port solent portsmouth --- to basingstoke canal (sensible route for novice)

[carlt]

9 minutes ago, DShK said:

Those "AI checkers" are pretty useless FWIW

 

I've just run this post through an AI checker and its response was "Well an AI would say that, wouldn't it?"

[IanM]

42 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Well the OP has been back for a look

They’ve replied in the post above yours. 

[Gybe Ho]

1 hour ago, regine said:

It was a genuine question - I presumed you could make way from south coast to Basingstoke along either a navigable canal or river network - / without going up to the Thames and along. Some useful comments and some less useful ... !!! Hey ho ...

 

I used to sail out of Port Solent, is the boat in the water?

 

The Solent tides will make your first day at sea trickly to plan. Leaving Port Solent at free flow & high tide leads to the tides in the Solent wanting you to head south west. You will want to head through the inshore channel past Owers at Selsey Bill with the east going tide behind you. Littlehampton first stop or a night at sea to get to Royal Sovereign Harbour at Eastbourne. The tidal current at the entrance of Portsmouth Habour can move faster than a small engine push a boat, so that is another constraint.

 

It would be a demanding delivery trip for your size of yacht, marina fees would start to mount up at which point a 50 mile HGV road journey for a 3 ton yacht won't seem so extortionate. You will also need a Thames license before reaching your destination.

 

The YBW.com forum will provide a load more advice on the sea trip.

1 hour ago, brianthesnail96 said:

One of the more baffling features of this forum is the tendency to assume any slightly left field (or indeed completely and utterly daft) question is from "AI", when AI relies on using the vast amount of data available online to communicate and generally manages to be factually correct but badly worded, whereas the average human happily ignores all this data available at their fingertips and just asks the question 😁

 

Second only to the other delusion that anyone who questions a post from the Great & Good of the forum is a time travelling terminator sent from another evil forum to destroy CWDF.

[magpie patrick]

57 minutes ago, IanM said:

They’ve replied in the post above yours. 

 

In fairness Brian responded before I approved the OPs post

[IanM]

1 minute ago, magpie patrick said:

 

In fairness the Brian responded before I approved the OPs post

 

I didn't realise that was a thing.

[magpie patrick]

3 minutes ago, IanM said:

 

I didn't realise that was a thing.

New members have to have their first few posts approved - helps us weed out spam bots before they are public 

[Wafi]

1 hour ago, regine said:

It was a genuine question - I presumed you could make way from south coast to Basingstoke along either a navigable canal or river network - / without going up to the Thames and along. Some useful comments and some less useful ... !!! Hey ho ...

Serious response:

How much does the boat draw, and what's the depth of water where you're planning to keep it? No point taking it there if there's insufficient water to float it at the other end.

It's almost always easier and cheaper to get a boat shipped somewhere (trailer/lorry/ship) than to take it there yourself, unless it's the sort of trip you use the boat for anyway. By all means sail your 30 foot offshore-capable yacht to France or Spain, but take your day-sailing keelboat there on a trailer. I knew someone who shipped their boat back to the UK from the Caribbean, despite having already having used it for multiple transatlantic crossings, because it turned out to be cheaper and less hassle than arranging flights for crew, updating safety equipment, provisioning etc.

Portsmouth to London would be quite a nice trip, but only if you have plenty of experience of coastal sailing (including in bad weather, at night etc), have a good understanding of navigation and tides, and you're confident that the boat's well sorted. If I were in your position I'd keep the boat where it is, find someone with a bit more experience to remind you of the basics (and teach you the stuff you don't know), and spend some time sailing it there. Do an RYA Day Skipper course and get yourself a VHF licence before venturing out of Portsmouth Harbour unassisted. By the time you're happy cruising around the Solent on your own, you'll know enough to understand why doing all the above was a good idea. I may get flamed for saying this on a canal forum, but you'll probably have a lot more fun than pootling up and down the Basingstoke Canal in a boat that wasn't really designed for the job.

