Kris Cruising On The Thames

[Broads01]

Monday 20th June

The return time for the boat was 9-30am so we had time to wait for the Romney lock keeper to start at 9am and be on time. We arrived at the lock at 8-45 so I took the opportunity after the boat ahead of us had departed downstream to press those buttons and refill the lock for us. Whilst doing so the lock keeper arrived at 9am...and then promptly disappeared with his dog never to return! So we pushed the buttons for ourselves after all, or Natalia did whilst I took the boat in and out and then picked Natalia up afterwards after she'd closed the gates. We still made it back to Kris Cruisers for 9-30. I was pleasantly surprised to find we'd used a modest 55 litres of fuel (£98) but of course having no tides to fight against does make a difference. Paul at Kris Cruisers enquired how far we'd been so I told him Benson-on-Thames and said I expected everyone gives a completely different answer to that question. "Oh yes", he said. "The furthest anyone has been is Lechlade (in a week) cruising from 6am to 9pm every day. The shortest is Maidenhead!". I dropped Mum back at Reading station as planned and having dropped Natalia in Bristol arrived home at 1-20 - very civilised.

In summary, we had a fantastic week and I would thoroughly recommend the Thames and Kris Cruisers. I don't get to visit the Thames as often as I'd like but each time I do I'm reminded what a fabulous boating destination it is. 

[Captain]

Hi,

What a great holiday tale thanks. I too would recommend the Thames and Kris cruisers. I quite like the later return time I believe its 9.30 for 9.45 giving you the chance to moor in Winsdor or Runneymede for the last night and pass through the locks as suggested, very thoughtful of Kris cruisers and frankly good  for trade. They are also happy to fit in with your arrival time, usually after 2.00pm, they had offered to get us on earlier as it was free the week before however some horrible person 😀 booked it last minute.

The lock keepers are a law unto themselves particularly out of season although I don't mean that in a nasty way, we did about a third of the locks ourselves however they were generally friendly and helpful. Some very much so, could have chatted for hours others a bit grumpy 😠 just as in all walks of life. Being electric they are relatively easy to operate although slower if you don't follow the instructions. If I remember correctly most or all of those upstream of Oxford are manual so require a little more effort. Would need a fortnight from Windsor to reach Lechlade however.

Interesting  to note your Pearl 38 one of originally 2 built by Cutting of Wayford Bridge, I knew it was Broads built but not where. Looks like they are still charging 1.78 for diesel which isn't too bad these days although you mention there isn't a tide as such you do have the flow of course, our return required less revs than the upstream voyage. Hopefully I will return next year although Lady Keeleigh is showing no availability suggesting they may be selling her, how dare they don't they know its my boat!

Neil 

[andyg]

Excellent as always Simon very much enjoyed your tale. I follow kris cruisers on social media and they clearly have a very good reputation. Glad you enjoyed your visit. Personally I believe hire tariffs on the thames stack up quite favourably with the broads nowadays. Considering where you live would this make you more inclined to choose a Thames holiday ?? 

[Broads01]

4 hours ago, andyg said:

Excellent as always Simon very much enjoyed your tale. I follow kris cruisers on social media and they clearly have a very good reputation. Glad you enjoyed your visit. Personally I believe hire tariffs on the thames stack up quite favourably with the broads nowadays. Considering where you live would this make you more inclined to choose a Thames holiday ?? 

You're right about the hire tariffs, Andy and yet I don't think that was always the case but I think Broads charges have risen more quickly than Thames ones. It was certainly a nice change having the shorter drive although to be honest hours on the road don't bother me and it would never put me off going to the Broads. Funnily enough, both my Mum and Natalia said at the end of the trip they preferred the Thames to the Broads on the basis of the scenery, places and the locks. For me the Broads edges it on the basis of choice of routes and boats and the magical "other worldliness" it has but there's not a huge amount in it.

[andyg]

28 minutes ago, Broads01 said:

You're right about the hire tariffs, Andy and yet I don't think that was always the case but I think Broads charges have risen more quickly than Thames ones. It was certainly a nice change having the shorter drive although to be honest hours on the road don't bother me and it would never put me off going to the Broads. Funnily enough, both my Mum and Natalia said at the end of the trip they preferred the Thames to the Broads on the basis of the scenery, places and the locks. For me the Broads edges it on the basis of choice of routes and boats and the magical "other worldliness" it has but there's not a huge amount in it.

I've only ever hired once on the Thames, from Richardson's at Thames Ditton. Made it as far as Windsor on a long weekend. I'd have to agree with your mum and daughter about the scenery from what we saw. My wife really dosent like returning to the same place over and over again, even on our overseas holidays. I'm still looking at buying my own boat and she's already looking into moving it to other waterways if we eventually do take the plunge. Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks the Thames is looking good value for money at the moment. Personally I think the broads yard owners are pushing the hire tariffs a bit to hard lately, well apart from a little outfit with yellow and white boats who in my opinion offer great value for money 😉 I'm onboard broadsman5 in a few weeks time with my sisters and brother, that's cost a few quid for the weekend be interesting to see if that's value for money. Great trip report  👌 

[Popeye]

The Thames is a wonderful river and as I said earlier I have been on it many times. The first time was on a medium sized narrowboat  named Monica Emily which some workmates and I hired from a small hirer in Southall on the Regents Canal in London.

We took her out through Brentford Locks and onto the tidal Thames and through Teddington locks and on through the ever changing river right up to Lechlade and back in two weeks in scorching weather. All the locks then were manned by uniformed keepers and really looked after the boats in the locks but were a bit fearsome if they were disobeyed.

In later days I stuck to the upper Thames in my own boat, slipping it in at Lechlade and only venturing downstream as far as Henley. Unfortunately due to cutbacks the locks on the upper Thames, especially above Oxford more often than not are unmanned which gives a single hander senior citizen such as myself and not in the best of health some problems. 

Whatever, do have a bash at this beautiful river, you will not be disappointed.