Sail a ~22ft crusier in proximity of London

[newsailor]

Hi All,

me and my wife (both mid 20s) are fairly new to sailing and have so far mostly sailed on friends & familiy's boats or small charters with a group of friends.
We are now taking the RYA competent crew and Day Skipper in order to get some more "structured" training and learn the ropes of navigation, etc.

While completing these courses this year we plan to gain some more practical experience on friends' boat. We are then looking to buy a small cruiser at the beginning of next year on a relatively small budget (<£5k) and be out on the water pretty much every weekend. We were thinking of a Hurley 22 or something similar, i.e. solid and safe boat which can take a bit of wind without too much trouble.

Now, our main "problem" is that we are living in central London and due to jobs will not be able to move in the near future. We are therefore looking for a sailing area which is easily reachable via car / train within 2-3 hours so we can set out Friday afternoon and be back Sunday night in most weeks. (We are both not from the UK so have some Ideas of where to look but not really aware where the best places for beginners would be).

A marina / yacht club where we could meet other people and learn more would be great + some possinbility of getting the boat out of the water in the winter and store it somewhere closeby. Mooring costs are not that relevant at the moment unless the differences are massive.

Any other useful comments would be very much welcome. I found this Forum already very, very useful for getting some ideas about possible boats and how to go about it.

If there is any important information that I forgot to mention please let me know.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Litotes]

If you are willing to travel for 2 - 3 hours you have plenty of choice.

With a small, shallow draft boat, I would suggest the Essex rivers. Lost of sheltered water, plenty of places to go within reasonable distances of each other and a friendly atmosphere - much less "pressured" or crowded than the other obvious choice, which is the Solent. There is plenty of sailing all along the south coast, but if you are based outside the Solent there isn't much choice of destinations for weekend sailing.

The thing to watch out for on the east coast is the tide. In order to make the most of weekend sailing, you would need to keep the boat in a place that was accessible at all (or most) states of tide. That could mean an all tide mooring at a place like West Mersea on the Blackwater (where there is an excellent launch service to get you to and from the boat) or a pontoon berth in a harbour like Brightlingsea on the Colne, or in a marina like Titchmarsh (Walton Backwaters) or Levington (Orwell) I would avoid any marina where the tide runs through the pontoons, though, as this can make coming and going very tricky.

The Crouch also offers good marina facilities at Burnham and further up the river. However, that river is a bit more restricting for cruising. In order to leave it, you either have to work the tides in order to go through a channel through the sands to the north or across the sands (at high water) for the south. Otherwise it's a ten mile haul to the east before you can go anywhere.

The north coast of Kent is another possibility. The Medway offers quite a varied sailing ground and the Swale is delightful. It is quite easy to reach the Essex rivers from there, although the passage across the Thames Estuary needs care. The same caveats about tides apply. Indeed, if you do choose that part of the world you will soon become used to being "tide aware" as pretty much everything you do will be influenced by the state and direction of the tide. Good seamanship practice!

The Hurley, if you can get one, would be a good choice of boat. Best of luck to you!

 

[VicS]

From Central London you can go in almost any direction but

Via E or NE London look at the Essex rivers and perhaps as far as Ipswich, That would be good for train travel but anywhere close to Ipswich station will be expensive.

Via SE London look at the N Kent coast. And the Medway estuary. Gravesend is the closest to London I personally would consider. Good little club there but you cant really call the old canal basin a marina. Walking dist of the station though.

Gillingham Marina has a tidal basin as well as the posh locked bit. Varoious others in the same sort of area None really close to stations AFAIK.

Other parts of the Kent coast probably a bit too far ( Ramsgate, Dover etc)

Via South London the Sussex coast incl Eastbourne and Brighton and along to Chichester. Eastbourne a bit too far though.

Via SW London any part of the Solent area is within reach.

Avoid travelling on the M25 if you can esp on weekdays.

