Planning A Kayak Trip Along The Thames
Discussion
Whilst down the pub last night me and a friend were trying to figure out something enjoyable to do in aid of Help For Heros, we decided on a Kayak trip along the navigable section of the River Thames, overnight stops to be at campsites as near to the river as possible.
Now whilst no quite as epic as the Helen Skelton Amazon canoe trip (and our breasts aren't as nice either) we figured this would be enough of a challenge to be worthwhile (neither of us have ever set foot in a kayak, this mini adventure will take place during easter next year.
There are a few basic bits of research the we need to do first however, and as usual, PH is the starting point, so here goes.
1. At what point upstream does the Thames become navigable.
2. Do we need any sort of permit to row along the Thames?
3. What sort of distance is realistic to cover in a day in a 13-14ft kayak?
I have no doubt there will be more questions as we get deeper in the planning.
Now whilst no quite as epic as the Helen Skelton Amazon canoe trip (and our breasts aren't as nice either) we figured this would be enough of a challenge to be worthwhile (neither of us have ever set foot in a kayak, this mini adventure will take place during easter next year.
There are a few basic bits of research the we need to do first however, and as usual, PH is the starting point, so here goes.
1. At what point upstream does the Thames become navigable.
2. Do we need any sort of permit to row along the Thames?
3. What sort of distance is realistic to cover in a day in a 13-14ft kayak?
I have no doubt there will be more questions as we get deeper in the planning.
Edited by R500POP on Thursday 27th October 08:37
Edited by R500POP on Thursday 27th October 09:05
A few helpful sites here, maybe worth having a day or two course.
http://www.thameskayaking.com/
http://thamesriveradventures.co.uk/res_website.asp...
http://www.thameskayaking.com/
http://thamesriveradventures.co.uk/res_website.asp...
You could follow the course of Devizes to Westminster kayak race... Start at Devizes on the Kennett and Avon canal and then through pewsey, newbury, hungerford, reading, and join the Thames at Wokingham, through Ham, Teddington and finish under the Westminster bridge. It is a nice route with plenty of camping spots along the side, although for the first 50miles or so there is no flow which might make a plastic tub kayak seem horrendously inefficient.
Or just stick it on the Thames at Cricklade and paddle downstream. Schimples.
If you want to go on the river then join the BCU (costs something like £20) and they give you a boat sticker which covers you to paddle on any of the inland waterways providing its not protected for fishing or genuinely private land. There is a big fight going on between paddlers and landowners/fishermen who believe that they "own" sections of the riverbed and as such paddlers are essentially tresspassing if they don't have permission from them first. The BCU membership also gets you third party insurance, which is useful.
Highly recommend that you check the permissions needed to paddle a kayak (if any) past Teddington lock (where it becomes tidal). When we were paddling there we needed rescue services on standby. I don't know whether this was due to the fact that competitors are tired and its a serious safety risk, or whether its an actual necessity. Don't try to paddle the final stretch between Teddington and Westminster during the middle of the day, the wash from passing boats makes it quite choppy. Furthermore, if you fall in at this point it is advisable to get your stomach pumped due to all the nasty s
t that flows in to the Thames at this point. I don't mean to patronise you and I don't know your kayaking ability but don't underestimate the nature of this water at this point in the Thames. There are lots of large boats, nowhere with low walls to get out and potentially a 300m swim to the shore with your boat if you fall in at the wrong place in the river.
If you're going to do it now or soon, also consider the hideous winds that have the nasty habit of blowing the opposite way that you want to paddle down the Thames. The river is very wide past about Wokingham and it just channels these hideous north easterly gales in your face. Take warm windproof clothes and be prepared for slow progress.
However, this is not to put you off. The river is actually very nice to paddle and if you have time there are plenty of nice things to do along the way. The wildlife is good too and some of the houses (Henley, Ham, Marlow (you go past Mr Dysons house)) that you would never see from the road but viewable from the river are AMAZING. The Thames is very well set out for paddlers too and you will see that there are a large number of paddlers there.
Always welcome to drop me a line if you need any help planning a trip like this as I have done it many times.
Good luck!
Or just stick it on the Thames at Cricklade and paddle downstream. Schimples.
If you want to go on the river then join the BCU (costs something like £20) and they give you a boat sticker which covers you to paddle on any of the inland waterways providing its not protected for fishing or genuinely private land. There is a big fight going on between paddlers and landowners/fishermen who believe that they "own" sections of the riverbed and as such paddlers are essentially tresspassing if they don't have permission from them first. The BCU membership also gets you third party insurance, which is useful.
Highly recommend that you check the permissions needed to paddle a kayak (if any) past Teddington lock (where it becomes tidal). When we were paddling there we needed rescue services on standby. I don't know whether this was due to the fact that competitors are tired and its a serious safety risk, or whether its an actual necessity. Don't try to paddle the final stretch between Teddington and Westminster during the middle of the day, the wash from passing boats makes it quite choppy. Furthermore, if you fall in at this point it is advisable to get your stomach pumped due to all the nasty s
t that flows in to the Thames at this point. I don't mean to patronise you and I don't know your kayaking ability but don't underestimate the nature of this water at this point in the Thames. There are lots of large boats, nowhere with low walls to get out and potentially a 300m swim to the shore with your boat if you fall in at the wrong place in the river.If you're going to do it now or soon, also consider the hideous winds that have the nasty habit of blowing the opposite way that you want to paddle down the Thames. The river is very wide past about Wokingham and it just channels these hideous north easterly gales in your face. Take warm windproof clothes and be prepared for slow progress.
However, this is not to put you off. The river is actually very nice to paddle and if you have time there are plenty of nice things to do along the way. The wildlife is good too and some of the houses (Henley, Ham, Marlow (you go past Mr Dysons house)) that you would never see from the road but viewable from the river are AMAZING. The Thames is very well set out for paddlers too and you will see that there are a large number of paddlers there.
