Bare Boat Charter in London

[crawfordad]

I'm planning a day out for my work colleagues next Friday (19th July 2013) and am trying to find a company on the Thames in London who charter boats. Does anybody know of somewhere that does this? So far I've only found a couple of places from the Solent area that say they will transport the boat, and that's just going to cost me extras money I'd rather not spend! It would be better to find somewhere / someone local. I'd be happy to start anywhere on the tidal river.

Thanks

PS. There are 5 of us, plus potentially a couple of others and I have my PBL2. I've been driving boats for years but I just don't have my own in London, it's in Idaho in the US, so it's a bit impractical to bring it over for the day!

[C2 RIBS]

Try River Thames Passenger Boat Hire | Chas Newens Marine | Boat Hire and Charter on the Thames in London including Private Hire, Marine Event Services and On The Water Filming

posts on Ribnet too

[vjmehra]

Be aware though that very restrictive speed limits now apply, 8 knots from Teddington to Westminster, then 12 knots until about City airport.

[crawfordad]

...sorry, I forgot to mention that I'm after a bare boat charter! I'm not sure if Chas Newens do bare boat charters.

The reason I want a bare boat charter is that it's supposed to be half a dozen of us who work together every day relaxing. The plan is to pootle upriver and moor up next to a pub for lunch, then pootle back down again. It's just a bit weird having some random punter in a small enclosed space with us, especially over lunch.

Also, as far as I know, there is a 30 knot speed limit between St Saviour's Dock and Margaretness, with the proviso that you are not doing anything dangerous, stupid or annoying to other users. A similarly limit of 25 knots exists between Lambeth and Wandsworth Bridges. At least, that was the case when I did my PBL2 on the Thames a couple of years ago. Not that I'm planning on going crazy on the river, but in case other readers see this I thought we should clarify a bit. They may have recently changed that, so please let me know if that's the case.

[gennaro]

Originally Posted by vjmehra

Be aware though that very restrictive speed limits now apply, 8 knots from Teddington to Westminster, then 12 knots until about City airport.

A High Speed Craft Zone exists between Margaretness and St Saviour’s Dock where passenger vessels, RIBs and other craft operate at speed. These vessels may be travelling at up to 30 knots and will display an all-round yellow flashing light when traveling at speeds above 12 knots.

Guidance Documents > Safety

[vjmehra]

Try it....

You need the following:

AIS
Flashing Light
VHF
Seats for everyone
Lifejackets for everyone
Advanced Powerboat
Thames Local Knowledge Endorsement

Lets not forget my personal favourite.....

If you are on your own its perfectly safe to not have a lookout, however if there are two of you, the lookout must be at least PB2 (with the skipper holding Advanced) otherwise its dangerous!

Also, I should point out the boat would need to be pre-approved by the PLA (i.e. you can't just turn up and assume its okay) as you have to apply for a certificate.

Off the top of my head I can't remember if you have to submit a passage plan too, they were intending to enforce that, not sure if they did bring that in or not.


I think that's about it, but in essence its designed so recreational boaters can't go above 12 knots.

[crawfordad]

Fair enough...though it would be helpful if the PLA said so on their website.

[vjmehra]

Technically they do...you just have to dig down a bit!

Its in the Byelaws section:

http://www.pla.co.uk/pdfs/maritime/1...s_Byelaws1.pdf

But yes they should make it clearer (or arguably just not have stupid rules in the first place :-)