Jesus ! nearly didn't make it back on the thames

[ian mcconnell]

lukey

contact the lock keepers they all have electronic guages in there huts that monitor river speeds and levels, they tend to open up the weirs during the obvious heavy rains but more so in winter because no one uses the river, if you went to the lock keeper first you will see signs hanging from the locks warning off strong currents. i went out a few weekends ago at stains, again strong currents in areas but then ive got a bigger engine on the back!

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

There can be a lot of pull above the weirs, which tends to make things a bit challenging.

I guess if you take a nose dive over one of the weirs, it gets even more challenging

[Tideway]

Originally Posted by Lukey

Is there anywhere where you can check on the state of the river either online or on the phone ?

The Environment Agency can give you the stream conditions. I've not used this service myself though, other than for booking angling trips.

For recorded information on Thames river conditions and strong
stream warnings contact Floodline on 0845 988 1188 and press 1 on
the keypad when prompted followed by the quickdial shortcut 011131.

This nugget is in the bottom right corner of the Visit Thames website see link:
http://www.visitthames.co.uk/

There is a shed load of fresh coming down at the moment, so I'm not surprised it got a bit scary. I'd dig that lifejacket out anyway at this time of year, as the water temp is going to be about 9 degrees and you don't have the buoyancy that you would in saltwater.

Have fun next time, just avoid it after any sudden, heavy rainfall.

t

[codprawn]

I thought most rivers were pretty fierce this time of year - think it has something to do with rain.