Made to go on Thames with strong flow

[moggyjo]

My friends landlord booked his boat out of the water for a hull survey and blacking at Eynsham marina tomorrow morning. Anyway my friend started heading off for the Thames via Dukes Cut yesterday morning, (on advice from Eynsham lock keeper) thyat advised, "sooner rather than later". While he was heading for Dukes, we drove to Eynsham lock, had a chat with the lock keeper and when we told him that the boat in question had a very low powered engine and some of the back counter was out of the water and also a lite boat, he reccomended him not to do it mainly because of the Weir at Kings Lock at that time and said that the river was already on yellow boards and could be on red tomorrow and also the flow was fast as the Windrush was putting a lot of water into the Thames. Phoned my mate, told him, he was relieved, as he said the wind was blowing all over the canal, so cancelled the trip. We went to the yard to cancel the booking/ surveyor.

Last night the Landlord phoned him from Uganda and said that the boatyard were sending some workers down this morning and were going to pick the boat up and take it to the yard themselves.

Now the boat is not insured at the moment, I can't see it getting there with the strong stream conditions (going upstream) with an engine that has hardly any more power than a Seagull outboard pushing a 52ft boat.

I hope my friend is not going to end up homeless, if anything goes wrong. hes got nowhere to live while the boat is away, its a bl***y Nightmare,

What would you do?

 

Wendy

[WJM]

If you know a particular stretch of river very well it is often perfectly possible to take a boat out with the river on red boards. Good local knowledge allows you to avoid the danger spots and also to make good progress against the flow by working up the bank. This can even involve hugging the left bank. Anyone you meet coming down will be running in the centre anyway. The boys from the boat yard may have just such local knowledge. That does not mean you were wrong to back out, they just know more about it than you.

[nbtafelberg]

So is your friend RENTING the boat from the Landlord? Does he have any form of rental agreement?

[GSer]

I'd try and get a letter from the landlord, stating that they would underwrite any resonable lodging expenses if the boat should fail to return.

 

I'd remove anything irreplacable/valuable/you couldn't bear to lose and then let them got on with it.

 

Paul

[moggyjo]

So is your friend RENTING the boat from the Landlord? Does he have any form of rental agreement?

 

Yes but I did not think that being made homeless, for work being done, for who knows how long, while the work is is being done. He could have got the boat out at a boat yard on canal near cropredy where my friend could have lived on it.

 

Wendy

[moggyjo]

If you know a particular stretch of river very well it is often perfectly possible to take a boat out with the river on red boards. Good local knowledge allows you to avoid the danger spots and also to make good progress against the flow by working up the bank. This can even involve hugging the left bank. Anyone you meet coming down will be running in the centre anyway. The boys from the boat yard may have just such local knowledge. That does not mean you were wrong to back out, they just know more about it than you.

Their attitude was, when saying he wasn't coming was " He should not be on a boat if he can't get it here" Would you reccomend someone that has only ever been on the Thames 3 times in 20 years and then it was calm waters and a much more powerfull engine, take a hardly powered craft upstream in these conditions? I have heard the yard are not doing that well mainly because of the poor weather.

 

PS The engine still has 6 year+ Diesel in it and has not been serviced since then either

Edited September 5, 2008 by moggyjo

[Machpoint005]

...the boatyard were sending some workers down this morning and were going to pick the boat up and take it to the yard themselves.

Wendy

 

Can you be sure they don't intend to tow it with a more powerful boat? I imagine that would be OK?

[Hairy-Neil]

Getting across the Kings lock weir stream from the Dukes Cut can be fun when there's any sort of stream running. Read David Blagrove's account of it in 'Quiet Waters'.

[Bones]

sounds like the perfect solution, if the boatyard at Eynsham are happy to take it up there then I wouldn't worry too much. Perhaps he can live on the boat there while they do the work. In addition, it is always a threat that one might be made homeless when renting any property, so best not worry until it actually happens.

 

The landlord clearly wants the work done, it is unfortunate it isn't during a nice quiet time in terms of our weather, but at least he has organised for someone else to pick the boat up and get the work done rather than expecting your mate to do it.

[moggyjo]

sounds like the perfect solution, if the boatyard at Eynsham are happy to take it up there then I wouldn't worry too much. Perhaps he can live on the boat there while they do the work. In addition, it is always a threat that one might be made homeless when renting any property, so best not worry until it actually happens.

 

The landlord clearly wants the work done, it is unfortunate it isn't during a nice quiet time in terms of our weather, but at least he has organised for someone else to pick the boat up and get the work done rather than expecting your mate to do it.

 

The boat yard people are coming at mid day, by car to pick it up.

 

I phoned the lock keeper at Eynsham, this morning, he said the river has come up faster than expected, there are red boards up at Osney now, he said he would be extreemly concerned if they attempted to bring the boat up today, so we will see.

They wont let moggy live on it, landlord only let Moggy know the night before last that this was the case! so he will have to stay on my boat.

[Bones]

The boat yard people are coming at mid day, by car to pick it up.

 

I phoned the lock keeper at Eynsham, this morning, he said the river has come up faster than expected, there are red boards up at Osney now, he said he would be extreemly concerned if they attempted to bring the boat up today, so we will see.