I have known people travel from Essex and even Yorkshire to Chichester. I currently know someone who travels from near Shrewsbury to Chichester.

Steer clear of Chichester .... Too popular, overcrowded anchorages, to many mobos and dinghy racing fleets, expensive mooring and marinas, incredibly shallow and dangerous entrance

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

I'd suggest considering contacting Thurrock Yacht Club, they are a few minutes walk from Grays railway station, have an active membership and are nice people. They will know about potential moorings in the area. Failing that, I'd second the Medway area suggestions but be prepared to cab from/to the station. You will be wanting a serious mainline station for Sunday evening services rather than hoping some branchline keeps going after 6pm.

 

[DJE]

Benfleet Yacht Club?
Close to mainline station but very tidal.

 

[Twister_Ken]

If you're serious about taking the train, S. Coast places where stations are almost on top of moorings are Portsmouth Harbour (take the foot ferry to Gosport for any of the Gosport marinae) and Lymington - change at Brockenhurst. If you don't mind adding in a cheapish taxi ride, Southampton International gets you to the Hamble, and Havant gets you to Emsworth, Northney, etc, in Chichester Harbour. If you want to add in a club, the RAFYC on the Hamble is friendly towards newcomers and so is (was, anyway) Lymington Town SC.

 

[jhr]

............and so is (was, anyway) Lymington Town SC.

Seemed OK to me last time I was in there. The Cruising Captain is a bit of a fright but you can't have everything

 

[Twister_Ken]

Seemed OK to me last time I was in there. The Cruising Captain is a bit of a fright but you can't have everything

Is it still that big feller who ate all the Fray Bentos?

 

[jhr]

'Fraid so.

 

[elton]

There's a sailing school near the Victoria Dock. They've got a fleet of a dozen or so 20 footers (or thereabouts) they use for training, just behind the Crowne Plaza hotel.

 

[Judders]

As mentioned above, it really does depend which bit of London you are in and how you prefer to travel. If you are in Clapham (for example) then it's very easy to get to a number of places by train, similarly if you are in Stratford then Burnham-on-Crocuh might be the place.

Get down there and try them out.

Is the 22' a very sensible size issue or is it a budget issue too? This can seriously affect your choice of home port.

Having done exactly what you're doing, I would strongly suggest getting that two to three hours down to an hour and a half (again, this depends where you live). If you are going to be ona budget then you will have enough factors of weather and tide and that extra hour and a half might buy you far more than ninety minutes extra sailing.

 

[newsailor]

Thanks for the many suggestions.
Thats gives us a very good starting list and I agree, 3 hours is likely to much. But after a quick check I found that there are several cities within 1-1.5 hours reach East of London with train stattions very close to potential sailing clubs.

The Medway area appears to be quite attractive from several points of view so I assume we will use this as a starting point.

Thanks a lot again everyone!

 

[sighmoon]

We tried joining Thurrock Yacht Club but were put off by the club's joining process - the commodore had to inspect our boat to see if it was worthy of their establishment. THe membership dues subsidised the bar at the time, which is the wrong way round to me, but if that's what you like... We chose not to join, but did get some fireworks fired at us from the sink estate nearby.

We did a couple of superb years of sailing from Greenwich yacht club. The club has superb facilities (club house is a glass box over the river). There's a sainsbury's 5 mins walk away, and it's cheap - a drying mooring was £200 for the year, plus £55 or so for membership. Very friendly too, and you'll get lots of advice if you ask for it. somebody gave me a mast when I mentioned mine was looking ropy. It is a 'corinthian' club though, meaning you have to do an annual duty, but it's a good way to meet people.

On a small boat, if you can lower the mast yourself, you can go all the way up the Thames to Teddington. Getting out to sea is 6 hours or so under engine, so maybe a year is enough, but it's nice to go to the boat in the evenings sometimes too.

Another option is PLA moorings. Give them a call, and chat about your requirements; they were helpful. Our boat (similar size) was quoted at about £500 per year.

