Jump to content

Stratford upon Avon to Tonbridge


locostmike

Featured Posts

Hi,

What would other boaters recommend as a route to get my boat from Stratford upon Avon to Tonbridge on the river Medway? Is there an obvious/easy route? I'm not keen on large river cruising, I've never done it before. Is putting it on a big lorry a realistic option - any ballpark estimates?

Thanks

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big lorry is the only option if you don't like big rivers! You would need to go down the Thames as far as Sheerness which is not far off open sea!

 

Click on the link to see the size of river you would need to navigate, and that's the point where you turn into the Medway which is much smaller than the Thames!

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4523697,0.7226,3a,75y,82.95h,101.84t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPIby-Fbw_5Yd57xbRcpf90eGH-CPlyqRjLIb5K!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPIby-Fbw_5Yd57xbRcpf90eGH-CPlyqRjLIb5K%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0.3786296-ya18.179855-ro-0.1914189-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

 

Edited by NickF
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You'd miss out of a great cruise if you transfer the boat by road. However, general cruising may not be your object in having a boat anyway.

The non tidal Thames is really no big deal especially when going downstream - unless there has been a lot of rain. To my mind the only difficult bit is from Limehouse to Tonbridge where you should - or in your case - must go in company with other boats, you'd need VHF radio, life jackets, lifebuoy make sure water can't get into the hull and more.

At this time of the year when the days are short and the weather less predictable then that leg is probably a no-no for anybody.

In short if you want to go now - then a lorry is the only practical answer.

To be of any real help "we" need more information - what sort of boat, length, engine type, age and probably a lot more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, locostmike said:

Thanks for the replies, my boat is a 71ft narrow boat so I think I'll get a quote for putting it on a truck.

Mike

A shame but quite understandable. I don't think you could get a 71 foot  boat through the Stratford canal (70' 11") or the Oxford (70' 10"). Even if your measurements include fenders.

You might save a sizeable amount of money if you could find boatyard(s) with a resident crane along the route to lift you out and in.

The Mudway is not especially NB friendly. Most of the local boats are cruisers so NBs are unusual. Allington Marina has a 35 ton crane but might have a problem with your length. Don't know about the Stratford end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

A shame but quite understandable. I don't think you could get a 71 foot  boat through the Stratford canal (70' 11") or the Oxford (70' 10"). Even if your measurements include fenders.

You can get 71 ft 6 ins (plus rudder plus fenders) boats through both of these.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, NickF said:

River Avon, River Severn, The other Avon, K and A, River Kennet,  River Thames , River Medway ... now that would be a trip!

Yes ! ...especially the tidal ones - for someone not wanting to go by river.......a hairy experience I guess! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/23/2017 at 12:25, OldGoat said:

A shame but quite understandable. I don't think you could get a 71 foot  boat through the Stratford canal (70' 11") or the Oxford (70' 10"). Even if your measurements include fenders.

You might save a sizeable amount of money if you could find boatyard(s) with a resident crane along the route to lift you out and in.

The Mudway is not especially NB friendly. Most of the local boats are cruisers so NBs are unusual. Allington Marina has a 35 ton crane but might have a problem with your length. Don't know about the Stratford end.

Fulbourne, at 71'6" has comfortably cruised (lengthwise) the Oxford and Stratford canals numerous times.

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Getting from Stratford upon Avon to London without going on tidal water is easy enough; up to Lapworth then down the Grand Union and Regents' Canal to Limehouse. That just involves quite a lot of locks and miles and takes time. However your decision needs to be driven by whether you're going to brave the Thames Estuary; people do it in narrow boats but they prepare well for it, and I'd certainly want to ask a lot of questions of the experts before I joined such a trip.

If you won't be putting to sea to reach the Medway, then it comes down to where you're craning the boat out of the water, and you just have to shop around for prices for that and the lorry trip. My guess based on reading other similar topics is that the length of the lorry trip doesn't greatly affect the cost, so craning out somewhere fairly local to you may be the best value.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a photo just to give you a flavour of theThames estuary on a calm day. We have just rounded the Nore Swatch buoy, off Sheerness, to turn into the Medway. Southend in the distance several   miles away...  Great fun but needs a lot of planning and preparation. My favourite story from the RNLI is of a boater that didn't realise Sheerness was on an island, and went round and round until they ran out of fuel. But this is a close second, NB the comment from the skipper. https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2016/august/02/sheerness-rnli-called-to-assist-a-narrowboat-in-trouble

 

dscf7526.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.