How far from sea to St Kats?

longjohnsilver

longjohnsilver

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On a dull rainy day sat in my study thoughts turn to future plans. Mulling over the idea of bringing the boat up the river to coincide with next years Olympics but have no idea how far it is from the river entrance up to St Kats which seems to be the obvious place to aim for. Unless anyone has any other suggestions. Presumably it's all well buoyed, being a displacement boat tides will be important, cruising normally about 7kts is it possible to come up on one tide? If not are there suitable stopping/mooring/anchoring spots en route?
Any help/suggestions appreciated.
 
Thanks. Not really surprised but cancellations are not unusual so won't give up hope. Still a thought to do this another time so question still relevant.
 
Hi John. Depends on what you mean by 'the sea' but I always used to leave 4 hours for the trip from Ramsgate to St Kats @ 20kts with a favourable tide. St Kats is really the nicest marina to park in; its worth a trip on its own even without the Olympics. Other marinas on the tidal Thames you could consider are

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200065/south_dock_marina
http://www.bwml.co.uk/marina/11/limehouse+marina/
http://www.chelseaharbourmarina.com/marina/pop.html

Its possibly worth a call to the Port of London Authority http://www.pla.co.uk/News/index.cfm/flag/2/id/179159/site/News to see whether they are laying on any additional moorings for the Olympics. We were lucky enough to get a PLA buoy in the River right opposite the Houses of Parliament for Millenium News Year Eve and got the best seat in the house for the firework display so its worth picking up the phone to them
 
longjohnsilver said:
Thanks. Not really surprised but cancellations are not unusual so won't give up hope. Still a thought to do this another time so question still relevant.
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As I suspect you move about just as " fast" as me, 4 hours at 6/8knots (with about 3 knots of that tide) :) will get you from Southend to Tower Bridge.
Queenborough has its rough attractions if you want to pick up a bouy overnight before heading up river.
You could try here for a mooring.Virtually unknown and just down river.
http://www.hcmoorings.org/
Other than that what about parking in either a Medway or Crouch marina and train into city.will def be still cheaper than anywhere in central London.
However that run up the Thames in your own boat is beyond price.
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Chelsea !
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Ramsgate to Queenboro' via Kentish Flats at 7 Knots approx. 5 hours depending on tide and sea conditions. Q'boro' to St Kats further 7 hours but again allow for tide and sea conditions
 
Thanks guys, great pics OG and yes Mike will give them a ring. It's definitely a trip which has to be made some time soon.
 
If you stop at Queenborough stay on your boat. It's a dodgy place and we were there last year when a dinghy with an outboard was stolen whilst the sailors were in the pub.
 
534l4rk said:
Ramsgate to Queenboro' via Kentish Flats at 7 Knots approx. 5 hours depending on tide and sea conditions. Q'boro' to St Kats further 7 hours but again allow for tide and sea conditions
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It does not take as long as that. In 11 hours we were at Chertsey from Ramsgate at 6-7 knots.
 
Deleted User said:
Hi John. Depends on what you mean by 'the sea' but I always used to leave 4 hours for the trip from Ramsgate to St Kats @ 20kts with a favourable tide. St Kats is really the nicest marina to park in; its worth a trip on its own even without the Olympics. Other marinas on the tidal Thames you could consider are

http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200065/south_dock_marina
http://www.bwml.co.uk/marina/11/limehouse+marina/
http://www.chelseaharbourmarina.com/marina/pop.html

Its possibly worth a call to the Port of London Authority http://www.pla.co.uk/News/index.cfm/flag/2/id/179159/site/News to see whether they are laying on any additional moorings for the Olympics. We were lucky enough to get a PLA buoy in the River right opposite the Houses of Parliament for Millenium News Year Eve and got the best seat in the house for the firework display so its worth picking up the phone to them
Click to expand...

I've just phoned PLA and they say that they've no plans to lay on any extra moorings for the Olympics. That surprises me; however the lady i spoke to is going to phone me back to see what availability there might be next summer. Just out of interest if you were on a buoy where and how did you get ashore?
 
There's Galeon's Point and West India/Poplar Docks as well to investigate, all within reasonably easy travel distance of the Olympics. I remain somewhat suurprised that there seem to be no plans to stick temporary additional moorings in near Excel given the relative ease of getting there.

St Kats will probably have some form of system breakdown:-)
 
Andrew_Fanner said:
There's Galeon's Point and West India/Poplar Docks as well to investigate, all within reasonably easy travel distance of the Olympics. I remain somewhat suurprised that there seem to be no plans to stick temporary additional moorings in near Excel given the relative ease of getting there.

St Kats will probably have some form of system breakdown:-)
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Thanks. PLA phoned back a short while ago and said to look again on their web site later next month.

Is there a problem with St Kats?
 
longjohnsilver said:
Just out of interest if you were on a buoy where and how did you get ashore?
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The PLA sent us some info which identified a dinghy landing spot at one of the bridges; can't remember exactly which one. But its academic because the Olympics location is well downstream from where we were.
I set my SWMBO on them; when she wants something she's a bit of a rottweiler. Eventually they gave in and laid I think 10 or 15 mooring buoys in the Thames. One thing I do remember though was the cost. £300 for the night but it was worth every penny.
If you're keen on visiting London by boat for the Olympics and you can't find space in any marinas, keep badgering them. You know the drill, their public duty, once in a generation, that kind of stuff. There's probably a million reasons why not but I cant see any reason why some mooring buoys shouldn't be laid close to a river bus landing stage and the landing stage be used for land access. It'll all be too much trouble and against elfin safety laws of course
 
"If you're keen on visiting London by boat for the Olympics and you can't find space in any marinas, keep badgering them."

..and the heavier your boat the better,all those extra trip boats and clippers belting past along with additional police,fire and army patrols,will make mooring on any midstream bouy mucho fun for small craft.
 
Thanks again to all who took the time to respond, seems there will be a decent selection of potential moorings.
So to the next choice, do I hop across to CI and then along the French coast and then to London or along the S coast from Dartmouth. Hmm, more planning required.
 
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