River Stour Sandwich

[Bigplumbs]

Hello

We are hoping to take our small sid for a motor up or down the tidal river launching at Sandwich. I wonder if anyone on here has done much on that river and if it is very pretty nice. We will need to be near to High water I think to make it a little nicer.

I also assume that because it is tidal there are no special licences etc required for a 3.9 m boat with 10 hp outboard

 

[stelican]

Check speed limits?

 

[Bigplumbs]

Check speed limits?

Most helpful...... But I see you thought it was funny

 

[dpb]

We used to launch our 20ft bowrider at the public slip at Sandwich and also kept a small cruiser there for a season or two.
It was 25 years ago and from a quick look at Google maps it seems to have changed a lot in places. For example there was no marina down stream of the public slip in our day.
We used to reckon on the river being useable 2hrs either side of high tide.
Sandwich to Pegwell Bay is a little industrial in places and if i remember rightly you cant see much over the banks but still interesting enough plus it looks like there is more bank side development than in our day.
In a small boat you can go as far as Fordwich where there is a pub, and on the way there is a pub at Plucks Gutter and at at Grove Ferry.
The river above Sandwich is rural and a pleasant enough cruise.
No licences in our day, it is all tidal.

 

[simonfraser]

oh, thought you got squashed somewhere and had boat damage ...

 

[DavidJ]

Out of interest (or not) I know of the Suffolk River Stour but not the Sandwich one. Looked it up and there are in fact five River Stour‘s in England………coffee time!

 

[Bigplumbs]

Out of interest (or not) I know of the Suffolk River Stour but not the Sandwich one. Looked it up and there are in fact five River Stour‘s in England………coffee time!

Well I knew of Suffolk and Kent...... Never knew there were 3 more

 

[Bigplumbs]

Looking at google maps this pic is taken from the Quay Parking Car Park....... Is this the Public Slip people are referring to marked with the Blue cross. You will have to click on the pic to make it larger

 

[dpb]

Yes

 

[Bigplumbs]

Yes

Thanks

 

[wilkinsonsails]

The Slipway is beside the Sandwich Trust building .There is a small drop of the bottom at low water (2’) so avoid it then .
Car parking can be a bit expensive too .

 

[Bigplumbs]

The Slipway is beside the Sandwich Trust building .There is a small drop of the bottom at low water (2’) so avoid it then .
Car parking can be a bit expensive too .

I think they have gotten all up to date and allow motorhome parking over night.

 

[harvey38]

Hello

We are hoping to take our small sid for a motor up or down the tidal river launching at Sandwich. I wonder if anyone on here has done much on that river and if it is very pretty nice. We will need to be near to High water I think to make it a little nicer.

I also assume that because it is tidal there are no special licences etc required for a 3.9 m boat with 10 hp outboard

A lot of pleasure boats use the Stour, an outfit with a few RIBS do a trip from Dover up the Stour to see the seals, not much else to see really. Personally I'd launch from Ramsgate, scoot up the Stour to Sandwich, mooch around there, back to Ramsgate, enjoy a few beers locally, enjoy a decent meal there and stay overnight.

 

[tillergirl]

Probably best to look at:

Sandwich Port and Haven | Cinque Port of Sandwich – A trust port managed by Sandwich Port and Haven Commissioners

 

[Bigplumbs]

A lot of pleasure boats use the Stour, an outfit with a few RIBS do a trip from Dover up the Stour to see the seals, not much else to see really. Personally I'd launch from Ramsgate, scoot up the Stour to Sandwich, mooch around there, back to Ramsgate, enjoy a few beers locally, enjoy a decent meal there and stay overnight.

Heck we are only in a small sib on this outing and staying in the Motorhome

 

[TheCoach]

Used to be a regular user in our 3.3 Frib until we moved last year.

Only public slip is the one you mention at Sandwich, parking is no probs and you can launch from trailer or by hand. (Slip is pretty slippy though for trailer launching so be careful.)

The real issue is the timing of the launch. As said earlier the slip is really only useable a couple of hours either side of high tide. The water level falls below the end of the concrete slip and creates a nasty edge, we go away with it on the Frib as it has a solid hull but wouldn't fancy on a Sib

Apart from that the river is lovely. It is quite tidal at the Sandwich end so if you can time with tidal flow it really helps. Tide slackens as you get further up river. There is a 8kn speed limit on the river so getting up to Grove Ferry (where there is a decent pub) will take you a few hours. You can actually navigate all the way to Fordwich along some really pretty river scenery, (the further you get from the early tidal stretches the nicer it gets)

If you don't want to go as far as Grover Ferry there is another good pub at Plucks Gutter about halfway there.

You can go the opposite way downriver towards Sandwich Bay which is a bit more industrial but also becomes a wide estuary basin which is quite interesting. Follow the marked channel though as it is quite twisty and shallow in places although in a small rib you have a fair bit if flexibility. The latest nav info together with a useful chart can be found here. You are guaranteed seeing seals as the estuary/river enters Sandwich Bay, there is a large and growing colony their, but once outside the estuary it is all a bit boring in a rib as it is just open water unless you are transiting to Ramsgate/Dover or fancy a trip to Goodwin Sands

Hope that helps, we spent a couple of years cutting our boating teeth on the Stour and loved it.

Cheers

TC

 

[Bigplumbs]

Used to be a regular user in our 3.3 Frib until we moved last year.

Only public slip is the one you mention at Sandwich, parking is no probs and you can launch from trailer or by hand. (Slip is pretty slippy though for trailer launching so be careful.)

The real issue is the timing of the launch. As said earlier the slip is really only useable a couple of hours either side of high tide. The water level falls below the end of the concrete slip and creates a nasty edge, we go away with it on the Frib as it has a solid hull but wouldn't fancy on a Sib

Apart from that the river is lovely. It is quite tidal at the Sandwich end so if you can time with tidal flow it really helps. Tide slackens as you get further up river. There is a 8kn speed limit on the river so getting up to Grove Ferry (where there is a decent pub) will take you a few hours. You can actually navigate all the way to Fordwich along some really pretty river scenery, (the further you get from the early tidal stretches the nicer it gets)

If you don't want to go as far as Grover Ferry there is another good pub at Plucks Gutter about halfway there.

You can go the opposite way downriver towards Sandwich Bay which is a bit more industrial but also becomes a wide estuary basin which is quite interesting. Follow the marked channel though as it is quite twisty and shallow in places although in a small rib you have a fair bit if flexibility. The latest nav info together with a useful chart can be found here. You are guaranteed seeing seals as the estuary/river enters Sandwich Bay, there is a large and growing colony their, but once outside the estuary it is all a bit boring in a rib as it is just open water unless you are transiting to Ramsgate/Dover or fancy a trip to Goodwin Sands

Hope that helps, we spent a couple of years cutting our boating teeth on the Stour and loved it.

Cheers

TC

Many thanks that is very useful information and helps a lot. We will certainly post how we get on on here.

 

[harvey38]

Heck we are only in a small sib on this outing and staying in the Motorhome

If it's a calm day, cross Pegwell, call up Ramsgate Port and drop by, plenty others do it in small RIBs?

 

[Bigplumbs]

If it's a calm day, cross Pegwell, call up Ramsgate Port and drop by, plenty others do it in small RIBs?

Her indoors would have a look on her face and then who would cook my tea............ Got to keep the natural ways alive