Anyone live in London? And sail???!!

[Daydream believer]

I forgot to add:-
Moorings
From Stone sailing club you can sail dinghies, or a cruiser. Like most places on the east coast the cruising ground is extensive & I suspect that the desinations are more readily available than in the solent-I have never been turned away- yet!- Cheaper as well, if going into a marina.
Lots of new housing in that part of the country.

 

[DJE]

If you really want to learn about tides try Benfleet Yacht Club. Ruled by tides like a lot of the East Coast but a welcoming and active club. And 40 minutes from Fenchurch Street.

 

[dunedin]

Yes this is the best idea. Any recommendations of clubs that I can peruse? I never fancy dinghy sailing much in Scotland as I am too much of a wimp! Might be more appealing in the sunny south and would be good for my (non existent) helming skills!

For dinghy racing clubs I am a bit out of date (years back I sailed a Laser at Queen Mary SC). Unless you plan to choose where to live based upon proximity to a sailing club, you may have to select clubs near where you end up getting a home.
Perhaps worth working out what type of dinghy you might want
- single handed or two person
- high performance (high skill/cost) vs lower performance
Am sure you know a few of the options from Port Edgar racing
Then perhaps look in Yachts & Yachting class sections to see where they tend to race

And as Flaming says, lots of race crew options on the Solent

 

[roblpm]

London is extremely expensive to live in, live to the north of London commute in. If you live north east of London, then you've got several east coast places to choses from or many dinghy clubs inland.
South of London is still very expensive compared to the surrounds of Edinburgh.

Average rental London £1800, , Edinburgh £1063, houses buying even worse.
More importantly average price of a pint in London £5.99 Edinburgh £4.55.

Don't worry this is the part of the equation that I am fully aware of. I have a ready option in Woolwich Arsenal. Small but perfectly formed with the new train line. I am liking the look of Greenwich Sailing Club! RS2000s for me and my diminuitive crew!

 

[doris]

I've lived in SW London for over 50 years and had boats in Gosport for over 30. very doable, just try the journey a few times and see how you get on.
The Solent/Gosport is a fantastic place to sail out of but different people see things differently. Very different from East coast sailing, all a question of preferences.
Sailing RS dinghies in the reservoirs seems a great idea for starters.

 

[Nina Lucia]

I am from London originally but saw sense and moved to Edinburgh 18 years ago. Sail a bit from Port Edgar racing and sometimes on the West Coast on my mates boat. Was planning to stay forever and buy a boat on the Clyde sooner or later when I have financially recovered from my divorce!! However, due to said divorce and new partner turns out we might have actually to earn some money. (I was planning on just sort of sliding into poverty in Edinburgh but new partner maybe not so keen....!).

So one idea might be to live in London for a few years so my partner can join the rat race! I am only 53 so really am a bit young to give up the ghost! Then move back to Scotland eventually as it it is obviously a much better place!

I know London. And my Father used to live in Gosport and have a boat at Hardway. But what would be really useful is any current experience about the practicalities of getting to the Solent, any tips on berthing for less than a million quid a year. And how it generally works. Brighton marina seems not great for weekend trips as nowhere to go? East Coast? Bought the previous boat off a guy in the Medway. What's that like? I can actually work anywhere so I can imagine me going somewhere on a Thursday and my other half turns up Friday evening. Chichester?

Any thoughts gratefully received!

Hi, There is Greenwich Yacht Club, great club, plenty of sailing. Cruiser racing once a month at least, dinghy sailing, .... Tuesday evening is club night, definitely worth of visiting!

 

[roblpm]

I think it depends on the type of sailing you want, and if you're looking to buy your own boat or sail other people's boats...

If you want to race yachts, at least semi seriously, then you need to be heading to the Solent. The good news is that getting rides on decent boats for JOG or other crewed racing is fairly straightforward, there's a lot of availability for vaguely competent people.

If your aim is to buy your own small boat and cruise, and you want your money to go further, then absolutely look towards the East Coast. I grew up (and still live) in Suffolk. And had I not got the racing bug I would be very happy cruising the east coast.

Yes, I shouldn't have sold my Parker 275 which was basically the perfect boat for Suffolk!

Vaguely competent is something I can aspire to!

 

[roblpm]

If you can work from home and commute in occasionally from much further out (or even once or twice a week) you will save a fortune in living costs versus living in London or the main commuter belt and will have a much wider choice of sailing areas, for sure. East Anglia is lovely, the trains in aren't the quickest but if you're not doing it every day I'd think it would be bearable and there are some more affordable bits not too far from train stations on the mainline to London if you don't mind rural living. I grew up sailing on the Orwell and Deben and there's enough along the coast to keep you busy for a good while, not to mention across to the Netherlands in the holidays.

I can live anywhere! My partner has lived in Buenos Aires and Bogota for the last 25 years. 20 million and 12 million respectively. I'm not sure small town Suffolk is going to be her thing.....!! I'm hoping after a few years networking in London she will find enough remote / consultancy work to keep her going when we inevitably return to the promised land that is Scotland!

