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River Trent navigation charts.


tosher

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Which is what it has been for the five years we have been there.

Mooring on the Witham is already proving tricky as there are only limited moorings on the floating pontoons which some don't seem to be appreciating leaving big gaps between boats.

I suspect our anchor and dinghy will be getting a lot of use this summer.

Maybe lots of people are 'hovering' until Holme lock is re-opened...

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Sisson's River Trent charts are regularly updated, I understand, to account for the continual movement of the river bed. A must.

Tide tables, a must.

Life jackets, a must.

Telephone numbers of Lock Keepers, a must.

Now you are as safe as can be.

Enjoy it.

James

I would still add VHF radio and a sufficiently sized anchor as 'musts' too!.

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I would still add VHF radio and a sufficiently sized anchor as 'musts' too!.

 

I agree, a proper anchor is a must and I was surprised that Jameswoolcock did not include that in his list.

 

I can appreciate that VHF radio is a very useful bit of kit in these circumstances but not everyone has it or knows how to use it proeperly. It is not an inexpensive thing to set yourself up with properly either.

 

As I have mentioned before. I originally did the tidal Trent on a hire boat. They hire company knew our plans and were happy for us to take the boat on The Trent without VHF. I would imagine if VHF were considered "a must" then that would not have been the case?

 

We will not have VHF when we venture on it next week. I am sure there are a good many narrowboats use that route without it.

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The Trent Charts!

 

You can buy them from most of the marinas en route or Cromwell have them.

 

Worth having as the channel doesn't always follow the route you assume it will. You often see boats high and dry on the wrong side of the river.

 

What's with everyone visiting the Witham this year? It's full of bloody narrowboats already at the minute!

I hnderstand that the new pictorial vedsion is not accurate jn places. A large dutch barge ran aground around high tide below Tirksey whilst following the pictures. The previuos version usjng proper charth maos is apparently more accurate
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I hnderstand that the new pictorial vedsion is not accurate jn places. A large dutch barge ran aground around high tide below Tirksey whilst following the pictures. The previuos version usjng proper charth maos is apparently more accurate

Angel Hardy. :)

 

He should have known better. He ran aground at Wells not following the chart as well!

 

The line is in the same place on both charts. We have the two to compare. Not sure why mind as we don't even use them!

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I agree, a proper anchor is a must and I was surprised that Jameswoolcock did not include that in his list.

 

I can appreciate that VHF radio is a very useful bit of kit in these circumstances but not everyone has it or knows how to use it proeperly. It is not an inexpensive thing to set yourself up with properly either.

 

As I have mentioned before. I originally did the tidal Trent on a hire boat. They hire company knew our plans and were happy for us to take the boat on The Trent without VHF. I would imagine if VHF were considered "a must" then that would not have been the case?

 

We will not have VHF when we venture on it next week. I am sure there are a good many narrowboats use that route without it.

The lockie at Keadby was quite happy about us using a mobile phone. Not sure if you need a licence to operate VHF in this country.

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The lockie at Keadby was quite happy about us using a mobile phone. Not sure if you need a licence to operate VHF in this country.

You need an operators certificate which requires a short day course, and the set needs a license but is free is applied for on line.

As the Lockie at Nether, I would rather use VHF because then other boats can hear and my collegues either side know I am still alive. It is part of our Lone Working procedure.

Edited by jelunga
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You need an operators certificate which requires a short day course, and the set needs a license but is free is applied for on line.

As the Lockie at Nether, I would rather use VHF because then other boats can hear and my collegues either side know I am still alive. It is part of our Lone Working procedure.

Thanks for that Jelunga. By coincidence I was planning to do the Foundation Amateur Radio exam to get my ham radio licence. I did wonder if that would cover me for the marine band but I don't think that's the case.

 

It does sound safer for everyone to use VHF (as everyone can hear each other) but the irony is that most of those less experienced in boating will probably end up having to use a mobile phone. Perhaps they should make certain channels licence free to improve safety.

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Thanks for that Jelunga. By coincidence I was planning to do the Foundation Amateur Radio exam to get my ham radio licence. I did wonder if that would cover me for the marine band but I don't think that's the case.

 

It does sound safer for everyone to use VHF (as everyone can hear each other) but the irony is that most of those less experienced in boating will probably end up having to use a mobile phone. Perhaps they should make certain channels licence free to improve safety.

No!

 

Perhaps people should comply with the byelaws of the waterways they are navigating.

 

Buying a VHF set and getting the operators licence is a very small cost when compared to other boat ownership costs.

 

Buy a £50k boat yet quibble over £250!

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You do need to 'do' a seperate test for the Marine Band which seems crazy when I already had a 'Ham' licence and an Aircraft licence.