Always welcome to drop me a line if you need any help planning a trip like this as I have done it many times.
Good luck!
gibbo216 said:
Lechlade is really the furthest upstream navigational part of the thames, although a few years ago you could have started at Tewkesbury.
Lechlde is the highest navigable point for powered craft, but in a kayak I guess you could go further as the draft is minimal and you can portage it round busted locks, obstacles etc.NB If you know your literature, take a can-opener!
Simpo Two said:
gibbo216 said:
Lechlade is really the furthest upstream navigational part of the thames, although a few years ago you could have started at Tewkesbury.
Lechlde is the highest navigable point for powered craft, but in a kayak I guess you could go further as the draft is minimal and you can portage it round busted locks, obstacles etc.NB If you know your literature, take a can-opener!
RobM77 said:
I started the Thames Path last weekend, walking source to estuary, and will be doing Cricklade to Lechlade this Saturday. I kayak myself, so understand the depth required. I can post back on Monday if you like? It varies according to the season of course.
That would be great, thanks. Just ordered a map of the Thames from head to estuary for planning purposes.
pablo said:
bulldong said:
You could follow the course of Devizes to Westminster kayak race...
Hell yeah, go for this. i know a BCU 4 star instructor who did the Devizes to Westminster and said it was the toughest thing he had ever done by miles though i doubt he was hanging around. OP I was serious about it, if you want to know stuff just ask, I know the whole section v well.
R500POP said:
Jerome K Jerome - 3 Men In A Boat?
Yip!'It cast a gloom over the boat, there being no mustard. We ate our beef in silence. Existence seemed hollow and uninteresting. We thought of the happy days of childhood, and sighed. We brightened up a bit, however, over the apple-tart, and, when George drew out a tin of pineapple from the bottom of the hamper, and rolled it into the middle of the boat, we felt that life was worth living after all.
We are very fond of pineapple, all three of us. We looked at the picture on the tin; we thought of the juice. We smiled at one another, and Harris got a spoon ready.
Then we looked for the knife to open the tin with. We turned out everything in the hamper. We turned out the bags. We pulled up the boards at the bottom of the boat. We took everything out on to the bank and shook it. There was no tin-opener to be found.
Then Harris tried to open the tin with a pocket-knife, and broke the knife and cut himself badly; and George tried a pair of scissors, and the scissors flew up, and nearly put his eye out. While they were dressing their wounds, I tried to make a hole in the thing with the spiky end of the hitcher, and the hitcher slipped and jerked me out between the boat and the bank into two feet of muddy water, and the tin rolled over, uninjured, and broke a teacup.
Then we all got mad. We took that tin out on the bank, and Harris went up into a field and got a big sharp stone, and I went back into the boat and brought out the mast, and George held the tin and Harris held the sharp end of his stone against the top of it, and I took the mast and poised it high up in the air, and gathered up all my strength and brought it down.
It was George's straw hat that saved his life that day. He keeps that hat now (what is left of it), and, of a winter's evening, when the pipes are lit and the boys are telling stretchers about the dangers they have passed through, George brings it down and shows it round, and the stirring tale is told anew, with fresh exaggerations every time.
Harris got off with merely a flesh wound.
After that, I took the tin off myself, and hammered at it with the mast till I was worn out and sick at heart, whereupon Harris took it in hand.
We beat it out flat; we beat it back square; we battered it into every form known to geometry - but we could not make a hole in it. Then George went at it, and knocked it into a shape, so strange, so weird, so unearthly in its wild hideousness, that he got frightened and threw away the mast. Then we all three sat round it on the grass and looked at it.
There was one great dent across the top that had the appearance of a mocking grin, and it drove us furious, so that Harris rushed at the thing, and caught it up, and flung it far into the middle of the river, and as it sank we hurled our curses at it, and we got into the boat and rowed away from the spot, and never paused till we reached Maidenhead.
http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/boat/boat.htm
A good trip to do , I suggest you stick to the non-tidal part which runs from Lechlade to Teddington, approx 134 miles and easily do-able in 3 days or 2 if you want to really go for it ! As already pointed out you could start higher than Lechlade as there is water all the way to Cricklade and depending on the weather possibly higher. You could also keep going beyond Teddington to Westminster or Canary Wharfe or the Thames Barrier or Southend ! But you will have tides to consider and the Thames is not as benign as above Teddington especially as you are novices !
Easter weather is very unpredictable and heavy rainfall ( quite likely ) could put the river in flood which will make your journey quicker but rather dangerous .
There are lots of places to stay and I suggest you look staying at Canoe Clubs or B&B's rather than camping , you will need some comfort and decent food after a days paddling .
Good luck with it !
Rower
Easter weather is very unpredictable and heavy rainfall ( quite likely ) could put the river in flood which will make your journey quicker but rather dangerous .
There are lots of places to stay and I suggest you look staying at Canoe Clubs or B&B's rather than camping , you will need some comfort and decent food after a days paddling .
Good luck with it !
Rower
R500POP said:
RobM77 said:
I started the Thames Path last weekend, walking source to estuary, and will be doing Cricklade to Lechlade this Saturday. I kayak myself, so understand the depth required. I can post back on Monday if you like? It varies according to the season of course.
That would be great, thanks. Just ordered a map of the Thames from head to estuary for planning purposes.
I think your biggest headache's going to be transport. We're doing public transport where we can, but of course that's not available to you with kayaks, so I guess you'll have to do what we've been forced to do this Saturday due to lack of buses, which is to drive two cars to the end of the day's stage, then hop in one car to go to the beginning, do the walk, then hop in car 2 and then get a lift back to the start to pick up the first car. What a faff!
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