Width on Cam and other navigations

[Navelmonster]

Hello All

 

Can any of you experienced boaty peeps tell me about width restrictions on the Cam and Great Ouse system?

 

Mrs N and I want a 12' widebeam and want to live nearish (10 miles by road max) from Cambridge. Maybe when set up somewhere we may try to move into Cambridge city but a mooring in a marina or on towpath nearby would be fine. however I am told there are 11'6" or smaller locks in some places! Can anyone help?

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

Navelmonster

Edited June 30, 2009 by Navelmonster

[FadeToScarlet]

Hello All

 

Can any of you experienced boaty peeps tell me width restrictions on the Cam and Great Ouse system?

 

Mrs N and I want a 12' widebeam and want to live nearish (10 miles by road max) from Cambridge. Maybe when set up somewhere we may try to move into Cambridge city but a mooring in a marina or on towpath would be fine. however I am told there are 11'6" locks in some places! Can anyone help?

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

Navelmonster

 

In terms of width, you're OK up to 14' wide along the Ely Ouse and the Cam. However, there's several locks on the Ouse proper that are only 3.2m / 10' wide (Offord Lock, and others, I think) so your options there are limited.

 

http://www.lazy-otter.com/PDF/Ouse-map.pdf

 

In terms of mooring on the Cam within a reasonable distance of the city centre, the answer is there's not a great deal of space. There are marinas (Upware, TIptree and Shrubb's Wharf) but they tend to be expensive and not have much space.

 

You can't just moor alongside the bank anywhere you choose, like you can on the canals, because of the EA's rules. And the visitor moorings are limited and policed. I spent 6 months continuously cruising in the area, and it altered the way I lived my entire life, having to move every two days.

 

Mooring in the centre of Cambridge is extremely limited. There's a waiting list (with about 80 people on) for the available spaces, which come up rarely. Widebeam spaces are even rarer still; there's 8 or so people at the top of the list, with widebeams, but no-one with a widebeam mooring license looks like they're leaving.

 

I'm sorry to be so negative, but that's the way it is!

 

There are occasionally moorings in marinas in Huntingdon and St. Ives, which are commutable into Cambridge, especially since the new multi-million pound GUided Bus will soon be opening.

[Roger Gunkel]

Agree with the above comments, but would add that mooring costs seem expensive to some but not to others depending on what your expectations are.

 

Upware Marina is currently £32.50 per ft, Popes Corner Marina (Stretham) £27pf, Cathedral Marina Ely £42pf (Ibelieve) and some new ones without electric at Brandon Creek, £18.50pf. The biggest residential mooring area is Isleham which I think is around £30pf. These are all within about 12 miles of cambridge except Brandon Creek which is about 20 miles

 

Roger