Advice on entering St Katherines Dock, London

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Sturaven

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Hi All,

We are booked into St Katherines later this month, I'm wondering if anyone has recently entered/exited and could give us some advice. I have heard that it is a little tricky, but we were wondering things like: what is the current doing just outside the lock, how to approach and anything else we should look out for. I am guessing trying to get there and HW slack is best?

We have a 44ft long keel ketch and entered/exited locks in Holland, but no river current to worry about :p

Cheers,

Stu.
 
The current can run very fast, also the river trip boats are all over the place so you need to keep a good eye out, I would advise wearing a life jacket as any deck work is dodgy in the churned up water. Also don't lose your boat hook over side like I did just as I was attempting to pick up the mooring buoy! Also don't have a prop blade fall off as happened to an acquaintance he narrowly avoided hitting tower bridge!
Apart from that its quite straight forward!
 
The biggest problem you will have is that it can be a bit crowded at the entrance. Obviously the tidal stream can be a bit of a hazard, but it's not so bad compared to the wash of all the boats that are passing by is making. There are some mooring buoys at the entrance you can choose to utilize during the waiting.
Do mind the ferries that seem to come from all corners and go into every direction.

As you need to plan your sail up the Thames during the rise of the tide, the arrival at the lock is more or less automatically dureing high tide. Do not forget to call the marina over the VHF. Also remember they are using a Duplex Channel, so you will not hear what other boats are saying to the marina.
Inside the lock they will issue you a piece of paper where you will need to fill out your details. They will then collect these and issue a berth. This can be a slow process, so don''t be surprised if the time-in-lock takes a while. This also affect the time you need to wait if you cannot enter the lock directly because of the number of boats arriving.
During the sail on the Thames have a lookout for debris in the water as this can cause problems (plastic bag sucked into the cooling system, wooden lugs floating around, etc...)
Being there is great though! You will enjoy it.
Cheers,

Arno
 
It can be busy, but the most you'll get is a toot from the ferry that docks next to the entrance of st kats (they get quit protective over their space), and of course from the clippers if you hang around in the centre of the Thames which I've seen before :)

The staff are quite a relaxed bunch, so don't expect to get a reply on the VHF until you're literally outside.

As Davidfox said, its quite straightforward

Enjoy the trip :)
 
Nothing to do with how to enter St. Katherines but ...................... there is an excellent pub about 10 mins walk from St. Katherines. Exit the marina from the eastern side and walk along the Thames path eastward alongside Wapping High Street. About 500m from the exit from the marina you will encounter your first pub: "The Town of Ramsgate". This is an old traditional pub with excellent real ales and very good homemade food; the fish and chips is just like you used to get when I was a lad, real piece of cod fillet!! Wednesday night is "steak night" .... two steaks and a bottle of house wine for £20 .... you can't beat that. Lunch times there is a special offer on meals: buy two you get the second for £1 (practically two for one).

No doubt someone else will help you with your question but wanted to give you a heads up on somewhere decent for a beer and a meal.

Alan.
 
alan said:
Nothing to do with how to enter St. Katherines but ...................... there is an excellent pub about 10 mins walk from St. Katherines. Exit the marina from the eastern side and walk along the Thames path eastward alongside Wapping High Street. About 500m from the exit from the marina you will encounter your first pub: "The Town of Ramsgate". This is an old traditional pub with excellent real ales and very good homemade food; the fish and chips is just like you used to get when I was a lad, real piece of cod fillet!! Wednesday night is "steak night" .... two steaks and a bottle of house wine for £20 .... you can't beat that. Lunch times there is a special offer on meals: buy two you get the second for £1 (practically two for one).

No doubt someone else will help you with your question but wanted to give you a heads up on somewhere decent for a beer and a meal.

Alan.
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on a similar note, avoid Cape Cod next to Waitrose unless you want to pay £5 for a pint of Becks Vier!! (though they do have free wifi)
 
+1.. Great atmosphere there too, day and evening.
If you go in with the tide you'll arrive close to high water, so there's not a problem. The lock is the same as any other - nothing to be concerned about. A positive is that the floating pontoon (starboard as you enter) is very high so no gymnastics needed. It's sometimes better to contact the staff by telephone until you're right outside.
alan said:
Nothing to do with how to enter St. Katherines but ...................... there is an excellent pub about 10 mins walk from St. Katherines. Exit the marina from the eastern side and walk along the Thames path eastward alongside Wapping High Street. About 500m from the exit from the marina you will encounter your first pub: "The Town of Ramsgate". This is an old traditional pub with excellent real ales and very good homemade food; the fish and chips is just like you used to get when I was a lad, real piece of cod fillet!! Wednesday night is "steak night" .... two steaks and a bottle of house wine for £20 .... you can't beat that. Lunch times there is a special offer on meals: buy two you get the second for £1 (practically two for one).

