East Coast Marina

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vjmehra

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I was all set to move our 5.5m RIB from Gallions Reach to Gillingham in the new year, but have been looking at train routes as at it looks like a bit of a nightmare (there is a quick train, but from Stratford International).

Are there any East Coast/East River marinas that people can recommend, meeting the following criteria:

  • Approx 1 hour or less from a main central london station/tube
  • Must have petrol available on site or very near (we have portable tanks, so a petrol station within walking distance is fine)
  • Is open longer than 9-5 (all the marina's on the tidal Thames seem to be like this)
  • Must allow us to store a trailer there so we can take the RIB out over the winter
  • We have no tender (seeing as our boat is essentially a tender), so a swinging mooring is no good

We are currently paying 110 per month for an on the water mooring, Gillingham is actually cheaper than this, but the train route looks like it involves about 4 changes (from Wapping, which is my home station), which is a recipe for disaster.

Any suggestions?
 
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Woodbridge. The train station is 300 meters from Tidemill marina. Petrol station a short distance away. In a RIB you'd get 3 hours either side of HW over the cill. Friendly, secure and great facilities. £500 for the winter six months.

Slightly further up the river, very near the petrol, Granary Yacht Harbour, about 30% less, almost 4 hours either side of HW for a RIB, no cill, friendliest staff on the East Coast, facilities more basic.
 
Fox's looks really nice and there do appear to be quick trains to Ipswich from Liverpool Street, but £35 return a time, would be cheaper to keep the RIB in St Kats :-)

Similar for Woodbridge unfortunately, thats even further than Ipswich!

I'm sure they're worth a visit, but doesn't look like either can be a permenant base for us unfortunately.
 
vjmehra said:
Fox's looks really nice and there do appear to be quick trains to Ipswich from Liverpool Street, but £35 return a time, would be cheaper to keep the RIB in St Kats :-)

Similar for Woodbridge unfortunately, thats even further than Ipswich!

I'm sure they're worth a visit, but doesn't look like either can be a permenant base for us unfortunately.
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As they are a fact of life, don't see how you can hope to get around the transport costs.
 
Bullet Point one effectively rules out everything! It's an hour Liverpool Street to Colchester on most trains and you are still nowhere near a marina. Closest I can think of is Burnham Yacht Harbour which is walking distance from the train station (without heavy bags).
 
We can't get around them, but Gillingham for example is half the cost of Ispwich, so if we can't find anywhere on a cheaper line, then the cheapest available will have to do :-)
 
Inside 1 hour, unfortunately is no longer possible for Ribbing, courtesey of the PLA, but close to 1 hour should bring a few places within reach. Burnham as you say looks interesting, unfortunately it costs double what Gillingham does, so we'll have to work out if it would be cost effective, with the cheaper train fare...
 
Not sure if it'll fit the bill but ...

Have a look at Fambridge (marina end, not swinging moorings) and one of their packages where the boat is stored on its trailer in the yard, you ring up when you want to use it and they launch it and put it on a vacant pontoon berth for you

FYH is a reasonable walk from Fambridge station, there is petrol on site and other than the areas through moorings (8kt limit) you can crack on down the river in a RIB
 
tillergirl said:
Bullet Point one effectively rules out everything! It's an hour Liverpool Street to Colchester on most trains and you are still nowhere near a marina. Closest I can think of is Burnham Yacht Harbour which is walking distance from the train station (without heavy bags).
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The heavy bags problem can be solved by using one of those cases with wheels that people use on airplanes
 
maybe the OP is a pampered princess like me who refuses to carry so much as a ready-made-sandwich for further than necessary!

Seriously though - It would be a big consideration for me if I was reliant on getting the train. Althorne to Bridgemarsh is about the furthest I would consider if I had stuff to lug about and the unmade track makes that a bit tricky for wheely-bags.

Don't forget that if it's a rib you have to bring EVERYTHING - as I would image you can't leave anything on board. Charts, LJs, oilies, wellies, Lord knows what else...
 
I moved to the Medway, Gillingham Reach so that I could catch the train down to my boat rather than pay the exchequer to use diesel.

I normally travel from Amersham to Gillingham and it takes me about 3 hours. I have occasionally traveled from Limehouse to Gillingham and that takes me a little over an hour by using the DLR to Woolwich Arsenal and then Southeastern trains to Gillingham.

In London from Victoria it is much quicker to Gillingham than from Charing Cross. The train from Victoria is just under an hour whereas from Charing Cross it is 1 hour 20 minutes. If you looked at the Marina above Rochester Bridge you could cut more time off and probably with a RIB you could get under Rochester Bridge.

I did also look at Gravesend and Erith but for me in a sailing boat I thought it was just a bit far up the rather ugly lower reaches of the Thames. So now I enjoy the ugly lower reaches of the Medway instead.
 
I would prefer the Medway if possible, but will look at the Crouch, both Fambridge and Bridgemarsh may be options.

If there is petrol on site, I can live with a bit of a walk at the other end, the killer is when you have to carry back tanks from a petrol station!!!

I looked at Gravesend too, but their tidal window is tiny! I didn't look at Erith as I don't really want to join a club, just have a home mooring (as friendly as they are when we dropped by a few weeks ago).

I'll start looking through the marina's past Gillingham and see if any of those are viable (I didn't want to go too far that way as we're in the 6 knot speed limit at that point and our little 2-stroke does not like that at all)!
 
vjmehra said:
I would prefer the Medway if possible, but will look at the Crouch, both Fambridge and Bridgemarsh may be options.

If there is petrol on site, I can live with a bit of a walk at the other end, the killer is when you have to carry back tanks from a petrol station!!!

I looked at Gravesend too, but their tidal window is tiny! I didn't look at Erith as I don't really want to join a club, just have a home mooring (as friendly as they are when we dropped by a few weeks ago).

I'll start looking through the marina's past Gillingham and see if any of those are viable (I didn't want to go too far that way as we're in the 6 knot speed limit at that point and our little 2-stroke does not like that at all)!
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Petrol available at Essex marina at Wallasea, about 2 or 3 miles up from Bridgemarsh.
 
vjmehra said:
Does anyone have an e-mail address for Bridgemarsh, I can't seem to find their website?
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No website - its not that kind of a marina. Very personal, its in an RSPB bird reserve.

Phone Biff 01621-740414 or 07968696815

£48/ft per year +VAT
 
Interested to know how you make Gillingham 4 different train journeys. There are direct services out of London Bridge and Victoria
2stops on the tube to Canada Water, 2 stops on the tube to London Bridge, direct train to Gillingham...
 
Ah yes, you are correct, there is a train from London Bridge that makes sense, but the last quick one seems to be at 18:44, which isn't necessarily a problem, but I only searched from 19:00 onwards for some reason!

My 4 journeys (which bar the early evening ones I reckon is the quickest route, if a little awkward):

Wapping -> Whitechapel
Whitechapel -> Mile End
Mile End -> Stratford London
(Walk)
Stratford International -> Gillingham

Interestingly I just spoke to Fambridge who offer a very interesting package where they launch and fuel the boat for you!
 
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