D3B
(regular)
06/03/2008 01:58
Guidance/help/advise for friend looking to move from Gt Ouse to Thames

Friend is looking to move to the Thames as a change, possibly permanent, from the Gt Ouse in Cambs.

His boat is a Sealine Ambassador 290 with twin petrols and I know the arch is not hinged...is he so he may have head room problems to consider...

He is considering a mooring somewhere around Staines as he believes this will give him lots of cruising grounds up and down the river.
he enjoys good food and wine and has a small scottie dog which would need to be included in any arrangements.

what guidance can the team give on his plan....
moorings fees
availablity of permanent moorings
suitable establishments for refreshments....I am on board occasionally ....
crusing grounds (ok....buy the book/guide.....yes when has decided to go he will)
Fuel....petrol....?

Thanks in advance....knowing the forum comes up with the right info...

Doug


boatone
(regular)
06/03/2008 08:28
Re: Guidance/help/advise for friend looking to move from Gt Ouse to Thames

Quote:

(ok....buy the book/guide.....yes when has decided to go he will)





Bloody typical....wouldn't it make sense to spend a few quid on the book/guide and be in possession of so much more information of value in making the decision?

Well I'm not going to encourage him, far too many boats on the river already, smelly petrol whatever.

And why cant he sign up to ybw and ask his own questions.......

Nah, sounds like a troll to me.....


TrueBlue
(regular)
06/03/2008 11:14
What have you done to upset Boat One?


OO the second post is a bit nasty, but probably correct, anyway I don't really understand the term "a troll", contentious maybe - but when are threads not contentious? Simple soul me.


Quote:

what guidance can the team give on his plan....
moorings fees
availability of permanent moorings
suitable establishments for refreshments....I am on board occasionally ....
cruising grounds (ok....buy the book/guide.....yes when has decided to go he will)
Fuel....petrol....?

Doug




Here goes:-
Mooring fees - astronomic £400 /metre /p.a. for the best places, and not much less elsewhere.

Permanent moorings. Very few, already full. buy a property with waterside frontage.

Most marinas are pretty busy. Try the Caravan Park People who are buying all the marinas they can get - and stuffing up the prices.

Eating - well, scan this forum.
Book - My recommendation is The River Thames Book by Chris Cove Smith, published by Imray. All books are always out of date but this has useful navigation data. Nicholson's Guide if you want bits of an OS map.

Now the challenges:-
Not a lot of Petrol around, Shepperton, PH?, Windsor, , Bray, then zilch until Abingdon. Plenty of garages around but may face supply problems with jerrycans (Petroleum regs) and portage challenges.
May have bridge height problems at Windsor, Cookham and certainly Abingdon.

He'll need to have lots of fenders,
Skipper and crew must be able to throw mooring lines accurately.

Class distinction (boat only) is rife, perceived order is:-

    Dunkirk veterans
    EA patrol launches, especially if the driver is that jolly lady one
    Elderly traditional boats, but in good condition
    Large White Boats
    Smaller white boats
    Small white boats
    Ex EA launches - if wearing a huge Blue
    Narrowboats
    Modern "dutch barges"
    day boats
    eights
    RWD coxed fours
    FWD coxed fours
    pairs
    single sculls
    coaching boats
    French's trip boats (some)
    Turks trip boats
    Reading trip boats
    Unlicensed boats
    Liveaboards in stretched narrowboats
    Forum members (well not many fly the burgee, and anyway it looks too much like the Caravan Park people's burgee)




Notes:-
The list may get modified in the light of experience and comments
Cancel all or any of the above if the skipper / crew are friendly and chat to you in a lock.
Unusual national Ensigns / unknown CY Ensigns always get comments, enquiries.

Well, if this is a troll there surely enough ammunition here!

TaRa


boatone
(regular)
06/03/2008 11:18
Re: What have you done to upset Boat One?

