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

[dunedin]

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......!

If your partner hasn’t sailed much before, an inland SC can be less daunting. Don’t know this one personally but looks like they have RS200 fleet here Sailing in North London — King George Sailing Club

 

[roblpm]

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

Partner works in downtown Bogota at the moment. I am posting from uptown Bogota right now, terrible traffic nightmare but a pleasant 20 degrees today! (It's a tropical country but Bogota is at 2600 metres!) They call it "the fridge" but is a lot better than Scotland for December and January! Yes I will make partner work in Canary Wharf while I work in a cafe in Woolwich Arsenal. Although now the new train makes working in the West End pretty easy from Woolwich too. The (currently let) flat is on top of the Crossrail station!

Well, I think being an average dinghy sailor might be fun! I think it would improve race helming on a 707 for sure.

 

[roblpm]

If your partner hasn’t sailed much before, an inland SC can be less daunting. Don’t know this one personally but looks like they have RS200 fleet here Sailing in North London — King George Sailing Club

Yes this thread has been great at throwing up some options I hadn't thought of!

 

[dgadee]

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.....!

She will win and you will live in Edinburgh. Give up now.

 

[roblpm]

She will win and you will live in Edinburgh. Give up now.

Hmmmm I think after 6 months working in a coffee shop or teaching Spanish she may want to move. Unlike me she is quite ambitious.....?

 

[awol]

I'll be interested to see how easy it is to get her into the UK with a work permit. Edinburgh is a pretty but basically unfriendly place to live - I should know, I've been here for >50 years - London (only 4 years) I was glad to see the back of. Go west and enjoy life!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Yes this thread has been great at throwing up some options I hadn't thought of!

There are dinghy clubs in all directions out of London, plus there’s sailing on the river and in the docks. Plus the south coast, essex and kent. London is in fact a great place to live, as a sailor. Find the most convenient club, and buy a boat they have a fleet for. When in Rome, etc.

 

[ashtead]

There are also inland yacht clubs where boat owners and wannabe crusier crew socialise to gain crew/passage. There is one such at Epsom doing talks etc in winter. There might be other similar suburban clubs plus of course when you search a variety of corpoate clubs for employees etc . I guess it depends on where the work is but maybe even expats might be a source of inspiration.

 

[roblpm]

I'll be interested to see how easy it is to get her into the UK with a work permit. Edinburgh is a pretty but basically unfriendly place to live - I should know, I've been here for >50 years - London (only 4 years) I was glad to see the back of. Go west and enjoy life!

Aha we will be married and she will be on a spouse visa. I am a bureaucrat for a living and will employ someone to do the application. It's fine if you just trudge through the rules. Yes I'm not sure arriving from South America to Edinburgh is the best thing.....

Maybe down south for a few years to earn some money before returning up north and sailing on the west as we have discussed before!!

 

[roblpm]

There are also inland yacht clubs where boat owners and wannabe crusier crew socialise to gain crew/passage. There is one such at Epsom doing talks etc in winter. There might be other similar suburban clubs plus of course when you search a variety of corpoate clubs for employees etc . I guess it depends on where the work is but maybe even expats might be a source of inspiration.

I grew up in Epsom. I have managed to avoid going there for about ten years and have no intention of returning any time soon. Makes me nervous.....

 

[mrming]

On the dinghy sailing tip, Whitstable in East Kent has great racing and a nice club on the beach with reasonable rates. The town is fun, cosmopolitan and has a fast train to London (HS1).

 

[Frogmogman]

We live in north west London and kept a small 23ft on a buoy at Fambridge Yacht Haven on the River Crouch for 4 years. An an hour and 15mins mostly door to door. Fambridge is fair way up the river from Burnham, so depends on what you are looking for sailing wise. Had a pleasant 4 years pootling around before the work/sailing/maintenance scales became a bit unbalanced.

North Fambridge is one of the places I learned to sail, with my Dad in our Skipper 14 dinghy. There and West Mersea.

Sigh.

Happy days.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We lived in Rotherhithe, and kept our boat at Hoo. Plus sailing on the dock outside the front windows. Prior to that, we’ve sailed at Datchet on and off for years. We used to take our Dart there to sail in winter, when coastal sailing packed up.

 

[The Q]

Being whisked through border controls by the pilot is very satisfying.

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!

Hmm, my sister worked for the Scottish government and more directly the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, I wonder if they ever met?

 

[Blueboatman]

Well I will add a bit to the mix
Does the OPs wife to be know about the midges in Scotland on the west side
And will she miss the longer daylight and milder southern skies , coming from a different continent ?
As to sailing
In theory you can daysail anywhere in the Solent all year round
And in theory you can pop out of any south coast resort marina all the year without the shlep out to sea .
Having lived in London and tried the A3 Chichester slog, never again - people forget that the tides work best for some moorings only every other weekend ?
Brighton would be my first steer because it has dinghy clubs , Sunday yacht racing and it’s a city innit with the best commute to London and lots of multilingual work opportunities between the two towns
Gets a nice sunset too ?

 

[STATUE]

Read F.B. Cooke 'Weekend Yachting' , includes how to get down to Burnham on Friday evening on the 5.15 pm from the City for 2/6p return. Plus all the weekend doable 'home' ports.

Good luck old chap.

 

[dgadee]

I've just moved back to Scottieland after 40 years away and it's friendly enough.

Read F.B. Cooke 'Weekend Yachting' , includes how to get down to Burnham on Friday evening on the 5.15 pm from the City for 2/6p return. Plus all the weekend doable 'home' ports.

Good luck old chap.

Didn't he also talk about a rail ticket which allowed you to go and return from different locations? Designed for the weekend yachtsman who might have to leave his boat for the week and then return it to home moorings. Ah, for the days when yachtsmen had social status.

 

[Juan Twothree]

Didn't he also talk about a rail ticket which allowed you to go and return from different locations? Designed for the weekend yachtsman who might have to leave his boat for the week and then return it to home moorings. Ah, for the days when yachtsmen had social status.

Maurice Griffiths referred to just such a ticket as a "Yachtsman's Weekender" in one of his books.

 

[roblpm]

Hmm, my sister worked for the Scottish government and more directly the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, I wonder if they ever met?

Ahahaha. Possibly but for me it is better to let sleeping dogs lie.....!

 

[roblpm]

Well I will add a bit to the mix
Does the OPs wife to be know about the midges in Scotland on the west side
And will she miss the longer daylight and milder southern skies , coming from a different continent ?
As to sailing
In theory you can daysail anywhere in the Solent all year round
And in theory you can pop out of any south coast resort marina all the year without the shlep out to sea .
Having lived in London and tried the A3 Chichester slog, never again - people forget that the tides work best for some moorings only every other weekend ?
Brighton would be my first steer because it has dinghy clubs , Sunday yacht racing and it’s a city innit with the best commute to London and lots of multilingual work opportunities between the two towns
Gets a nice sunset too ?

I have warned her of the total disaster of the midges but she doesn't believe me......!
In terms of the dark and cold eventually we will be at 11 degrees North for every winter. 30 degrees and 12 hours of daylight every day. Scotland in the summer is great!
Yes Brighton might be fun for racing but not so much for cruising I think!