Widebeam from Blackthorn Lakes to Hartford Marina: Possible or crane-out?

[SprayfoamMakesMeHappy]

Hoping to set sail in the spring, bound for Hartford Marina near Huntingdon from halfway down the Nene. Anybody know of any reason why this slender 10ft widebeam wouldn't make it (besides the quality of skippering)?

[magpie patrick]

What length? 

 

Others will known whether a given combination of length and beam is a problem, in particular at Whittlesea Briggate bend, I know that narrow beam 70 foot boats can get round it and could make the journey

[SprayfoamMakesMeHappy]

Good point - and silly me! Length = 58ft

[booke23]

Canal plan says it's possible. 4 or 5 days cruising depending where you are on the Nene.

[Scholar Gypsy]

I believe 60x10 is the maximum for a widebeam at Whittlesea , or 72x7 for a narrowboat, so you should be OK.  The locks are 11'6", from memory. 

You should talk to the lockkeeper at Salters Lode, to check whether you need to go through on the level (it's a short lock) or can use it in normal mode. I think you should be OK....  Check the ML leaflet 

https://middlelevel.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Navigation-Notes-2023-web-version-3.pdf
 

More stuff here.

https://goba.org.uk/a-guide-for-visitors-to-the-east/  

[CIEL]

Agree with everything Scholar Gypsy says plus

On the Great Ouse the only lock that might give you a problem is St Ives which is quoted at 10' 11" on this link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/river-great-ouse-bridge-heights-locks-and-facilities#river-great-ouse-locks 

 

The downstream approach to the gates is "kinked" which happened when they put strengthening sheet piling in some years ago.

You are probably short enough to be able to wriggle thru!

Chris

[pearley]

7 minutes ago, CIEL said:

Agree with everything Scholar Gypsy says plus

On the Great Ouse the only lock that might give you a problem is St Ives which is quoted at 10' 11" on this link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/river-great-ouse-bridge-heights-locks-and-facilities#river-great-ouse-locks 

 

The downstream approach to the gates is "kinked" which happened when they put strengthening sheet piling in some years ago.

You are probably short enough to be able to wriggle thru!

Chris

St Ives not a problem. We're 60 X10 and pass through regularly. Go on a summer weekend and the volunteers will do the work for you.

Edited January 22 by pearley

[PaulJ]

5 minutes ago, CIEL said:

Agree with everything Scholar Gypsy says plus

On the Great Ouse the only lock that might give you a problem is St Ives which is quoted at 10' 11" on this link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/river-great-ouse-bridge-heights-locks-and-facilities#river-great-ouse-locks 

 

The downstream approach to the gates is "kinked" which happened when they put strengthening sheet piling in some years ago.

You are probably short enough to be able to wriggle thru!

Chris

Ive been through St Ives on a 60 x 10 several times and it isnt a problem.

@SprayfoamMakesMeHappy One of the local 60 x 10 widebeams has been through the Middle Level no problems both directions

 

[GUMPY]

Should I mention airdraft at Upwell🤔

 

[SprayfoamMakesMeHappy]

You legends! I’m blown away by the promptness and level of detail. Thank you so much. A kinky lock too…could be a wild ride

1 hour ago, booke23 said:

Canal plan says it's possible. 4 or 5 days cruising depending where you are on the Nene.

Yeah I saw that too, but I couldn’t figure out how to generate a result for my boat’s spec. Sounds like you did tho…?

[booke23]

30 minutes ago, SprayfoamMakesMeHappy said:

Yeah I saw that too, but I couldn’t figure out how to generate a result for my boat’s spec. Sounds like you did tho…?

 

Yes, once you've planned the route go to preferences at the top of the page, then the planning tab. There it will let you put in the dimensions of your boat and it will plan the route accordingly. 

Edited January 22 by booke23

[SprayfoamMakesMeHappy]

✊

[pearley]

12 hours ago, SprayfoamMakesMeHappy said:

You legends! I’m blown away by the promptness and level of detail. Thank you so much. A kinky lock too…could be a wild ride

Yeah I saw that too, but I couldn’t figure out how to generate a result for my boat’s spec. Sounds like you did tho…?

The kinky Lock is only a problem if there is a stream running as the EA tend to open the Sluice gate nearest the Lock so pushing you around as you enter.

[SprayfoamMakesMeHappy]

Cheers Pearley - good to know 

 

[Scholar Gypsy]

On 22/01/2024 at 20:23, GUMPY said:

Should I mention airdraft at Upwell🤔

 

Absolutely.  On the second photo, I have reported this in September to Norfolk County Council, as I don't think it is a good sign if you can see the metal bars in a reinforced concrete bridge. They were going to inspect it but I don't know if anything more is happening. Quite apart from bits of concrete landing on you (or even worse your solar panels) there's quite a bit of heavy lorry traffic over this bridge!

 

 

[SprayfoamMakesMeHappy]

Yiiiiiikes

That's not going to end well, is it.

Maybe go direct to the council's legal team if you don't get a timely response...?

 

[ditchcrawler]

3 minutes ago, SprayfoamMakesMeHappy said:

Yiiiiiikes

That's not going to end well, is it.

Maybe go direct to the council's legal team if you don't get a timely response...?

 

I would move my boat first if I was you. They may just close it until they can get round to fixing it 

[GUMPY]

50 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Absolutely.  On the second photo, I have reported this in September to Norfolk County Council, as I don't think it is a good sign if you can see the metal bars in a reinforced concrete bridge. They were going to inspect it but I don't know if anything more is happening. Quite apart from bits of concrete landing on you (or even worse your solar panels) there's quite a bit of heavy lorry traffic over this bridge!

 

 

Loddon would go under there with 50mm to spare and it's not a particularly tall boat. It would have been more if I had removed the 4g antenna.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

 

Be careful what you wish for! The concrete cover to the reinforcement is clearly inadequate. The appropriate repair will involve removing any loose concrete, cleaning the reinforcement, replacing any areas which have significantly lost cross section, then covering with a sprayed concrete layer thick enough to protect the reinforcement. That would result in a reduction in the available headroom of 20-50 mm, and possibly more.

[Scholar Gypsy]

19 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Be careful what you wish for! The concrete cover to the reinforcement is clearly inadequate. The appropriate repair will involve removing any loose concrete, cleaning the reinforcement, replacing any areas which have significantly lost cross section, then covering with a sprayed concrete layer thick enough to protect the reinforcement. That would result in a reduction in the available headroom of 20-50 mm, and possibly more.

I checked the ticket on the Council's website, and it says the following, a few months ago (sorry I should have checked this earlier!):

 

"No action has been taken at this time but we will continue to monitor the problem -We have assessed that the defect does not currently meet our intervention criteria. We will continue to monitor as part of normal scheduled inspections."