 

[laika]

I have a ready option in Woolwich Arsenal.

Would your weekend boat trips be car or train? Woolwich not ideal for the Solent either way: car it’s 3+ hours through town or potentially less but more petrol on the m25. Train you’ve got to get to Waterloo. Arguably you could start your weekend sailing on the river boat but it’s neither cheap nor fast.

I only visited Greenwich yacht club once (about 10 years ago) but it’s a nice club house and they seemed like nice people (and I’m not generally a yacht club kind of person)

 

[Nina Lucia]

sorry, wrong link

 

[Nina Lucia]

greenwichyachtclub.co.uk

 

[PhillM]

I am the other way round. Live near Eastleigh (Fair Oak to be precise) and work in London (Marylebone). Don’t need to be there everyday, which helps.

Keep my little boat on the Hamble. Under 8m is cheap as chips and for small boats the HM waiting list is negligible.

 

[MK101]

If you're in SE London, then you could also always try Surrey Docks Watersports Centre, which is on Greenland Dock - part of the old Surrey Docks close to Canada Water. They have dinghy sailing. And other ways of getting on the water. Greenland is a good size bit of water for a dinghy. Fun sailing in an interesting area. Couple of decent pubs close by but sadly no more Wibbley Wobbley. There's a sailability group which is always looking for volunteers as well. 30 mins on the bike from Woolwich or a Clipper journey to Greenland Pier. Or there's a similar set up on Millwall Dock, and you can go through the Greenwich foot tunnel. You're not supposed to cycle but lots of people do...

 

[roblpm]

Would your weekend boat trips be car or train? Woolwich not ideal for the Solent either way: car it’s 3+ hours through town or potentially less but more petrol on the m25. Train you’ve got to get to Waterloo. Arguably you could start your weekend sailing on the river boat but it’s neither cheap nor fast.

I only visited Greenwich yacht club once (about 10 years ago) but it’s a nice club house and they seemed like nice people (and I’m not generally a yacht club kind of person)

The more people reply the more that some dinghy sailing in London seems like the better idea. This thread has been great for ideas!

The River Boat is great but not really for getting anywhere!!

I'm in a great yacht club in Edinburgh. I'm not really one for the social though. However, when my partner moves over here I have to pretend I have a social life so a club might be a good idea......!

 

[roblpm]

If you're in SE London, then you could also always try Surrey Docks Watersports Centre, which is on Greenland Dock - part of the old Surrey Docks close to Canada Water. They have dinghy sailing. And other ways of getting on the water. Greenland is a good size bit of water for a dinghy. Fun sailing in an interesting area. Couple of decent pubs close by but sadly no more Wibbley Wobbley. There's a sailability group which is always looking for volunteers as well. 30 mins on the bike from Woolwich or a Clipper journey to Greenland Pier. Or there's a similar set up on Millwall Dock, and you can go through the Greenwich foot tunnel. You're not supposed to cycle but lots of people do...

Yes nice idea. I think I did my RYA Level 1 dinghy at Millwall dock about a hundred years ago.......

 

[jamie N]

Ditch the bird, or have her hang out at Holyrood.

 

[dgadee]

What does your partner think? You seem to have plans. Maybe hers are different. Get her to post here ...

 

[laika]

If you're in SE London, then you could also always try Surrey Docks Watersports Centre, which is on Greenland Dock - part of the old Surrey Docks close to Canada Water. [...] Or there's a similar set up on Millwall Dock

We moved to a flat overlooking Greenland dock a couple of years ago, joined the watersports centre (why wouldn't we?) and did our dinghy level 1/2*. After we moved the boat to Gosport it seemed a waste of a weekend to stay in London to do dinghy sailing and I don't finish work early enough to do the summer Wednesday evening sailing so I didn't renew the membership, but it's a friendly place. The wind tunnels round the buildings which can make the wind come from entirely different directions in a few 10s of metres is "interesting".

Docklands watersports centre does midweek twighlight sailing (£25 incl. bbq, although the bbq always used to be uninspiring for veggies (that may have changed)) which I've bunked off work early to go to with colleagues a couple of times: If roblpm is considering woolwich does his partner work in Canary Wharf?

*No, sailing dinghies did not improve my yacht sailing noticeably but It did vastly improve my dinghy sailing

 

[roblpm]

Ditch the bird, or have her hang out at Holyrood.

I need her so I can escape somewhere warmer and less dark for 4 months a year..... In fact I will be here while she is slaving in London!

My ex-wife was a trained doctor and did half a PhD before getting a contract at the Scottish govt. Then had real difficulty in getting ongoing work. There are only about 3 good jobs in Edinburgh, and once people have them they never move!

 

[roblpm]

What does your partner think? You seem to have plans. Maybe hers are different. Get her to post here ...

Well her plans are to move to Edinburgh! But really I just can't see that she will ever get a great job..... We both need to earn a bit of cash due to previous divorces! Don't you know the streets are paved with Gold in London?? Hmmmmm not sure about getting her to post on here.....!