[Tony Brooks]

2 hours ago, regine said:

It was a genuine question - I presumed you could make way from south coast to Basingstoke along either a navigable canal or river network - / without going up to the Thames and along. Some useful comments and some less useful ... !!! Hey ho ...

 

Well, since before the second world war you presumed wrong, and it would not have been difficult to look up one of a number of navigable waterways maps on the net. By the sound of it, the Portsmouth to Arundel canal closed long before that.

 

At 21 ft and (I think) a bilge keeler going by road will be the quickest and probably the cheapest way. I think a flatbed truck with a decent Hiab would do the job.

 

I doubt any sort of keel yacht will be usable on the Basingstoke canal, especially a bilge keeler, because of lack of depth, especially near the sides. It is likely to make mooring up a right pain. That is before you start to consider where you will store the mast. There are a couple of very low bridges on the Basingstoke canal, so need to check the air draft of that boat, not all narrowboats can pass those bridges. Thee canal only has very limited traffic, so the water depth may also be an issue.

 

Have you talked to the Basingstoke Canal Authority about your plans?

 

Contact

• 01252 370073
• info@basingstoke-canal.co.uk
• 01252 371758
• Canal Centre,
  Mytchett Place Road,
  Mytchett.
  GU12 6DD

 

 

[Chris Lowe]

7 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

By the sound of it, the Portsmouth to Arundel canal closed long before that.

Around 1847 tony.

[Wafi]

2 hours ago, brianthesnail96 said:

One of the more baffling features of this forum is the tendency to assume any slightly left field (or indeed completely and utterly daft) question is from "AI", when AI relies on using the vast amount of data available online to communicate and generally manages to be factually correct but badly worded, whereas the average human happily ignores all this data available at their fingertips and just asks the question 😁

I suspect it's a case of people not knowing how much they don't know (ie Dunning-Kruger), so they ask what they think is a reasonable question, and the "experts" conclude that no real human would be so stupid. Reminds me of the time I was in the pub with some sailing mates, and we got talking to a fairly well-known and very accomplished mountaineer with a reputation for pushing boundaries. He was seriously thinking of buying a cheap fibreglass sailing boat (the sort of thing that would be ideal for pootling round the Solent) and sail it to Antarctica to attempt a first ascent of some peak. I think he was so used to doing things other people regarded as impossible, that he thought this would be the same.

[Slim]

22 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Otherwise, you go around the coast and up the Thames, then river Wey to the canal.

I've actually done 90% of that passage. Mind you, it was in a 44' Bruce Roberts yacht. I've also done a fairly similar trip 'in' a Vivacity 20' (in reality behind a Rover 3500). One journey took several days, the other about 4 hours. I know which approach I would advise the OP to take.   

[carlt]

3 hours ago, regine said:

It was a genuine question - I presumed you could make way from south coast to Basingstoke along either a navigable canal or river network - / without going up to the Thames and along. Some useful comments and some less useful ... !!! Hey ho ...

Give Tony Tug Boats a ring... https://www.tonytugboats.com/

[MtB]

2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

There are a couple of very low bridges on the Basingstoke canal, so need to check the air draft of that boat, not all narrowboats can pass those bridges. Thee canal only has very limited traffic, so the water depth may also be an issue.

 

I'd suggest the collapsed Greywell tunnel which now a bat sanctuary is by far the bigger obstacle to the OP getting his boat to Basingstoke!

 

 

[David Mack]

4 hours ago, regine said:

It was a genuine question - I presumed you could make way from south coast to Basingstoke along either a navigable canal or river network - / without going up to the Thames and along. Some useful comments and some less useful ... !!! Hey ho ...

Before you worry about getting there, you need to sort out somewhere to keep the boat. I suspect the Basingstoke Canal is probably not an option (and it doesn't go all the way to Basingstoke). River Wey or River Thames may be easier. 

[regine]

22 hours ago, Wafi said:

Serious response:

How much does the boat draw, and what's the depth of water where you're planning to keep it? No point taking it there if there's insufficient water to float it at the other end.