Quote:

OO the second post is a bit nasty, but probably correct, anyway I don't really understand the term "a troll", contentious maybe - but when are threads not contentious? Simple soul me.





Nasty? No, not intended at all and said with a certain amount of tongue in cheek. Usually I bite my lip but this morning the wee fella on my shoulder clicked the mouse before my usual stoicism kicked in. Result was gentle sarcasm but with a grain of truth I think?

As the 'designer' of the forum burgee I will ponder before responding to your derogatory comments re caravans etc etc......


TrueBlue
(regular)
06/03/2008 11:30
I haven't been around these fora

- as long as you have, so I assumed your prior knowledge of the aforementioned Gentleman - with or without his beverages.

Perhaps I should have qualified my wording to echo your tongue in cheek. Either one has to put an emoticon to say "not really" or to be very exact with wording.
I'm trying, and getting better but slowly.

As to the burgees, I was not casting aspersions on your design, merely to pint out that the T&K are blue with gold as are the Forum's. Never having seen a forum burgee flown in real life, I'm unable to distinguish one from another. If I buy one and become a minority of one then my anonymity will be destroyed....


D3B
(regular)
06/03/2008 13:01
Re: I haven't been around these fora

What have I done to upset him?

well probably phoning him..... pissed.... at 22.00 to ask how to post a picture on here

So I need to check boatone's vessel name so that he can keep clear at all times....the dog has been trained to bite on the instruction of the SWMBO.

Now to TRY and dissect the sensible bits

Obviously very busy boating area but he comes into the small white boat category so will be quite high up the pecking order...

£400 per metre
true?
if thats the case you wont need to worry Tony, i suspect that would put him off.

He says he is far too busy to waste time on fora searching for things when he has a very good friend who can find out for him.

and you chaps always have all the right answers.


teddington_lock
(regular)
06/03/2008 15:47
Re: What have you done to upset Boat One?

Quote:


Class distinction (boat only) is rife, perceived order is:-

    Dunkirk veterans
    EA patrol launches, especially if the driver is that jolly lady one
    Elderly traditional boats, but in good condition
    Large White Boats
    Smaller white boats
    Small white boats
    Ex EA launches - if wearing a huge Blue
    Narrowboats
    Modern "dutch barges"
    day boats
    eights
    RWD coxed fours
    FWD coxed fours
    pairs
    single sculls
    coaching boats
    French's trip boats (some)
    Turks trip boats
    Reading trip boats
    Unlicensed boats
    Liveaboards in stretched narrowboats
    Forum members (well not many fly the burgee, and anyway it looks too much like the Caravan Park people's burgee)





Very funny


Chris_d
(regular)
06/03/2008 17:19
Re: What have you done to upset Boat One?

Thats a good list, except i'd put a 30ft + slipper with oversized ensign at the top and Narrowboats at the bottom

TrueBlue
(regular)
06/03/2008 17:55
How Much???

Quote:



£400 per metre
true?





Yup, nearly, I did round it up very slightly to make it easier for inebriated members to calculate. Actually its £395 per metre per annum. Less salubrious moorings available at £356. Naturally that include the rather grubby VAT.

A bit like owning a Royce, if you ask how much you can't afford it.

I jest not, about the only thing that spoils the Thames, together with......


boatone
(regular)
06/03/2008 18:03
Re: How Much???

Thats very expensive. I pay around £300 a metre and I think MDL are much the same as are Shepperton and Walton.

Chris_d
(regular)
06/03/2008 18:34
Re: How Much???

Can't think of anywhere on the Thames that high, thats more like south coast prices.
Thames and Kennet is £276/m pa, see here


Brayman
(regular)
06/03/2008 18:54
Re: How Much???

Then add VAT

TrueBlue
(regular)
06/03/2008 20:21
Re: How Much???

Co'err that's £327 ish, makes my "exclusive" site a bit of a bargain (well it does in my terms).

Chris_d
(regular)
06/03/2008 21:17
Re: How Much???

