Erewash Canal Trent Lock Nottingham

[Gazjen]

Thought it was about time this area of cruising grounds got added to.


Just managed to get it in the water last thing before the rain, ready for (hopefully) a couple of days cruising in the sun.




Here's a picture of a lock you don't see that everyday on this forum

photo.jpg (146.63 KiB) Viewed 1909 times

Just one of it's mooring for the next couple of days




I will take some better piccys tomorrow although I don't think the sights will be as good as lomond or the south coast

[Gazjen]

Few more pictures from today. Very windy though boat was all over the place.







In to the mouth of the river soar



Move out the way of these!



I really really want this house/chalet!










Back up to its mooring

[H20]

Nice pics and good to see something different too. Do you travel with your boat too or have any lakes near you ?

[baaldi]

Interesting post

some questions now then

do you get funny looks from other folk on the river cos you are in a sportsboat?

Do you have to pay a daily charge for using the river, canal etc?

What's it like with the lock gates etc?

Where there any other users as it seems awfully quiet?

What was the speed limit?

[Gazjen]

@ H20

I Trailer the boat everywhere but I virtually live on the canal network, we do have a few small lakes near us but they are all club based ski lakes so you have to tow the line (pun intended) Plus the local one costs £1600 a year

@ Baaldi

Yes you get quite a few looks, don't think its because they disapprove it's just because it's something different on the water

you buy a explorer licence for how ever long you want to use the rivers/canal up to a month, but it depends who looks after them, round here its British Waterways and it cost me £20 for the week with that you have to fill in a boat condition form but if you have all the kit required for the sea it won't be an issue

Its not fun in locks with a sports boat especially when you have got a 25 ton narrow boat in with you. You need plenty of fenders to keep the boat from getting scratched (I failed in that dept) and a rudder helps too. Some locks come up too high so the rubbing straight is higher than the side of the lock so you have to be careful of gel coat then especially the rear corners

It is usually quiet although I think many stayed moored because of the wind yesterday

The speed limit is 6 mph downstream and 8 mph up on the river and 4 mph on the canal. But when there's no one about you can have a bit of fun on the river. flat calm too so no bouncing about

I grew up on the rivers and canals, my parents have always had narrow boats and they brought me a dingy and outboard at about 10 so that's where my love of boats comes from

[Gazjen]

Trying to start the daughter off early

[dpb101]

Great post, and a good reminder that there are many possibilities in land which are easy to forget. I keep meaning to do an exercise on relatively lock free stretches of River and Canals for future trips.
Do you get any depth issues?

[jokaboat]

A bit off topic but when we did our canal boat holiday a couple of years agos we ended up sharing a lock with a small yacht. Because there was not another canal boat alongside we were being pushed onto the yacht and it was a real struggle to avoid crushing him.

It made me think that locks and canals are no place for a small plastic boat!

[BIG ZEBEDEE]

Great pix Gaz, I'd be too worried about clunking a shopping trolley, but the scenery does look tranquil

[Gazjen]

Locks aren't a problem providing you have plenty of fenders out, you could always wait for a fellow plastic boat to go in with or go up on your own. you can also control where the narrow boat goes in the lock with the sluices as you fill it

Depth hasn't been a problem so far but I always fit my cheap prop and trim up on canals, the rudder I made helps a lot on canals too. Rivers are plenty deep enough.

To be fair its not the ideal environment for them, but it gets us out on the water without having to travel hundreds of miles and worry about tides, flushing etc

I fancy trying out the Norfolk Broads with it as I never been, they are relativity lock free too I believe.

Big Zeb Have you been to see the Falkirk Wheel? I fancy going to have a look while I'm up there.

[BIG ZEBEDEE]

Yip I have gaz, I live only 15 mins from it, it is a cracking bit of engineering. The Forth & Clyde canal is pretty quiet & the union canal is even quieter