Petrol on the North Kent coast

[Antony Collis]

Hi. A friend of mine is thinking of taking a speed boat out of the Medway estuary after slipping at Cuxton-ish.
Besides Chatham and Gillingham where could he take on more petrol if he were to get a bit low?
The whole of the north Kent coast seems a bit barron for small boats, I can't even see anywhere he could tie up and walk off with a can except for Queenborough.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Fuel eh??

If you can go alongside Rochester Pier (do not know if poss these days) and walk over the bridge into Strood there is (was) a filling station there just before Railway Bridge.

or - methinks, go along side old wall with steps up river Rochester Bridge and walk into Strood, about 7 mins.

Maybe Gillingham Marina??

 

[oldgit]

Gillingham Marina and MDL Chatham both carry petrol at marina prices.
The walk from Rochester Pier to the petrol station in Strood is a bit of hike when carrying a couple of 25l cans.
Problem with steps on strood side will be
A. nothing to moor to
B virtually no water at low tide.
Think the only petrol at Queenborough is now at least a mile away on the main road.
In short carry what you need aboard........blimming hard work otherwise,

 

[Capt Popeye]

Ahoy again

Why launch at Cuxton??

Lower Upnor used to allow trailer boats to launch at the Training School, they used to make a small (reasonable) charge for launching from their large 'slipway', and I understood car/ trailer parking as well (best to check though) .

Petrol is availble from a garage back in Strood, near roundabout (Mc Donalds), before winding your way down lane into Upnor.

 

[oldgit]

Ahoy again


"Lower Upnor used to allow trailer boats to launch at the Training School, they used to make a small (reasonable) charge for launching from their large 'slipway', and I understood car/ trailer parking as well (best to check though) ."


As a denizen of darkest Upnor,have yet to see see anything launched from there in the motorized boat dept,more likely to be run out of town if they discover you do not have at least one set of sails about your person when crossing boarder control .

 

[Capt Popeye]

Ahoy there Upnor resident

Yes certainly Upnor has risen to heady heights now, no more Thames Barges loading up on the Quay. (Bob Roberts & Cambria etc) the Victorian houses nearly all gone and bright new style Homes in their places. The influence of MYC no doubt, or their Officers and committee, to be more accurate?!

Ah well for an outboard boat there is, accross the water, Gillingham Causeway of course. For easy launching and parking, and FREE to launch, or was?! Providing easy access to the lower reaches of the Medway, where 'wash' is not such a problem?? for other water users. But the speed limit needs to be watched.

Back to the Q in first place; taking on Fuel; not any Filling Stations nearby, (to my knowledge) since Parhams (Gillingham Marina) Filling Station closed up some 7 years ago.

 

[oldgit]

Slip over at Gillingham is a right old mess at the moment with a nice layer of Medway slurry on the lower bit.Very difficult to launch without getting caked in the stuff.
The powers that be have finally woken up to the fact that the river could be an asset as opposed for somewhere to dump shopping trolleys.
The lower pontoon/jetty at Sun Pier is being refurbished and is being reinstalled in time for the Medway River Festival on July 6th,with rumours that whatever is still serviceable of Strood pier will be bought back into use.
Several of us local boaters both commercial and gin Palace owners have demanded and pleaded for some sort of security gate to be installed a-la Rochester Pier,other wise the new piers will fast become very unwelcoming places indeed for yachtsmen due to activities of local druggies/drunks and unfortunately some so called fishermen.

 

[Antony Collis]

There is no real reason for slipping at Cuxton except that he'll be meeting up with us as we pass down from Allington. He used to keep the boat there and is happy to leave the car there for a couple of days.
It really would be nice to see more done with that part of the river. I know that it would be to much of a big job but it does annoy me that I pass a massive cinema, Mc Donnalds and other places to eat but have nowhere to stop. I overnighted at Medway Bridge a while back and I swear I could smell the McBreakfast from across the way. I know the people at Queenborough are doing their best to make it more desirable place to stop, but that will be a while yet.
Lets hope the MSBA will sort everything out for us.

 

[oldgit]

It will be a long and hard job to reverse the decline in facilities on the Medway.All the local boat clubs have been getting on with the job of promoting the river but with precious little help (ie. virtually none) form local councils,in the past formerly it bordered on wilful neglect,latterly the excuse of lack of resources.
It does seem however with the latest folks in charge the wind has changed.
Various schemes are underway including a long extended riverside path (more important than many think) to get public access to the waterside.
With the return of the piers we may be able to encourage visiting foreign yotties back into the town.