Mmm... that is getting pricey and I thought this was the poor end of the river Still not as bad as here

Brayman
(regular)
06/03/2008 21:56
Re: How Much???

It might be the poor end but it's also the CLASSY end of the river!

pheran
(regular)
06/03/2008 22:28
Re: How Much???

Kin 'ell!!. So the Good Ship 'Pheran' would cost me 14 grand to moor at Salterns. Plus Harbour Dues. Whereas I have paid £600 to have her 'indoors' (afloat in one of the huge boat halls, out of the weather and totally secure) for the whole of the winter. And the locals thought that was expensive. UK prices are unbelievable.

JECuk
(regular)
06/03/2008 22:29
Re: How Much???

The most expensive possible at Harleyford are 395/metre and most a lot less.

D3B
(regular)
06/03/2008 23:23
Re: How Much???

Quote:


to make it easier for inebriated members to calculate.




thank you sir its difficult to see the keys on the lappy at this time of night and the calculator has smaller buttons.

I might comment that my enquiry is entirely serious and despite boatone thinking its a TROLL I am seeking help for a friend who is not too savvy with tinternet and as I have found on all of the various fora on here "local" information is better than any pilot book or guide.
In addition i started my boating only a short while ago on the river Ouse based in ely...

He currently pays abot 1800 quid for his mooring in Ely so quick calculation suggest double for the Thames.
I need to look at an atlas as my recollections (blue....did i manage to spell that correctly ) of his cruising grounds are land based...he plans mooring around staines and cruising up and down from ther.

petrol is a very big concern....would he be able to use his "small plastic boat" with petrol engines without the hazards of dockside refuelling from containers. and do the marinas add a significant premium to "pump" prices


oldgit
(regular)
07/03/2008 08:29
Re: Guidance/help/advise for friend looking to move from Gt Ouse to Thames

Would have thought he needs to measure arch height or its £1500 quid for a hinge job.
Mate is paying £3.6K for a 37 footer at a nice MDL marina and do not forget the BSS costs .
The Thames is finest boating river in the known universe and the more using it the merrier,it does leave other locations a bit empty,but we will have to grin and bear up stoically


TrueBlue
(regular)
07/03/2008 10:36
Re: How Much???

There's no "Poor end" any more. When we decided to retreat before The Caravan Park People (hereinafter, and for always referred to as the "CPP") we joined a queue for Abingdon Marina. By the time a hole became available their rates had risen to within a gnat's whisker of downstream prices. After one factors in travelling costs, even ignoring "opportunity costs" (time and hassle to get there), it actually worked out more!

There are so many boats in marinas that never go out, nor are used as weekend cottages, and as many again which are only used for one annual holiday, that I wonder if sooner, rather than later their owners will realise it's just not worth the candle.

Then, and only then might prices fall (in real terms).
It's a matter of supply of demand, local planning NiMbYs strangle the former but lots of the latter.


teddington_lock
(regular)
07/03/2008 12:31
Re: How Much???

If he is happy to moor at Teddington , he can moor it a lot cheaper than that .... good access for the tideway , and not too bad for a lower thames trip ...

Pontoon moorings , electric , water ... current rates are around £230 pm/pa ....

Speak to Teddington Harbour ( my dad ) a shameless plug , i know !! Sorry ... 0208 977 9978 , say Howard told you to ring and i'll let him know this afternoon when i start work that you may call.


Doolittle
(regular)
07/03/2008 22:30
Re: Guidance/help/advise for friend looking to move from Gt Ouse to Thames

Could give the Chertsey Estate Agent Claude Waterer a ring as they were advirtising a mooring on the Harris Estate for upto 38' which included 40' of garden for £3,500 + VAT/ year. This is just downstream of Laleham Wharf on the South side of the river, - being about midway between Penton and Chertsey. ...Spose I ought to go and see what length a Sealine whatsit is now...


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