No doubt someone else will help you with your question but wanted to give you a heads up on somewhere decent for a beer and a meal.

Alan.
Click to expand...
 
alan said:
excellent pub about 10 mins walk from St. Katherines. Exit the marina from the eastern side and walk along the Thames path eastward alongside Wapping High Street. About 500m from the exit from the marina you will encounter your first pub: "The Town of Ramsgate". This is an old traditional pub with excellent real ales and very good homemade food; the fish and chips is just like you used to get when I was a lad, real piece of cod fillet!! Wednesday night is "steak night" .... two steaks and a bottle of house wine for £20 .... you can't beat that. Lunch times there is a special offer on meals: buy two you get the second for £1 (practically two for one).
Click to expand...

I'm delighted if that information's recent. I've known and liked the ToR for decades. But the last time I was there, maybe three or four years ago, it was in new hands and not a patch on what it once was. Excellent news if it's back on song.
 
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Thanks davidfox, Arno, and everyone for your suggestions. Sounds like the main thing is to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing, which we always do. Also good to know there are some moorings if we need to wait.

And thanks Alan for the pub suggestion, we have been wondering where we could go for decent fish and chips! Also hoping to find a modestly priced pub for Sunday roast :-).

Stu.
 
Overnighting on the Thames half way between Ramsgate and St Katherines Dock

Just wondering where we could find somewhere to moor for a night on the Thames half way between Ramesgate and St Katherines? Doesn't need to be anywhere flash or with facilities, but relatively easy to get too and safe.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Stu.
 
Stu,
The ToS also has a Sunday roast carvery for £10 a head. Choice of roast meats and help yourself to veggies!! You may need to book a table as it is very popular and there is limited seating as the pub is quite small (actually narrow!).


MacD: Yes, information is recent as I was there about ten days ago. I go to London about 3/4 times a year on business and purposely stay near St. Katherines largely due to having found a decent pub and not the plastic, yuppy bars that are in abundance these days.

Alan.
 
Sturaven said:
Just wondering where we could find somewhere to moor for a night on the Thames half way between Ramesgate and St Katherines? Doesn't need to be anywhere flash or with facilities, but relatively easy to get too and safe.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Stu.
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Traitionally, that's Queenborough..... go to East Coast Forum and look up latest from the new HM there.
 
FullCircle said:
Traitionally, that's Queenborough..... go to East Coast Forum and look up latest from the new HM there.
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Last May when I was there they still had only the mooring buoys at Queensborough. Quite a challenge and strong wind/high current/large freeboard!
Also the state of the buoys is not great. We had a lead line breaking off the mooring making the process even more difficult.
The is a rumor that they are going to add some pontoons, but I don't know if and when this will happen.
 
Sturaven said:
Just wondering where we could find somewhere to moor for a night on the Thames half way between Ramesgate and St Katherines? Doesn't need to be anywhere flash or with facilities, but relatively easy to get too and safe.

Any suggestions?
Check out Gravesend,they have buoys and pontoons. Also google Erith Yacht Club and Greenwich Yacht Club for buoys. And phone the PLA, they sometimes have buoys. If you get stuck in adverse tide for some reason,just get a turn on any old thing you can! (such as moored lighter etc), all these tie- ups will be bouncy. But nobody will mind you hanging on to anything to wait for a tide,we've been at it for thousands of years!
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We loved our time in St Kat's. Wonderful place. Like a quiet village right in central London. Hopefully will make it back some day. No issues entering or leaving - it was pretty straightforward. Did experience horrendous conditions in the Thames on the way up though - wind gusting over 50 knots, against tide. "Choppy" is one word for it.

We stopped on the way in at Queenborough, and then anchored for a while in Sharfleet Creek which was an easy anchorage with lots of wildlife to look at. Also spent a night at Gravesend (foc), and another off Erith YC (also foc, on the way back down the Thames). Everyone very helpful and friendly.

Some pics of our trip in:
http://www.yacht-forum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=287

Out:
http://www.yacht-forum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=290
 
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