They wont let moggy live on it, landlord only let Moggy know the night before last that this was the case! so he will have to stay on my boat.

 

Oh dear. Shame the landlord didnt let him know that before. It might be worth him asking the yard incase he can - although it is a bit out of the way of your normal stomping ground, so maybe being on your boat is a better idea for now. Lets hope it wont be for too long.

 

The river really has gone up a lot - a good couple of inches in the last couple of hours, but then we haven't had all the rain we are expecting yet have we!

[Speedwheel]

Surely if it is that bad, the lock keeper will refuse to let them out?

[carlt]

A fortnight's rain, over the next 48 hours, is forcast, with flood warnings.

 

I wouldn't be venturing out, this weekend.

[moggyjo]

Surely if it is that bad, the lock keeper will refuse to let them out?

 

They might not even get that far, they will have to navigate past Kings Lock Weir, which is fairly difficult with a good powerfull engine. Oh well, they know best.

[WJM]

"Surely if it is that bad, the lock keeper will refuse to let them out?"

 

Lock keepers cannot refuse anything - they can only advise you not to go out, but if you insist on continuing then it is your right to do so.

[magpie patrick]

Coming off the canal, there isn't a lock keeper to stop you anyway, they are unstaffed.

[sueb]

My friends landlord booked his boat out of the water for a hull survey and blacking at Eynsham marina tomorrow morning. Anyway my friend started heading off for the Thames via Dukes Cut yesterday morning, (on advice from Eynsham lock keeper) thyat advised, "sooner rather than later". While he was heading for Dukes, we drove to Eynsham lock, had a chat with the lock keeper and when we told him that the boat in question had a very low powered engine and some of the back counter was out of the water and also a lite boat, he reccomended him not to do it mainly because of the Weir at Kings Lock at that time and said that the river was already on yellow boards and could be on red tomorrow and also the flow was fast as the Windrush was putting a lot of water into the Thames. Phoned my mate, told him, he was relieved, as he said the wind was blowing all over the canal, so cancelled the trip. We went to the yard to cancel the booking/ surveyor.

Last night the Landlord phoned him from Uganda and said that the boatyard were sending some workers down this morning and were going to pick the boat up and take it to the yard themselves.

Now the boat is not insured at the moment, I can't see it getting there with the strong stream conditions (going upstream) with an engine that has hardly any more power than a Seagull outboard pushing a 52ft boat.

I hope my friend is not going to end up homeless, if anything goes wrong. hes got nowhere to live while the boat is away, its a bl***y Nightmare,

What would you do?

 

Wendy

Why is the boat uninsured?

Sue

[Hairy-Neil]

Why is the boat uninsured?

Sue

 

Sounds like it needs a hull survey first....

Edited September 5, 2008 by Hairy-Neil

[magnetman]

Sounds like it needs a hull survey first....

You don't actually NEED insurance of any sort for a Thames license. But you do for a BW license, and 3rd party cover can be acquired with no reference to the condition of the boat or indeed its name or specific type*

*there may be non-disclosure clauses involved and some very small writing.

 

 

 

 

 

of course saying 'the boat is not insured at the moment' does imply insurance for damage to the vessel itself as opposed to insurance for damage to another vessel or person, and that type of insurance would usually require a survey.

[Hairy-Neil]

But no insurance will cover you if you got into dificulties on the Thames with red boards out anyway....

[moggyjo]

Well luckily, the young guy got it to the yard in one piece

When he arrived to pick it up, he asked if it had a lister engine, he was told, no its a Kingfisher with a Chinese gear box, he said it was not suitable for the river in the state it is in but orders is orders, like last July when College Cruisers insisted one of the guys at the yard go and pick up a Hire Boat on the Thames that had been abandoned, this is how he left it

 

 

[moggyjo]

Met a couple at the Boat Inn at Thrupp, Saturday (They were at the new owners pig roast, jolly nice it was to) they were waiting for the Thames to go down, as aparantly on Friday morning they went to go through Kings Lock and the lock keeper waved them back and would not let them through. So as I see it, the boat yard took one hell of a risk getting My friends boat up to Eynsham Friday afternoon.

[WJM]

"they went to go through Kings Lock and the lock keeper waved them back and would not let them through."

 

already been said - they cannot STOP you - only advise against going.

[Chertsey]

Interesting. We were at (below) Eynsham a couple of weeks ago when the yellow boards came out and we were humming and hawing as to whether we should proceed, and the lock keeper not only advised us that we should (in case it got worse) but also told us in no uncertain terms that we couldn't overstay on the 24 hour moorings below the lock, thus effectively forcing our hand. As it turned out we were fine - big engine - and had a great time, though it was hard work. The lock keeper never asked though about our engine or our experience.

[WJM]

"The lock keeper never asked though about our engine or our experience."

 

 

A lot of them will have a very good feel for your and your boat's abilities without needing to ask questions. They look at 100s and 1000s of boats and crews all year. I have seen Thames lock keepers hand over powered operation of their lock to regular experienced crews while they attend to other things.