East Coast Pilot.

[oldgit]

Weather permitting, Sarah T, will be transporting a member of the ECP team up the jolly old Merdeway to Allington Lock and perhaps even a little further up,in order to add to the books information on the upper Mudway .
The short journey is fairly straight forward and uneventful provided a little planning is undertaken.
Just for the record OGs guide to timing. E&OE.

You need the time of the HW at Rochester/Chatham .
Add 30 mins.
This gives tide at HW Allington Lock .
Deduct 2 hours to calculate when lock will open.

Average motorboat (1 M draught.will take 90 mins ( 14 miles) to go from Rochester Bridge to the lock (Oldgit Crawl Speed. )
This will vary slightly with size of tide. Bigger tides will whoosh you up there quicker.
You will need to go under Rochester Bridge around 1.5 hours before lock opens.
Perils.
Go too soon and you will be bashing your props on a rocky bottom.
Go too late on very big tide and you will be waiting to get under the old bridge at Aylesford.
If prevented from getting under bridge,No Panic,there is more than ample time when tide falls, to do the last mile in the hour or so before lock shuts.
Well worth a go by the more adventurous sorts.
Flybridge boats can get to Maidstone,smaller stuff can get to Tonbridge.

You will be working All the locks above Allington yourselves.Some of the chambers are quite deep and some gates require a decent level of fitness to push them open and closed.
Moorings tend to be in the middle of nowhere and town moorings few and far between.
River license fees are a bit less than Thames rates.
Think lock monitors CH 80....Not sure



Example of timings for this Sunday
Rochester Tide. HW 12.00 BST.
Allington HW 12.30
Lock open 10.30 ( Approx)
Depart Rochester 09.00.
.

 

[apollo]

That's really handy, cheers mate! Have often wondered when the best time to leave is.

 

[Murv]

But don't forget to keep a sharp eye out for picnic tables, trees, barrels, partially submerged boats (following floods on the upper Medway) railway sleepers etc drifting in the tide! (there really is an awful lot of debris on the run up to Allington which causes us ***drive owners a few problems!)


Also, Allington lock is reachable on channel 80

 

[oldgit]

Sorry whats an outdrive ?

 

[Murv]

Sorry whats an outdrive ?

A brilliantly designed solution to relieve boaters of any cash surplus they may be suffering from
Although, there is an inherent fault with the design in that they are incredibly fuel efficient. By being broken for 99% of the time, the cash surplused boater will not be able to plow excess readies into the fuel tank. Happily though, the cost of the constant repairs will provide an eager outlet for that unwanted money

 

[apollo]

that's the best definition I have seen for the devils invention

 

[boatingdave]

That's really handy, cheers mate! Have often wondered when the best time to leave is.

Perhaps we can go next year Mike and OG can join us?

 

[oldgit]

A brilliantly designed solution to relieve boaters of any cash surplus they may be suffering from
Although, there is an inherent fault with the design in that they are incredibly fuel efficient. By being broken for 99% of the time, the cash surplused boater will not be able to plow excess readies into the fuel tank. Happily though, the cost of the constant repairs will provide an eager outlet for that unwanted money

O Yes.....A work of the Devil, the 8th plague visited on mankind after Famine,War,Floods,The Shopping Channel, UKIP etc...

 

[apollo]

Perhaps we can go next year Mike and OG can join us?

Will you get under Aylesford bridge with that big beasty you are buying?

 

[Murv]

Will you get under Aylesford bridge with that big beasty you are buying?

Anything will go under Aylesford bridge... as long as you hit it fast enough!

O Yes.....A work of the Devil, the 8th plague visited on mankind after Famine,War,Floods,The Shopping Channel, UKIP etc...

And raggies, you forgot raggies!


Anyway, sorry to have drifted your thread slightly,
Hope all goes well tomorrow, sounds as if it will be a fascinating morning

 

[oldgit]

Will you get under Aylesford bridge with that big beasty you are buying?

just working out how long it will take to modify that boat with my Black and Decker 12" electric chainsaw !

 

[MoodySabre]

Watch out. That Cantata fellow will expect royal treatment.

 

[Cantata]

Watch out. That Cantata fellow will expect royal treatment.

Too right...
Been travelling in some style already this week in a posh yot so I do expect the best.
Please arrange sunshine for the occasion, too!
Looking forward to it.

