of the London waterways.

 

To be honest there is not a lot to stop for between Paddington and Limehouse except for Camden where you are highly unlikely to get a mooring. Kings Cross is worth a bit of an explore but both are only a short bus/tube ride from Paddington or you could book the overnight mooring at the Canal Museum which is well worth a visit in it's own right.

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6 hours ago, BWM said:

You will find Milton Keynes is on the busy side but space is usually available, the next place that is problematic is Bulborne so better to plan a stop before or after. Berkhamsted is difficult through the town but ok at either end, it starts getting congested on the approach to Cassiobury park but there is usually space either side of Iron bridge lock. You should find space in Rickmansworth below Batchworth and from here to Denham there should be a decent choice of stop. After Denham things will become difficult and often lots of available space means best avoided. I wouldn't personally stop anywhere from West Drayton until Bulls bridge Tesco. From here i doubt there will be too much congestion before Greenford - i can't comment on the last three years but there is a lot more crime and anti-social behaviour from here on and this got worse through Perivale (you wouldn't catch me there!), After there is what you would expect from the London canals.

I don't think you need Vhf now, and believe mobile phone is sufficient - it certainly was exiting Brentford some years ago. 

Is it not anyway for Limehouse to Brentford - not needed for Brentford upstream?

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I agree with Tim. You should be able to find a 7 day mooring at Little Venice on the visitor moorings west of Brownings Pool. There are very few moorings at Camden, so you are very unlikely to get one there. But Little Venice to Limehouse or Old Ford on the Lee (via the Hertford Union) is an easy day (or a long half day), and you can always break your journey for an overnight at the canal museum.

 

A couple of years ago I took a trip from Hackney, around the Olympic Park, including passage through City Mill and Carpenters Road locks, then down to Limehouse and up to Little Venice. All done in one long day, single handed to Limehouse (apart from CRT volunteers at City Mill and Carpenters Road), then with a friend from Limehouse to Little Venice. Yes it was a long day, and quite hard work, but it shows you what can be achieved.

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11 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

So I should be able to moor at Perivale without breasting up?  Where does the breasting up start?

In my experience in 2019 the double mooring was roughly from Paddington to Hackney Wick on the Lee Navigation.  I didn't stop between Victoria Park and Limehouse, but that bit gets busy too. I managed to find a visitor mooring by Victoria Park, moored there okay for a week and someone moored alongside me, similar near Hackney Wick. I moored up alongside another boat just west of Little Venice in Paddington, also fine for two weeks. It gets less busy after Mitre Bridge going towards Park Royal going northwards. 

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21 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

I really do want to but I'd have to get my VHF licence.  I'm debating going up the Thames from Brentford to Oxford with a detour to Newbury to visit friends.  We'll see.

What's the bridge of doom? ?

You used to be able to do limehouse to teddington with just a mobile phone - check the Pla website.

 

as well as Paddington there are bookable moorings at Little Venice alongside the park -named after it - the name escapes me.

 

enjoy your trip, it’s worth the effort

 

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8 minutes ago, midnight cowboy said:

You used to be able to do limehouse to teddington with just a mobile phone - check the Pla website.

 

as well as Paddington there are bookable moorings at Little Venice alongside the park -named after it - the name escapes me.

 

enjoy your trip, it’s worth the effort

 


As I said in an earlier comment, you can do Limehouse to Teddington without VHF if your boat is less than 45' (13.7m).  There are no requirements to have a mobile phone, because they are only slightly more useful than a chocolate teapot. My personal view is that - however long your boat is - a VHF radio is highly desirable for ease of contacting other boats, as well as VTS and the Coastguard. In fact the most common use of VHF is to listen to broadcasts from others eg a large boat ahead of you that is about to do something unexpected, or VTS warning you about something around the corner.

 

The rules are  in section 12 of the General Directions:  https://www.pla.co.uk/Safety/Regulations-and-Guidance/PLA-General-Directions  (amusingly, "narrowboat" is not defined in 12.1 b) (i).

 

It's all a bit academic until Hammersmith is sorted.

Edited by Scholar Gypsy
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2 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:


As I said in an earlier comment, you can do Limehouse to Teddington without VHF if your boat is less than 45' (13.7m).  There are no requirements to have a mobile phone, because they are only slightly more useful than a chocolate teapot. My personal view is that - however long your boat is - a VHF radio is highly desirable for ease of contacting other boats, as well as VTS and the Coastguard. In fact the most common use of VHF is to listen to broadcasts from others eg a large boat ahead of you that is about to do something unexpected, or VTS warning you about something around the corner.

 

The rules are  in section 12 of the General Directions:  https://www.pla.co.uk/Safety/Regulations-and-Guidance/PLA-General-Directions  (amusingly, "narrowboat" is not defined in 12.1 b) (i).

 

It's all a bit academic until Hammersmith is sorted.

The last time (around six years ago) was slightly different. Limehouse lockies were much happier with mobile phone and we had real problems with VHF as we neared the lock coming downstream. Interference from illegal operators made it all but useless - we were told that this was 'normal'. Probably best to have both just in case.

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22 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

The last time (around six years ago) was slightly different. Limehouse lockies were much happier with mobile phone and we had real problems with VHF as we neared the lock coming downstream. Interference from illegal operators made it all but useless - we were told that this was 'normal'. Probably best to have both just in case.

Yes, there was a period when Limehouse had problems with their radios. It's all sorted out now.

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