F-Ribs And Sibs - Inflatable Boat Community

Further to my recent emailed request to the Environment Agency's Thames Waterways Team for information on Thames slipways and launching sites, I have just received the list below.

I will be visiting several of these in my own area and in locations where I commonly visit over the coming weeks and will add further comments on their accessibility, also where suitable I will add them to the new Members' Map.

Meanwhile, if any of you are familiar with any of these or are nearby and can check them out, please do so and feed it back.

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"Lechlade – Riverside
*Lechlade – Bell Lane
Bablockhythe – towpath upstream of
*Lechlade – The Trout Inn
The Ferryman Inn
Abingdon – St Helen’s Wharf
Pinkhill – towpath above Pinkhill lock
Abingdon – Abingdon Marina
Eynsham – towpath above and below
Cholsey – Papist Way
Eynsham Lock
*South Stoke – Ferry Lane
Oxford – towpath at East Street
Pangbourne – Ferry Lane
Abingdon – towpath above Abingdon Lock
*Whitchurch – Toll Bridge
Goring – towpath below Goring Bridge
Caversham – Caversham Bridge
Wargrave – Ferry Lane
Sonning – towpath above Sonning Lock
Henley – Wharf Lane
Wargrave – towpath at Lower Lashbrook
Aston Ferry – from either bank below Wargrave
Medmenham – Medmenham Ferry
Marlow – towpath below Marlow Lock
Marlow – St Peter’s Street
Boveney – towpath above Boveney Lock
Cookham – Cookham Bridge (by Ferry Hotel)
Egham – towpath below Runnymede
Bray – Bray Village
Pleasure Ground
Windsor – Leisure Centre
Staines – towpath below Staines Bridge
Staines – Truss’s Island, Chertsey Lane
Laleham – towpath at Laleham Wharf
Laleham – Ferry Lane
Chertsey – towpath at Dumsey Bend, between
Weybridge – Thames Street
Chertsey and Shepperton
Shepperton – Church Square
Weybridge – towpath opposite Shepperton Lock
Walton – Cowley Sale
Shepperton – Church Square
Sunbury – Lower Hampton Road
Desborough – Desborough Island (old River)
West Molesey – Hurst Park
Walton – towpath at Walton
East Molesey – Drawdock
Kingston – Kingston Wharf
Thames Ditton – by Swan Hotel
Kingston – Steven’s Eyot below Kingston
Teddington – Drawdock
* access for small boats only.

Note: These sites are not necessarily suitable for large or heavy boats or trailers. We have highlighted the ones where access is for small boats only but we would advise to investigate further before use. We would also note that these slipways are not owned by the Environment Agency so the information provided is as up to date as we can get it. Commercially operated slipways are available the length of the Thames."

Great to meet you last Friday Roger.
A nice relaxing trip around the river Thames.... Hurlrey, Henley, Marlow.
Thanks for leading the way and for your help, advice ,etc
Nice that we did't have to operate the locks and left it all to the lock keepers
Look forward to some more trips.
CHEERS

That looks great chappies.. it's good when you guys get out on your own

You've created a right old list there Roger, we expect immediate reviews of all the sites you've mentioned now.

John, it was a delight to meet you and I hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did.
Thanks for posting the pics. I have some very short mp4 video clips but don't have Donny's skill in producing a mini-movie nor do I have a You-tube account - if there's another way of sharing them here maybe Martin can let me know.

This was an exploratory trip to see how suitable the venue was and also to give John a chance to continue his running in at relatively slow paces. It proved to be a great day and would be a suitable venue for a future get-together for a group of us. The site is a lovely picnic area on the banks of the Thames with a decent slipway - concrete with textured metal sheeting at the top. Whilst we were there, several other regulars launched a selection of floaty things, mainly from trailers. Entrance to the picnic site is £10 per day at weekends and bank hols, currently only £5 a day during the week. This includes access from 9.15 am to 7.45 pm and parking, which there is loads of mainly on grass, and use of the slipway.

There is a lock nearby where daily, weekly or monthly Thames visitor passes are to be purchased - since it was £11 for one day or £12 for 7 days we went for the 7 day, as risking just an extra pound on the chance we may get back later this week was deemed worth it, even by this Fifer!

It was my first outing back on the Thames for around 20 years and I was delighted to find that fellow boaters, lock staff and bankside gongoozlers were invariably as friendly and helpful as ever. It wasn't as busy as we had anticipated, so the locks weren't crowded, but as tying up isn't practical for little boats like ours, we were invited to attach or cling on by larger boats which always makes things easier. The fact that some of them had tenders as big or bigger than us (including at least one Honwave) made for some friendly banter.

Martin, I do intend to explore many of the other listed possible launch sites, maybe not all this week though and may even consider getting an annual Thames registration as I used to do, to save the faff of having to fill in the forms each time.

I'm aiming to return, possibly on Thursday or Friday this week weather permitting. If anyone else is interested in joining in a relatively slow paced meander along then let me know.

Roger, I couldn't help but notice on photo 4, your wheels look somewhat at different angles???
Is it the camera angle or have they slipped or something, I'm sure yours were perfect previously

Martin wrote:Roger, I couldn't help but notice on photo 4, your wheels look somewhat at different angles???
Is it the camera angle or have they slipped or something, I'm sure yours were perfect previously

Blimey Martin, you must be SpecSavers best customer! Or not if you don't wear glasses.

You're right. When in the wheels up mode, there are two possible sets of holes which line up - the furthest out are the ones I usually use but for some reason I couldn't get the pin to go right through this time on the starboard wheel so had to leave that one on the inner lineup. Since we weren't hooning around doing tight turns etc it didn't cause any problems impinging on the outboard. When I get around to unpacking the boat later today to clean off the muck and goose-sh!t from the Thames, I need to have a look-see and maybe make some adjustments with the Black and Decker.

Ahhh, thought so.
Did you buy the genuine Honwave wheels too

Yes - I loved someone's recent description that it was like watching a wobbly granny's legs!

They are OK for short distances, only problem is you need to distribute the load so some of the weight is for'ard which means more downward force on the front handle for unfit old me pulling it along.

Do you know if the stronger ersatz version wheels would fit on the same transom fittings as the Honwave ones? if so I could be tempted to change but don't really want to honeycomb the transom with further holes!

Great post Roger and I love the photos!

I must get on some flat water soon - keep on coming back with a sore arse and back after a bouncy ride on a choppy Forth!

Steve

Cheers Steve - I'm not sure where there is to go for a more gentle trip within or near Fife. We went out on Loch Leven to the castle on the tour boat a few weeks ago and even that was fairly choppy on the day. Maybe the canal over Falkirk way?

Hopefully the Forth will have calmed down a bit by the time I get up there later this month.

It was good to have a gentle meander for a change but I must admit it was challenging to resist opening up the throttle on the 15 HP.

Might need a trip to the briny stuff off the south coast before heading north . . .