Great Ouse ?

[Lastdraft]

After ten years and three boats I think its time to move on. I could never tire of the Broads but I could certainly tire of the A47/A17 !  does anyone have any opinions/recommendations for cruising the Great Ouse ?  marinas ? are the locks manned ? and are there many locks ? moorings ?  etc etc.

Any opinions/advice appreciated.

[annv]

My sister moors at Littleport Nr Ely lots of moorings wild and marinas with pubs at most of villages not many electric points but all open skies for solar, the only manned locks are old west to bedford/ouse and Denver sluice but best ring river authority to be sure. John 

[Shemaha]

A few years back I had a Freeman 24 which I moored at Needingworth, good marina electric points and water for each moorings, shower block and pub within complex, further up river you have St Ives , big well equipped marina, at Jones Boatyard.

Locks not manned, but almost all of them however are electric guillotine locks, so easy to operate without too much effort. 

[Shemaha]

There is also GOBA  Great Ouse Boating Association, which you can join their website gives a bit of information with an interactive map showing locks,  moorings and services. If you were to join them they have a number of 24 hour mooring places reserved for GOBA members only.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Shemaha
Autocorrect

[Smoggy]

All non tidal locks unmanned on gt.ouse, hermitage lock to denver sluice including river lark,river wissey,little ouse has no locks, a couple on the cam into cambridge.

Ely end is very straight and uninspiring but earith to bedford is absolutely lovely, st.ives bridge beats PH hands down for looks and you can get most boats under it.

As mentioned goba is worth joining for use of their moorings, great chandlery/marina at st.ives.

Pumpout facilities few and far between so quite a few sea toilets still in use, river vastly quieter than the broads so sea toilet use not such a problem, no electric points at public moorings that I know of unless they have appeared in last 8 years.

Nav authority is EA who make the BA looks like gods in their complete ineptitude to operate a navigation, annual licence also dearer than broads not that there's any regular checks or rangers.

[Turnoar]

Good enough for the oxcam boat race next year, why knot?

[ChrisB]

22 minutes ago, Turnoar said:

Good enough for the oxcam boat race next year, why knot?

As it was in 1944

[Smoggy]

19 minutes ago, Turnoar said:

Good enough for the oxcam boat race next year, why knot?

That is a reason to avoid the Ely section, the rowers are a right PITA on the cam above baits bite lock, not so much PITA more downright militant in their full ownership of the river (as they seem to think), I guess there will be lots of that around Ely next summer.

If you go for it and stop around St.Neots I highly recommend a visit to the Ale Taster if you like a good choice of real ales.

[ChrisB]

Love the River Great Ouse system. As already stated membership of GOBA is a must for their moorings. The one in the centre of Wickham Fen is glorious.

[Smoggy]

Wicken lode is always worth a trip as you feel you are winding your way up a hill and back down on the return run, all on a flat waterway, very strange.

[webntweb]

Beam is more restricting than on the Broads. 10'9" is the maximum if you want to use all the river except for the last stretch from Cardington Lock (10'3") to Bedford.

Headroom is not as much of a problem with a max of 8'1" except for near Bedford which has a railway bridge at 7'6", a footbridge of 7' and the lock bridge 6'11.

All the navigable tributaries have headroom more than 8'1" except the Little Ouse where Brandon Lock (near the end of the navigation) has only 6'6".

[ChrisB]

The Marina that I like is The Fish & Duck at the confluence of the Cam and Old River. The Pub has long gone and you feel that real wilderness of the Peat Fens.

[addicted]

The Fish and Duck has undergone new ownership in recent years and big changes took place with all the many  liveaboard narrow boats and wide beams being given notice to quit , which caused  a bit of an uproar as they were given little notice to find new berths. The marina closed for  the duration of  the alterations and  having re-opened is now  much improved and has no berths available at the moment, so a friend of ours was told on applying last month. It is a nice location although  it is often quite windy there probably because of it being on the confluence of the Gt. Ouse, The Cam and The  Old West.

 

 

Carole