 

A bit like having a CRB check if you are a football ref - you have to have another CRB check if you umpire at junior cricket and yet another check if you want to play golf with Juniors. What they think having the same check done 3 times is going to achieve is anyones guess - all a CRB check shows is that 'you havn't been caught yet'

 

Its just a way of getting more money out of you.

 

The boat also needs a licence (this used to be £15 per annum but somebody realised it cost more to administer that income it generated so the licence was made free-of-charge and is now administered on line).

Fill in the boat details, print it out and you have a boat licence.

 

http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/ships-radio/

 

What you need to remember is that whilst on the Inland Waterways we just use a couple of channels, the same fequencies are used on on the Sea by all boats and ships - each of the channels has a 'usage', it would be very difficult if you were at the bottom end of the River Witham chatting away (like a CB) on a 'free' channel if a freighter was trying to contact Boston docks on the same frequency.

 

 

United Kingdom VHF Frequencies and Usage Channel Number Ship Transmit MHz Ship Receive MHz Channel Type Intership Port Operations Ship Movements Public Coast Stations Types of Transmissions 00 156.000 156.000 Private HM Coast Guard Use Only. 01 156.050 160.650 Duplex X X X 02 156.100 160.700 Duplex X X X 03 156.150 160.750 Duplex X X X 04 156.200 160.800 Duplex X X X 05 156.250 160.850 Duplex X X X 06 156.300 156.300 Simplex X SAR Communications - Ships and Aircraft. 07 156.350 160.950 Duplex X X 08 156.400 156.400 Simplex X Ship to Ship Primary Working Channel. 09 156.450 156.450 Simplex X X X Ship to Ship Secondary Working Channel. Is often used by ship pilots. 10 156.500 156.500 Simplex X X X HMCG / SAR / Pollution Incidents / Marine Safety Broadcasts. 11 156.550 156.550 Simplex X X 12 156.600 156.600 Simplex X X X 13 156.650 156.650 Simplex X X X International Bridge to Bridge Navigation Channel. 14 156.700 156.700 Simplex X X 15 156.750 156.750 Simplex X X X Ship to Ship secondary working channel. May also be used for on-board communications. 1 Watt Output. 16 156.800 156.800 Simplex International Distress, Safety and Calling Channel. 17 156.850 156.850 Simplex X X X Ship to Ship secondary working channel. May also be used for on-board communications. 1 Watt Output. 18 156.900 161.500 Duplex X X 19 156.950 161.550 Duplex X X 20 157.000 161.600 Duplex X X 21 157.050 161.650 Duplex X X 22 157.100 161.700 Duplex X X 23 157.150 161.750 Duplex X HMCG / SAR / Marine Safety Broadcasts 24 157.200 161.800 Duplex X 25 157.250 161.850 Duplex X 26 157.300 161.900 Duplex X 27 157.350 161.950 Duplex X 28 157.400 162.000 Duplex X 37 (M1) 157.850 157.850 Private U. K. Marinas and Yacht Clubs 60 156.025 160.625 Duplex X X X 61 156.075 160.675 Duplex X X X 62 156.125 160.725 Duplex X X X 63 156.175 160.775 Duplex X X X 64 156.225 160.825 Duplex X X X 65 156.275 160.875 Duplex X X X 66 156.325 160.925 Duplex X X X 67 156.375 156.375 Simplex X X X HMCG / SAR 68 156.425 156.425 Simplex X X 69 156.475 156.475 Simplex X X X 70 156.525 156.525 Simplex International "DSC" Distress, Safety, and Calling Channel - No Voice Communications Authorized. 71 156.575 156.575 Simplex X X 72 156.625 156.625 Simplex X Ship to Ship Primary Working Channel. 73 156.675 156.675 Simplex X X X HMCG / SAR 74 156.725 156.725 Simplex X X 75 156.775 156.775 Simplex X X Navigation related communications only. 76 156.825 156.825 Simplex X X Navigation related communications only. 77 156.875 156.875 Simplex X Ship to Ship Primary Working Channel. 78 156.925 161.525 Duplex X X X 79 156.975 161.575 Duplex X X X 80 157.025 161.625 Duplex U. K. Marinas 81 157.075 161.675 Duplex X X X 82 157.125 161.725 Duplex X X X 83 157.175 161.775 Duplex X X X 84 157.225 161.825 Duplex X X X HMCG / SAR / Marine Safety Broadcasts 85 157.275 161.875 Duplex X X X 86 157.325 161.925 Duplex X X X HMCG / SAR / Marine Safety Broadcasts 87 157.375 157.375 Simplex X 88 157.425 157.425 Simplex X M2 161.425 161.425 Private U. K. Yacht Clubs

 

 

In the days before mobile phones you could call up a 'coast radio' station and have your VHF radio connected into the BT telephone system quite an expensive call but great fun saying 'over' in a telephone conversation - these coast radio stations have now died-the-death and the frequencies re-allocated

 

 

The Government has issued a range of 'free to use' frequencies with those PWR radios and they are very useful for lock working (or on the Llangollen narrows) but are not monitored by waterways users.

