Traffic Jam On The Great Ouse

[mikeyboy1966]

Busy here !

[Hylander]

Wonderful.

[Smoggy]

Hemingford?

[mikeyboy1966]

Goba moorings at Brampton,

we had been up to offord lock,to find that is the limit of our navigation on the river.

2.5 metre bridge with 2.65 boat won’t go.

[mikeyboy1966]

That said,I’m currently restoring a day boat with outboard so we can explore further

[mikeyboy1966]

Our explorations to date are as far as offord lock,

Our air draft limits any further travels with the broom 30.

the Goba moorings are great on the whole,

hemingford,houghton mill island and Brampton are semi wild moorings but obviously can get a bit busy at weekends.

down stream,

ferry bridge pub,always seems to be a few narrowboats,

3 of them take up the whole mooring,but a few hundred metres downstream is another Goba mooring but you’d need a boarding plank.

Our fave ,to date is just upstream of the pike and eel marina.

again Goba.

space for two cruisers.

if you have a torch and are so inclined,there is a path to the back of the marina and the pub.

[Smoggy]

Also very shallow by the ferryboat with lumps of concrete in the mud unless re-done since 2012, my old RLM often struggled at Offord till I gained 2 inches by taking the horns off the roof, still got stopped a couple of times at 8 foot, always had to check the mouse hole was showing (a drainage hole between lock and bridge), shame as St.neots is a nice spot.

[mikeyboy1966]

We managed to have last week on the boat,

didn’t take many pic though.

Goba moorings near the old ferry inn

[mikeyboy1966]

Also had a run down the old west river to Ely.

50 mile round trip

[ChrisB]

I really like the top end with the tributaries and the Lodes. One Sunday morning in early October 2004, Judith and I went from Ely to Brandon and only saw 2 other boats that were underway. I always enjoyed The RGO more than The Broads. My late wife Judith was the other way.

[Hylander]

What are GOBA moorings please for the uninitiated.

 

 

[ChrisB]

1 minute ago, Hylander said:

What are GOBA moorings please for the uninitiated.

 

 

Great Ouse Boating Association. They negotiate leases with landowners for use by their members. They are mostly of the "Wild" type many in beautiful places, like right in Wicken Fen, our favourite.

It is a pity that the NSBA could not be pro-active and do similar.

[ChrisB]

[addicted]

We used to get our Fairline Mirage AC hard top under offord lock as  long as we could see the mouse hole.

 

Carole

[mikeyboy1966]

7 minutes ago, addicted said:

We used to get our Fairline Mirage AC hard top under offord lock as  long as we could see the mouse hole.

 

Carole

Can you remember the air draft?

since our first attempt at going through,I’ve not had chance to go back ,I’m a bit braver now.

also since then I’ve had chance to talk to two other broom 30 crews that regularly pass through,

however one of the boats had a bigger engine and the other was twin engined so may well sit lower in the water.

another visit beckons I think

[addicted]

We lowered the riding light mount on our roof so we were probably about 8'2". To help get your boat under why not round up a few fat friends who fancy a river cruise!

 

Carole

[mikeyboy1966]

Another busy day,

[ScrumpyCheddar]

Which way you heading.... ..??

[mikeyboy1966]

Upstream towards St ives lock

[ScrumpyCheddar]

Lovely mikeyboy I do miss the Ouse do you ever go downstream to Bedford. Or are you restricted at Barford bridge.. Is the Anchor still open at Tempsford ??

[Smoggy]

8 minutes ago, ScrumpyCheddar said:

Lovely mikeyboy I do miss the Ouse do you ever go downstream to Bedford. Or are you restricted at Barford bridge.. Is the Anchor still open at Tempsford ??

Yes it is still open but it's not the anchor anymore.....

https://va2.co.uk/

And it's not a pub.

A guy I work with once moored at the bottom of the garden as his little girl needed the loo, he walked in the back door hand in hand with a 7 year old...... Oops!

[ScrumpyCheddar]

2 hours ago, Smoggy said:

Yes it is still open but it's not the anchor anymore.....

https://va2.co.uk/

And it's not a pub.

A guy I work with once moored at the bottom of the garden as his little girl needed the loo, he walked in the back door hand in hand with a 7 year old...... Oops!

Omg 😱 Im shocked at that .. what a waste of a place … only ever managed to stop there once.. How long has it been like that last time I was there was about 94/95.. 

[mikeyboy1966]

3 hours ago, ScrumpyCheddar said:

Lovely mikeyboy I do miss the Ouse do you ever go downstream to Bedford. Or are you restricted at Barford bridge.. Is the Anchor still open at Tempsford ??

Furthest we’ve been to date is offord lock,

there is a low bridge in front of it ,

last visit,i bottled it

ill have another go soon but I guess we will only have an inch or so clearance 

[Smoggy]

What's your airdraft? 8' is ok most of the time at offord, 8'2" and you need to see the mousehole, it's a drainage hole in the bridge face beside the opening by the steps on the mill side.

I would imaging it'd be fine for most of this summer but that is when depth becomes an issue on the RGO as the EA don't like dredging and when they do they dump the spoil in the river (Doh!).

[ScrumpyCheddar]

It is a low bridge but we use to sneak through on a freeman 1979 27 and a princess 32 .. what boat have you got mikey ??