It's almost always easier and cheaper to get a boat shipped somewhere (trailer/lorry/ship) than to take it there yourself, unless it's the sort of trip you use the boat for anyway. By all means sail your 30 foot offshore-capable yacht to France or Spain, but take your day-sailing keelboat there on a trailer. I knew someone who shipped their boat back to the UK from the Caribbean, despite having already having used it for multiple transatlantic crossings, because it turned out to be cheaper and less hassle than arranging flights for crew, updating safety equipment, provisioning etc.

Portsmouth to London would be quite a nice trip, but only if you have plenty of experience of coastal sailing (including in bad weather, at night etc), have a good understanding of navigation and tides, and you're confident that the boat's well sorted. If I were in your position I'd keep the boat where it is, find someone with a bit more experience to remind you of the basics (and teach you the stuff you don't know), and spend some time sailing it there. Do an RYA Day Skipper course and get yourself a VHF licence before venturing out of Portsmouth Harbour unassisted. By the time you're happy cruising around the Solent on your own, you'll know enough to understand why doing all the above was a good idea. I may get flamed for saying this on a canal forum, but you'll probably have a lot more fun than pootling up and down the Basingstoke Canal in a boat that wasn't really designed for the job.

Builder	Newbridge Boats, and N.B. Yachts Ltd., Somerset			The Virgo Voyager has remarkably spacious accommodation for her size, with 6 foot headroom in the saloon. Despite the high-volume hull, they sail well, with a high 50% ballast ratio. Most have inboard engines, Volvo Penta and Buhk diesels and Vire petrol engines were fitted, plus a few were supplied with outboard power via a transom bracket
Length OA	23' 0"	Sail Area	333 sq ft main and genoa
Length WL	19' 10"	Rig	Sloop
Beam	8' 4"	Cabins	2
Draught	2' 9" bilge keel, 4' 0" fin keel or 2' 0" to 5' 0" centreboard version (rare)	Berths	4/5
Displacement	4,400 lbs	Engine type	inboard or outboard
Ballast	2,200 lbs	Engine bhp	7 - 12

Thanks for response - appreciate

at the moment, just planning trip // lot to learn. So far best suggestion is to take a qualified sails person // which Im working on. First going to move boat to port solent marina // for a month. Then as weather gets better take --  up to near Basingstoke. Its just a weekend boat // quite a few posts to read - so I will work through them. Many thanks  Ive attached an old technical spec. The boat is older but in good condition with a lot of equipment, handheld radio, depth sounder etc. Just need to learn how to use it all !!  Regine (image not my boat but same year and design) length about 7metres inboard engine - beginners boat ...

 

e

[Alan de Enfield]

Before you get too far into your plans - if you boat has a draft of 4', then trying to cruise along a 3' deep canal is just not going to happen.

No matter how much you want it to happen it won't.

[GUMPY]

Plus that won't go under the two low bridges on the Basingstoke even with the mast down😱

 

You would be better off looking for something more suitable 

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, regine said:

Builder	Newbridge Boats, and N.B. Yachts Ltd., Somerset			The Virgo Voyager has remarkably spacious accommodation for her size, with 6 foot headroom in the saloon. Despite the high-volume hull, they sail well, with a high 50% ballast ratio. Most have inboard engines, Volvo Penta and Buhk diesels and Vire petrol engines were fitted, plus a few were supplied with outboard power via a transom bracket
Length OA	23' 0"	Sail Area	333 sq ft main and genoa
Length WL	19' 10"	Rig	Sloop
Beam	8' 4"	Cabins	2
Draught	2' 9" bilge keel, 4' 0" fin keel or 2' 0" to 5' 0" centreboard version (rare)	Berths	4/5
Displacement	4,400 lbs	Engine type	inboard or outboard
Ballast	2,200 lbs	Engine bhp	7 - 12

Thanks for response - appreciate

at the moment, just planning trip // lot to learn. So far best suggestion is to take a qualified sails person // which Im working on. First going to move boat to port solent marina // for a month. Then as weather gets better take --  up to near Basingstoke. Its just a weekend boat // quite a few posts to read - so I will work through them. Many thanks  Ive attached an old technical spec. The boat is older but in good condition with a lot of equipment, handheld radio, depth sounder etc. Just need to learn how to use it all !!  Regine (image not my boat but same year and design) length about 7metres inboard engine - beginners boat ...