 

Edit - seeing as the table has gone all-to-cock click the link and scroll down the page

 

http://www.offshoreblue.com/communications/vhf-uk.php

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Sorry Alan totally disagree with the first line of your post and I am speaking as someone who also passed his RAE and held a full marine radio licence. for MF HF and VHF.

I re-took my vhf ticket as mine was pre DSC and there were many changes in procedure including distress and urgency

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No!

Perhaps people should comply with the byelaws of the waterways they are navigating.

Buying a VHF set and getting the operators licence is a very small cost when compared to other boat ownership costs.

Buy a £50k boat yet quibble over £250!

If you've got a £50k boat, I take it you can afford it then...

Sorry Alan totally disagree with the first line of your post and I am speaking as someone who also passed his RAE and held a full marine radio licence. for MF HF and VHF.

I re-took my vhf ticket as mine was pre DSC and there were many changes in procedure including distress and urgency

While you experts are here, what would be a a good HF aerial for a 58ft narrow boat? Was thinking of a suitable length wire down the length if the boat (raised at one end) and using the boat as the ground plane. Sorry to be a bit off topic...

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That is not just petty it's silly....The radio regulations are for other peoples safety as well as your own

I think you'll find many people compromise safety because they don't have much money. I also suspect VHF is used by people with no licence. There used to be many 'pirates' on the 2m band. I'm not saying it's right but it is the real world.

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John V, on 14 May 2014 - 5:53 PM, said:

Sorry Alan totally disagree with the first line of your post and I am speaking as someone who also passed his RAE and held a full marine radio licence. for MF HF and VHF.

I re-took my vhf ticket as mine was pre DSC and there were many changes in procedure including distress and urgency

 

I assume you are not disagreeing with my statement "You do need to 'do' a seperate test for the Marine Band", in which case it must be my reference to "it seems crazy".

 

I accept that post DSC things changed 'a bit' but it dos seem 'odd' that you have to do a 'full course' from the basics just to add a small extra component.

 

How about - a radio licence that has a basic level of knowledge, and to which can be added endorsements for additional knowledge / requirements.

 

A bit like a Driving licence, pass your car test and its a provisional licence for a motorbike, and a full licence for a Moped, add PSV or HGV when you have taken the relevant tests.

 

Pass your RAE, it allows you to use a VHF aircraft and marine radio, but if using DSC you have to get an additional endorsement.

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I assume you are not disagreeing with my statement "You do need to 'do' a seperate test for the Marine Band", in which case it must be my reference to "it seems crazy".

 

I accept that post DSC things changed 'a bit' but it dos seem 'odd' that you have to do a 'full course' from the basics just to add a small extra component.

 

How about - a radio licence that has a basic level of knowledge, and to which can be added endorsements for additional knowledge / requirements.

 

A bit like a Driving licence, pass your car test and its a provisional licence for a motorbike, and a full licence for a Moped, add PSV or HGV when you have taken the relevant tests.

 

Pass your RAE, it allows you to use a VHF aircraft and marine radio, but if using DSC you have to get an additional endorsement.

 

 

The "basics" on a one day course are not the sort of basics that you and I studied for the RAE and much less than that required for my MRO

 

If there was a component in the RAE that covered the regulations and procedures of marine radio I would agree but there isn't

 

almost all the course for the DSC is procedures and regulations

 

 

edit to add was a G3 and used to operate the exhibition station G2FVA

Edited by John V
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The "basics" on a one day course are not the sort of basics that you and I studied for the RAE and much less than that required for my MRO

 

If there was a component in the RAE that covered the regulations and procedures of marine radio I would agree but there isn't

 

almost all the course for the DSC is procedures and regulations

 

 

edit to add was a G3 and used to operate the exhibition station G2FVA

Just a small correction on the course for Marine VHF SRC, as it changed at the beginning of this year.

 

It is now a 2 day course, but part of that can be done online (before 1 day face to face), and for the examination it has to be a separate examiner to the instructor I believe. I like many others (given how booked up the courses were) did the course at the end of last year to get it in before the rules changed. You can argue does it really needs all that time, but the EU made us change, and I think the instructor said that in at least one EU country it was a five day course, and the EU did not like us doing it in a day.

 

I was a very interesting day though, and focused on GMDSS/SOLAS rather than technical radio stuff, so I don't think other radio knowledge would really help that much or would be relevant to what is covered.

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