 

[oldgit]

Too right...
Been travelling in some style already this week in a posh yot so I do expect the best.
Please arrange sunshine for the occasion, too!
Looking forward to it.

Having been looking over the sailors forum and have gathered a few scraps of information that will make any yacht owner feel right at home.

Have removed all electronics from the boat including the 52" plasma TV. Have installed a lodestone on a bit of old sisal.
Have completely emptied the fridge of all champagne,fine wines,lobster and salmon including the strawberries and cream "afters." Have substituted early 1970s Fray Bentos pie in a tin ,with light coating of rust.
Have removed all soft furnishing/cushions/ carpet etc and installed a few bits of old foam smelling vaguely of damp and diesel.
All heating and cooking facilities have been disabled and highly lethal paraffin pressure stove will be pressed into service.
As a further concession, we will be aimlessly wandering all over the river ,going nowhere very slowly,for an hour or four , then turning for home and going into the bar announcing what a wonderful day we have had.
The one fly in the ointment is that it may well be bright and sunny,still you cannot have everthing.
Any other suggestions.
Was thinking of getting an old Seagull outboard and hanging it off the back in order to leave a dripping trail of petrol and oil behind us !

 

[boatingdave]

Having been looking over the sailors forum and have gathered a few scraps of information that will make any yacht owner feel right at home.

Have removed all electronics from the boat including the 52" plasma TV. Have installed a lodestone on a bit of old sisal.
Have completely emptied the fridge of all champagne,fine wines,lobster and salmon including the strawberries and cream "afters." Have substituted early 1970s Fray Bentos pie in a tin ,with light coating of rust.
Have removed all soft furnishing/cushions/ carpet etc and installed a few bits of old foam smelling vaguely of damp and diesel.
All heating and cooking facilities have been disabled and highly lethal paraffin pressure stove will be pressed into service.
As a further concession, we will be aimlessly wandering all over the river ,going nowhere very slowly,for an hour or four , then turning for home and going into the bar announcing what a wonderful day we have had.
The one fly in the ointment is that it may well be bright and sunny,still you cannot have everthing.
Any other suggestions.
Was thinking of getting an old Seagull outboard and hanging it off the back in order to leave a dripping trail of petrol and oil behind us !

Of course the big question is, are you running 50:1 or 100:1 on the seagull?

 

[Flynnbarr]

Shift all your ballast to one side and trundle about at an odd angle.....

 

[boatingdave]

Will you get under Aylesford bridge with that big beasty you are buying?

How very dare you. ;-). Aylesford, timing dear boy, timing lol. Might be a smidge tight.

 

[oldgit]

Of course the big question is, are you running 50:1 or 100:1 on the seagull?

What planet are you on !

As any fule kno.... All seagulls run on a mixture roughly consisting of big dollop of something from a can found in the garage (probably already used and drained from the lawnmower ) and anything that smells of petrol.
As a rough guide,equal proportions usually creates enuff smoke for our purposes ie. sufficent pollution to kill all marine life within 100 yards and sufficient noise to wake all slumbering boaters within 100 miles.
Consistency of your attempts to get the mixture right can be checked simply by sniffing the carpet in the boot of your car which will be soaked in your fuel/oil mixture.
Ps Have you ever seen a barnacle dare to grow anywhere on a seagull. ?

 

[Cantata]

Having been looking over the sailors forum and have gathered a few scraps of information that will make any yacht owner feel right at home.

Have removed all electronics from the boat including the 52" plasma TV. Have installed a lodestone on a bit of old sisal.
Have completely emptied the fridge of all champagne,fine wines,lobster and salmon including the strawberries and cream "afters." Have substituted early 1970s Fray Bentos pie in a tin ,with light coating of rust.
Have removed all soft furnishing/cushions/ carpet etc and installed a few bits of old foam smelling vaguely of damp and diesel.
All heating and cooking facilities have been disabled and highly lethal paraffin pressure stove will be pressed into service.
As a further concession, we will be aimlessly wandering all over the river ,going nowhere very slowly,for an hour or four , then turning for home and going into the bar announcing what a wonderful day we have had.
The one fly in the ointment is that it may well be bright and sunny,still you cannot have everthing.
Any other suggestions.
Was thinking of getting an old Seagull outboard and hanging it off the back in order to leave a dripping trail of petrol and oil behind us !

Perfect!

 

[boatingdave]

I know this has gone way off topic but funny nevertheless