The Wash to Lowestoft?

[Mythirdone]

Has anyone ever done it by narrowboat? Is it even possible? I'm not asking if it is recommended - I know it isn't. I'm just wondering if anyone has ever done it.

 

If someone wanted to get from the CRT waterways to the Anglian waterways, is overland transport the only way to do it? I don't see any navigable waterways connecting the two systems. What does overland transport cost?

[robtheplod]

Not sure why you'd want to?   Maybe its because I live near the broads, but I can't see it being very interesting for narrowboaters?

[Mythirdone]

"Not sure why you'd want to?" Oh, absolutely! I am completely sure about why I would want to. What gave you the impression that I'm not sure why I want to?

"Maybe its because I live near the broads, but I can't see it being very interesting for narrowboaters?" I don't know how to answer that question. It doesn't make any sense to me. Try re-phrasing your question.

 

Just to get us back to my original questions, I asked: 1. Is it possible to go from The Wash to Lowestoft? 2. Has anyone ever done it? 3. Is overland transport the only way to connect to the Anglian waterways from the CRT waterways? 4. If so, how much does it cost?

[LadyG]

Hi there OP, don't worry, someone will be along soon enough to answer your Q, it's a characteristic of this forum that topics raised go off topic later in the thread, don't worry about it, please extinguish your cigarettes and fasten your safety belt  😘

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by LadyG

[Kendorr]

It is possible, and I intend doing it next year.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ-lSsf1Pj4&ab_channel=MinimalList

 

The video is a 2 parter, so settle in for a long one.

[GUMPY]

You need to readjust your terminology.

Anglian waterways feed into the wash, i.e rivers Stour, Nene, Gt Ouse etc. The Broads join the sea at GT Yarmouth, Lowestoft.

So in answer to your question as posted yes it is possible to get to the Anglian waterways from the wash however only a fool would try to access the Broads that way unless they have a seagoing boat. I might add that a narrow boat is not the most suitable craft for use on the Broads.

 

[Mythirdone]

LOL...I get it. It's like every other forum.

 

Safety belt fastened tightly!😉

[PeterScott]

In the old Cutweb archives there's a tale of a boater described as a mad-professor type who would iirc navigate for a few days to go buy a box of organic eggs. His narrowboat was on the Broads, but his personal relationship had broken down and he set off one fine morning without preparations, out of Lowestoft heading for the Wash. The wind got up, the waves crashed about, lots of things inside the boat fell over, and he was lucky to beach the boat and escape. I don't suppose that helps much, but someone will be along in a mo with the full posting ...

[Mythirdone]

10 minutes ago, Loddon said:

You need to readjust your terminology.

Anglian waterways feed into the wash, i.e rivers Stour, Nene, Gt Ouse etc. The Broads join the sea at GT Yarmouth, Lowestoft.

So in answer to your question as posted yes it is possible to get to the Anglian waterways from the wash however only a fool would try to access the Broads that way unless they have a seagoing boat. I might add that a narrow boat is not the most suitable craft for use on the Broads.

 

So it IS possible to get to Lowestoft from The Wash. Thanks. Terminology adjusted. Thanks for the clarification.

[Mythirdone]

3 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

In the old Cutweb archives there's a tale of a boater described as a mad-professor type who would iirc navigate for a few days to go buy a box of organic eggs. His narrowboat was on the Broads, but his personal relationship had broken down and he set off one fine morning without preparations, out of Lowestoft heading for the Wash. The wind got up, the waves crashed about, lots of things inside the boat fell over, and he was lucky to beach the boat and escape. I don't suppose that helps much, but someone will be along in a mo with the full posting ...

It sounds like he wasn't secured for sea. That can ruin your day. I kinda figured that if you hugged the coast closely, you could always beach it on a sandbank if the winds picked up and the sea-state became unmanageable. It would take a few days to make the transit though...not for the faint of heart, I'm sure!

23 minutes ago, Kendorr said:

It is possible, and I intend doing it next year.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ-lSsf1Pj4&ab_channel=MinimalList

 

The video is a 2 parter, so settle in for a long one.

That's awesome. Thanks very much. Good luck. What time of year is the best for such a transit?

[GUMPY]

12 minutes ago, Mythirdone said:

So it IS possible to get to Lowestoft from The Wash. 

In the same way that it's possible to sail from England to Canada, you need the right type of boat. 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Loddon

[Mythirdone]

7 minutes ago, Loddon said:

In the same way that it's possible to sail from England to Canada, you need the right type of boat. 

Open ocean navigation is entirely different. I would never attempt an ocean crossing on a flat-bottomed boat. Coastal navigation with a flat-bottom boat, however, seems quite doable with the proper preparations having been taken. It seems that a narrowboat could make the transit if it remained close to shore. I asked if it has ever been done. Apparently, it has!

[Momac]

1 hour ago, Mythirdone said:

"Not sure why you'd want to?" Oh, absolutely! I am completely sure about why I would want to. What gave you the impression that I'm not sure why I want to?

"Maybe its because I live near the broads, but I can't see it being very interesting for narrowboaters?" I don't know how to answer that question. It doesn't make any sense to me. Try re-phrasing your question.

 

Just to get us back to my original questions, I asked: 1. Is it possible to go from The Wash to Lowestoft? 2. Has anyone ever done it? 3. Is overland transport the only way to connect to the Anglian waterways from the CRT waterways? 4. If so, how much does it cost?