 

e

 

Nothing there about the air draft and unless you want to be stuck on the eastern end of the Baisingstoke Canal it has to be less than about 5ft (from memory).

 

Unless they have cleared it since I was there, a length of the wide beam Basingstoke Canal bank had land slipped into the canal, severely limiting width - and probably the depth. Having worked past it in a 6'10" beam boat drawing a bit over 2ft I would not like to try it with an 8'4" beam with bilge keels sticking down towards the sides.

 

You do not seem to have acknowledged that you need to discuss your plans with the Canal Authority. This is vital, the lock flights are only open on a very few days each week so cruise planing is vital with mooring up waiting for the next flight to open. You also have to book passage through the flights. Please contact the Authority as soon as you can, I fear the "near Basingstoke" will turn out to be the Thames of Kennet & Avon navigation in the Reading area. The Wey is further away from Basingstoke.

[GUMPY]

40 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Nothing there about the air draft and unless you want to be stuck on the eastern end of the Baisingstoke Canal it has to be less than about 5ft (from memory).

One bridge is 5'10" the other 5'11"

Still very low😉

Edited March 15 by GUMPY

[Tony Brooks]

3 minutes ago, GUMPY said:

One bridge is 5'10" the other 5'11"

Still very low😉

 

I know it was very tight with the pound down through lack of water. One of them slopes down at one side, so anything with a cabin top much wider than a narrowboat may well have problems.

[GUMPY]

Just now, Tony Brooks said:

 

I know it was very tight with the pound down through lack of water. One of them slopes down at one side, so anything with a cabin top much wider than a narrowboat may well have problems.

They both slope one away from the towpath and one towards the towpath.

This MAP shows what the timings are for locks on the Basingstoke 

[MtB]

4 hours ago, regine said:

Then as weather gets better take --  up to near Basingstoke.

 

I think you'll need a permanent mooring contract on the Basy to get the licence, and I suspect the closest you get to Basingstoke will be Odiham. And then only with the help of a crane and a lorry to get past the low bridge Gumpy posted. 

[Gybe Ho]

7 hours ago, regine said:

First going to move boat to port solent marina // for a month.

 

 

Yachts of the size and age of your boat are typically not kept in premier division marinas because the mooring costs are disproportionate to the total value. I estimate 1 month of mooring in Port Solent would equate to 5% to 10% of the boat's value. 

 

If you plan is to use the boat as a sailing boat then a canal with bridges is the wrong destination.

 

Keep it in salt water but investigate cheap moorings e.g. Poole Harbour and the river up to Wareham, above the bridge at Yarmouth Isle of Wight, Keyhaven and a buoy on the Beulieu River. Or you could look east such as Itchenor.

[Alway Swilby]

We cruised the full length of the Basingstoke Canal last year in our narrowboat. We have a 2'6" draft and only just managed the "Surrey Pound". The level has been dropped about 4" due to a leaking bank. We needed to take everything off the roof to get under the lowest bridge.

Despite it's name the canal doesn't actually go to Basingstoke any more. A collapsed tunnel and the M3 motorway are in the way. Odiham is the nearest you can get and I doubt you'd find a non visitor mooring anywhere nearby.

[Tony Brooks]

25 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

Despite it's name the canal doesn't actually go to Basingstoke any more. A collapsed tunnel and the M3 motorway are in the way. Odiham is the nearest you can get and I doubt you'd find a non visitor mooring anywhere nearby.

 

I get the impression that the only long term moorings, apart from the live-aboards, were at the Mytchett Canal Centre, and are more or less father to son jobs with a waiting list. This is why I keep on about him talking to the Canal Authority to find out about the restrictions they impose. Mytchett is even further from Basingstoke than Odiham.

 

I only recall a very few boats moored along the whole canal.