On the subject of hanging around in Boston. As of March 20th the new lock into the South Forty Foot will be officially opened. You could either lock through or I believe that there are some floating moorings just outside the lock on the Haven. Steve
--- On Fri, 16/1/09, Neil Arlidge <[email protected]> wrote: From: Neil Arlidge <[email protected]> Subject: [canals-list] Re: Crossing the Wash To: [email protected] Date: Friday, 16 January, 2009, 11:45 PM oldmonsty wrote: > I am a new boy, please be kind!! I am contemplating crossing the wash > this summer. I am moored on the Nene Old course and I and especially > Swmbo are sick of going up and down the Nene before our annual tour. I > have researched the web and apart from the gallant 'Earnest' there is > no (up to date )info. My boat is well found with a proper engine in > perfect order but it is a tug and as such has a very low free board > and no cratch board. I carry all the necessary re. lifesaving and > navigation equipment but can find no info on pilots etc. It is likely > that I would want to go via Wisbech for no other reason than it is > shorter although I would in fact prefer Kings Lynn. What do the great > and good think? > Jim > > > ------------ --------- --------- ------ It is near on impossible to go from Denver out on the Great Ouse (as it is so silted) as you will run out of water on the ebb and be lucky to get to Kings Lynn. There are waiting buoys just downstream of the first bridge just above Kings Lynn. We have always tended to do the tricky stuff incoming on a flood tide. I would say, although we left early on the flood to get up the Great Ouse to Denver in one (and in the dark at the end), this was necessary to pass over the terrible silting around the site of the old Railway Bridge, just above Wiggenhall Saint Mary Magdalen. You can see this on Google Earth and Windows Local Live aerials. If you go from Wisbech to Boston, you will have to go well out to keep in the channels, then mill about (not recommended, we just took advantage of the good weather) and beach during low water on the flat Roger Sands, just to the south of the Freeman Channel. The only guy we ever trusted (he became a mate of John Chapman) was Clinton Dorrington, who was not anti-narrowboat and knew like minded pilots. I am afraid the TNC stuff (of which I presume you have already looked at, I have even scanned the Admirality Wash chart) is now getting a bit historic, but Clinton is still about: http://www.fenland. gov.uk/ccm/ navigation/ environment/ harbour/wisbech- yacht-harbour/ Also, we have never done a "conventional" passage across the Wash, as we wanted to visit the Glen / Welland and Nene / Great Outfalls (which was in our case the only point of doing it). Going across the Wash at high water and punching the tide is NOT recommended, especially going to Boston as you would not have anywhere to hang about, until you could through the Grand Sluice at around high water. Quite a few have recently done conventional piloted trips across the Wash. http://www.tuesdayn ightclub. co.uk/Tour_ 04/Tour04_ 19.html http://www.tuesdayn ightclub. co.uk/Tour_ 01/fen8.html -- Neil Arlidge - NB Earnest Follow the travels of TNC, now in Ireland http://www.tuesdayn ightclub. co.uk/tour. html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