Please say what you mean by Anglian Waterways 

The Norfolk Broads is different to the Anglian Waterways as far as my thinking is concerned

https://www.visitanglianwaterways.org/

https://www.visitthebroads.co.uk/

 

1.Yes but not in a narrowboat 

2. See answer to Q1

3. Please answer my enquiry above

4. £3k budget

 

The sea crossing would require extraordinary sea conditions and there would be a great deal of waiting for those conditions.  Not only that but a passing ship or a fast WindCat could sink a narrowboat .

 

 

[GUMPY]

8 minutes ago, Mythirdone said:

. I asked if it has ever been done. Apparently, it has!

The video posted earlier is about crossing the wash, not the same thing at all. Once past Blakeney here are vary few places to shelter if the weather turns for the worse between the Wash and the Broads. 

[Bee]

'Stopping on a sandbank' sounds a bit like 'Driven ashore, beached and wrecked'. I've been on boats (including the present one) where the river / estuary have been outside the boats sensible comfort zone but still not actually risky and to be honest its not a lot of fun and its exhausting and worrying, if the prop lifts out of the water a bit and the engine races you worry about fuel, breakdowns and stuff. Is it possible? Yes, great weather, clean fuel tanks, etc. etc. but you will get grey hairs and a few nervous twitches that you didn't have before.

[Alan de Enfield]

I have cruised from the wash to Lowestoft a number of times and we are confident boaters - HOWEVER - this was done in a category A boat, not a category D sewer-tube.

 

Some of the worst waters I have ever experienced were just off the coast (1/2 mile to about 5 miles out) just off the Norfolk coast near "Wells Next The Sea" (a lovely fishing harbour)

It was a lovely day, not much wind but the combination of shallow waters (The North Sea is very shallow) and wind over tide gave huge rolling/breaking waves waves, It was too rough to turn around as we would have been rolled over' so we set revs for about 5-8 knots and din't move for several hours, we would ride up the waves as they carried us backwards, down the back of the wave, repeat, repeat, repeat and make little or no forward movement.

 

I was sick, the dog was sick it was most unpleasent.

 

You'd be far better going 20 miles offshore to get to better waters than trying to coastal hop.

 

According to my log Boston (the Wash) is 126 miles to Lowestoft (coast-hugging). Youd be lucky to average 2 or 3  miles per hours  as you would would have the tide against you for half the time and helping you (the other half so for half the time you'd hardly be moving 'over the ground')

 

The trip (at best) would be around 45 hours and could be as long as 60 or 70 hours.

 

I'd normally work on roughly one-tide cycle, (it took us about 13 hours) so if we left Boston at around high tide, we'd arrive Lowestoft at around high tide.

 

It was a couple of days after this photo was taken (us entering Wells) as we left and turned for Lowestoft that we got the rough seas.

 

Take a cat D boat into the North Sea - MADNESS

 

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Alan de Enfield

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, Kendorr said:

It is possible, and I intend doing it next year.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ-lSsf1Pj4&ab_channel=MinimalList

 

The video is a 2 parter, so settle in for a long one.

That's the easy bit, its the next 24 hours down the coast to Lowestoft. Chris Coburn did it in Wash and Go but turned in at Gt Yarmouth. Someone posted a photo the other day in the Irish sea  topic of him stuck on a weir 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by ditchcrawler

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, PeterScott said:

In the old Cutweb archives there's a tale of a boater described as a mad-professor type who would iirc navigate for a few days to go buy a box of organic eggs. His narrowboat was on the Broads, but his personal relationship had broken down and he set off one fine morning without preparations, out of Lowestoft heading for the Wash. The wind got up, the waves crashed about, lots of things inside the boat fell over, and he was lucky to beach the boat and escape. I don't suppose that helps much, but someone will be along in a mo with the full posting ...

Maybe the same incident, but I recall photographs in Waterways World magazine some years ago of a narrowboat stuck on a beach somewhere on the Norfolk coast. It had been blown ashore by the wind and waves which had continued to pound it and completely wrecked the interior including, as I recall, a piano which had been reduced to matchwood.

[Kendorr]

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

That's the easy bit, its the next 24 hours down the coast to Lowestoft.

 

Yes, I have to admit, I read the crossing the Wash bit, and not the Lowestoft bit!! My intention is Boston to Kings Lynn.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, Kendorr said:

 

Yes, I have to admit, I read the crossing the Wash bit, and not the Lowestoft bit!! My intention is Boston to Kings Lynn.

 

That is doable in a NB, in the right conditions and with a pilot.

 

It is a very complex series of channels and shallows and local knowledge is really recommended.

[Alan de Enfield]

From Boston you need to 'head out to sea' until you can pick up the channel leading back into Kings Lynn (Bottom right)

The numbers with a "-" in front of them are the drying-heights of the sand banks at ALT.

 

 

GPS tracking of that part of a trip (Norfolk - Suffolk) when we were doing Hull to Plymouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by Alan de Enfield

[Pluto]

Shellfen crossing the Wash circa 1975 They did wait some time for suitable weather..

[ditchcrawler]

34 minutes ago, Pluto said:

Shellfen crossing the Wash circa 1975 They did wait some time for suitable weather..

Was that on her way to trade on the Fens?

 

[Steilsteven]

 

[Naughty Cal]

If you are daft enough to attempt this you need to make sure you get the weather and sea conditions dead right.

 

There is nowhere to seek shelter between Wells next the Sea (unless you hit the very small window into Blakeney) and Great Yarmouth which is a fair stretch to cover in one go.

 

It took us 4.5-5 hours in NC to head from Boston to Lowestoft and at that we had had enough by the time we were in port and tied up. It will be  damn sight longer journey at displacement speeds.