River Nene

[Rooffy]

Thinking of cruising the Nene this April. Anyone know how long in hours/days it would take from Northampton to Peterborough, assuming 7mph and no stoppages?

Any advice welcome!

[rusty69]

Comfortably in 5-7 days, rushed in 3-4 days.(based on narrowboat speed,so maybe quicker at 7mph)

Edited February 8, 2018 by rusty69

[ditchcrawler]

two and a half days  https://canalplan.eu/

[PaulJ]

Usually takes me about 30 hours (ish) at narrowboat speed-I dont do howling engines and its a beautiful river so even if your on a schedule you want to enjoy it. Others tell me about 24 hours and guess thats at 7mph ?

 

[Chop!]

Ongoing stoppages seem to be getting longer due to adverse weather and SSAs. Due to finish 29th March if no more hold-ups.

[Peter X]

We (two of us on a 45' narrowboat) did March to lock 13 of the Northampton Arm in four long days in October 2016, out of which I reckon about 35 hours of actual boat moving was Peterborough to Northampton. The river was flowing normally, and assuming it is for you too, I think you'll do it in 30 hours or less going down river at a normal speed. Allow more time if you're single handed.

7mph sounds fast to me even for going down a river; I don't know what limit EA impose on the Nene, but do know they have a limit of 8kph (about 5mph) for powered craft on the Thames.

[john6767]

29 minutes ago, Peter X said:

We (two of us on a 45' narrowboat) did March to lock 13 of the Northampton Arm in four long days in October 2016, out of which I reckon about 35 hours of actual boat moving was Peterborough to Northampton. The river was flowing normally, and assuming it is for you too, I think you'll do it in 30 hours or less going down river at a normal speed. Allow more time if you're single handed.

7mph sounds fast to me even for going down a river; I don't know what limit EA impose on the Nene, but do know they have a limit of 8kph (about 5mph) for powered craft on the Thames.

I think it is 7mph on the Nene, and it did strike me as strange given the same authority makes it 5mph on the Thames which is a much bigger river.

It took us about 4 days without rushing in a narrowboat, and we did have a couple of longish days in that.

[ditchcrawler]

Speed limit

The navigation has a speed limit of 11.2 kmph (7mph).

[matty40s]

I did this in late March. Stopped at Becketts Park in the evening for a trawl of the local hostelries with Smudge and Purple F.

Next evening was Wellingborough opposite the Whitworths plant, following evening Oundle embankment just past the A605 and then March visitor moorings. I wasn't doing anywhere near 7mph as it was an old boat with an untested engine, just long days.

[Ssscrudddy]

32 hours cruising time for me.

Here's a YouTube playlist showing Peterborough to Northampton, time lapse, 32 hours cruising in 2 hours of video. (8 videos)

 

[Chop!]

Couldn't do it in 32 days at the moment! ;0(

[Dave123]

I doubt you will be able to do 7mph except on the very occasional straight wide section (but below Peterborough you can easily). It is quite a narrow overgrown and twisty river...but why rush anyway?

[GUMPY]

2 hours ago, Chop! said:

Couldn't do it in 32 days at the moment! ;0(

Is that work getting in the way or is something broken.

[Peter X]

I'm guessing that Chop! was referring to winter stoppages; the above topic lists some lock closures, the last of which was scheduled to end on 28th March.

That was in October, so anyone planning a trip now should look to EA for up to date information.

[rusty69]

https://teamup.com/ks42748cc81f4df974

[GUMPY]

3 hours ago, Peter X said:

I'm guessing that Chop! was referring to winter stoppages; the above topic lists some lock closures, the last of which was scheduled to end on 28th March.

That was in October, so anyone planning a trip now should look to EA for up to date information.

As my boat is on its trailer on the bank at Willy Watts I hadn't thought about the stoppages