Accessible mooring from east London?

[mrming]

Surprised no-one has mentioned Woodbridge. The railway practically forms the boundary to the Marina, the station is but 5 minutes walk and importantly there are supermarkets ( Ok only one !) in the town within 10 minutes walk. I think you have to change trains at Ipswich ( 1 hour from Liverpool Street), but then it's only 10 minutes or so on the local train to Woodbridge. Lovely spot as well.

That’s a great suggestion. Lovely town and river.

 

[Guillemot592]

Hi all, I'm a reasonably experienced dinghy sailor looking to learn to sail a larger boat. I've posted elsewhere here about what might be suitable but, broadly speaking, I'm interested in gaining experience on the east coast - creaks and coastal overnight sails - but would also like to explore further afield (I a want particularly to sail to the Frisian Isles) when I've gained experience. I am planning on crewing for various friends and doing my coastal skipper soon, but in the medium term I'm thinking of getting my own boat, and am looking for a mooring. I'm based in east London and can't drive, so it would need to be accessible via public transport (& bicycle at the other end). Unfortunatly the moorings along the north shore of the Thames - at Leigh on Sea etc - which would be very accessible for my by train, don't seem very suitable for novice sailers (and the tidal access would be difficult). I had thought the blackwater, but it's pretty hard to get to by train, or the Crouch, which would be doable. But I'm now gearing towards the Medway, which I could get to in 1:30hrs, and which looks like a great place to gain confidence. Or does anyone have any potential spots I've overlooked? Cheers.

Very late to reply to this and I am sure that you're already very sorted. However, as a resident of NE London I have become adept at getting the train to and from Sussex Yacht Club. I am not saying it's not a bit of a faff but I seem to be able to do it pretty much every weekend. The club is a 'mixed fleet', with skippers always looking for crew and a good mix of 'sports' yachts, cruisers and classics. That part of the Channel is not the pretties bit of coast line to sail but there is a packed calendar of sailing action to suit everyone. The Thameslink to Brighton and then the branch line to Southwick. It's pretty much hassle free and Southwick station is about four minutes walk from the marina. The club even has a fully professional boatyard, training centre and its own (growing) fleet of competition boats.
As someone who used to sail twice a week with the NLSA at the West Reservoir, I can vouch that the 'hassle' of getting an early morning bus to London Bridge is not nearly the barrier I thought it would be.