Crossing Thames Estuary - Maplin to Swale (Southbound)

MattS

MattS

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Currently in Bradwell, and have made last minute plan to head for Harty Ferry in the Swale tomorrow. Home port is Chatham, so am used to crossing to Medway, but haven’t done across to the Swale before.

Reached for the trusty Crossing The Thames Estuary, but have realised (after a bit of head scratching) that the Kentish Flats wind farm has been expanded since my Second Edition copy, and so the route doesn’t quite work.

Given I can’t get the new edition delivered to a boat within 12 hours…

Can anyone share the preferred / recommended route they would now take if wanting to cross the estuary southbound, destination the Eastern end of the Swale?

Any tips that help me plan a route for tomorrow much appreciated!
 
Common route for me on my way home to the Swale. Head SW along Middle Deep, then past the Maplin buoy, to the SW Barrow, when you then head S, cross the shipping lanes, to pass close W of the Red Sand Towers. Keep going S, past the Middle Sand safe-water beacon, you’ll have plenty of water assuming you don’t have excessive draught and you’re on a rising tide. I usually join the Swale at the Columbine Spit buoy but if you’re concerned about depth you can head a bit further SE before reaching the buoyed E Swale. I draw 1.2m, by the way.
 
Thank you @Cantata - I draw 1.1 so should be able to follow a very similar track to you.

Your route makes complete sense, and it was the last part across Red Sand that was concerning me.

By heading for the Middle Safe SWB, I presume you just ensure your have enough tide to cross directly over the Red Sand shallow immediately north of Middle Sand SWB?
 
I usually pass the Middle Sand beacon about 300m W of it.
Depth really is not an issue with our draught, bear in mind that I do this section around HW-2.5, aiming to get beck to my drying berth a bit before HW.
I'm not aware of tidal heights today but if you're concerned, head a bit SE after passing the Middle Sand.
 
Thanks for the tips @Cantata - we followed your route almost exactly, with the exception of not having the confidence to go over Red Sand, so we ended up going South West to Spile (slammy) and back around it (rolly!). I’m sure we would have been fine, and would have cut an hour off our passage, but we’d been beating into 30kts since the Middle Deep and were being thrown about a bit in my Moody 28, so had lost risk-taking confidence by that point! You might not have chosen to cross yesterday for fun, but it was the right move for us getting back to the Medway this weekend. Harty gave us a peaceful night, and the Swale a more relaxed transfer to the Medway today.

tillergirl said:
Well I suppose I could drive a copy round to Bradwell right now :)
Click to expand...

what a shame I missed this before we left!:)
 
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Cantata said:
Pleased to hear the trip went well despite your extra tour to the Spile! All the locals round here would do what I suggested, by the way, and some braver ones will even cut over the Columbine by the Ham Gat buoy.
Click to expand...
Ha Ha, that reminds me of the time some years ago that I cut though Ham Gat on our club’s round the Island race in the MG Spring 25 that I had then, with only 1m draft. It all worked to plan with very little water under the keel, except I didn’t realise then the only rule of the race was we have to pass around the Columbine buoy and got disqualified.

Having a holiday home looking out on to that stretch of water we quite often see boats that get it wrong and have a long wait for the tide to return.

If the tide is high enough you can save quite a bit of time cutting the corner there.
 
MattS said:
Currently in Bradwell, and have made last minute plan to head for Harty Ferry in the Swale tomorrow. Home port is Chatham, so am used to crossing to Medway, but haven’t done across to the Swale before.

Reached for the trusty Crossing The Thames Estuary, but have realised (after a bit of head scratching) that the Kentish Flats wind farm has been expanded since my Second Edition copy, and so the route doesn’t quite work.

Given I can’t get the new edition delivered to a boat within 12 hours…

Can anyone share the preferred / recommended route they would now take if wanting to cross the estuary southbound, destination the Eastern end of the Swale?

Any tips that help me plan a route for tomorrow much appreciated!
Click to expand...
OMG, I'm still using the 2nd Edition and am relying on it from Harwich to Medway next Wednesday, then later in the week am planning a circumnavigation of the Isle of Sheppey and then on to Ramsgate all using the second edition. Am I doomed!
 
No, not at all. The routes and tables still work but you just miss the ease of the new tables. PM me which route and tell me where on the Medway you will be based (and your expected boat speed [STW]). I have an extra bonus pdf (not yet announced) about tides on the Medway.
 
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Rafiki said:
OMG, I'm still using the 2nd Edition and am relying on it from Harwich to Medway next Wednesday, then later in the week am planning a circumnavigation of the Isle of Sheppey and then on to Ramsgate all using the second edition. Am I doomed!
Click to expand...

The 2nd edition routes are overwhelmingly still helpful - and I used it to do my planning. Even with @Cantata's recommendations, the route I ended up taking was pretty much to the letter of the book. The only exception for me was not quite knowing how to handle the expanded wind farm and sand banks just North of Sheppey, and actually this was only really because I had missed the memo that it was now legal to sail through the wind farms... (so my initial concern was based on an assumption that the 2nd edition route was note viable).

Based on your proposed passages above it doesn't sound like this will affect you at all!
 
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