 

[Vid]

Second vote for Greenwich Yacht Club - a short walk from North Greenwich on the Jubilee line. Probably the best sailing venue within London itself - a great dinghy section, a strong cruiser class, with superb facilities and low costs. Come along on a Tuesday evening when it's an open club night for visitors. New members welcome. Most of the boats owned and raced there are in the 20-30ft range, all old, all sailed enthusiastically. The Thames between Greenwich and Gravesend is a much more interesting place to sail than many realise.

 

[gregmlucas]

If you're serious about taking the train, S. Coast places where stations are almost on top of moorings are Portsmouth Harbour (take the foot ferry to Gosport for any of the Gosport marinae) and Lymington...

There is also Port Solent - which is about a 25 minute walk along the waterfront from Portchester station (South West trains from Waterloo). Also has a nice range of restaurants plus gym and cinema so if you get down here and the weather's not as good as you'd hoped - there should be enough to do to make the weekend trip worthwhile.

Greg

 

[idw]

I'm in exactly the same position and have chosen to keep the boat down in Poole, which happens to be near family. Has the potential for lots of good sailing of the sort I'd enjoy and only 2-3 hours (depending when you travel) from Waterloo or Victoria Coach Station.

It hasn't hurt that the weather is better on the south coast and Poole's a nice town, which I think is partly why my girlfriend has decided she likes the boat, but also the feeling of getting out of london at a weekend is really relaxing.

If you'd enjoy sailing the Thames, Erith YC looked pretty tempting—40 minutes out of Charing Cross.

As you're on a tight budget, don't forget travel. Coach fares can be really cheap, get the young person's railcard if you can and renew it just before your 25th birthday (or for 3 years before your 24th). I find you don't notice the journey time if you've got a good book and are tired and happy.

 

[newsailor]

Thanks again to everyone for the good suggestions.
Some of the option on the Thames look tempting. I will definitely go and take a look at some, just go get a feeling for whether I would like to sail on the Thames. I am not quite sure whether that appeals to me or more open sea is more interesting...

One possibility however for me seems to do some dinghy sailing on the Thames to practice skills and just for fun, whereas having a cruiser seems to be better option for the coast.

Just as a follow-up question: The area around Gillingham seems to be a reasonable compromise. In quick reach of London, sheltered, but easy access to the open Sea.
How tidal is the area? from google maps it appears to be about ~10km to the open sea. Does this area dry out completely? Also, once you leave this sheltered area (sorry, don't know the names), you can either turn north across the Thames estuary (I assume very busy shipping lane) or south along the coast. Is that stretch along the south coast a reasonably "easy" territory?

And another unrelated question: If I choose a maring / sailing club with a swing mooring, how would I be able to get electricity? For having some light in the evening I assume the battery will do and can be charged through the motor now and then. But what about carrying out some work on the boat for which electricity is needed without getting it out of the water?

Thanks a lot guys - amazed how helpful everyone is! Really appreciate it!

 

[Twister_Ken]

"But what about carrying out some work on the boat for which electricity is needed without getting it out of the water?"

Park in a marina for the duration.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

>>>
But what about carrying out some work on the boat for which electricity is needed without getting it out of the water?
>>>

Modern battery tools last pretty well for most jobs around the boat, but ofc polishing or similar are still a mains job. There is the generator option or as above, local marina. There is lots of fun to be had in the Mudway estuary and plenty of places to go and overnight without ever being too far away from anywhere. Good pubs dotted about too. The main river from Rochester to the mouth will always float your boat and is used by big ships from Sheerness and the power station, with smaller ones coming as far as Rochester Bridge (but still lots bigger than you) After all, battelships/battlecruisers used to get to Chatham. The Swale is also used by smaller ships but the little creeks are all ours, and that does come down to working the tides.

Mind the masts awash at the mouth of the Medway, crash into them and you could be (maybe posthumously) very well known as the folk who solved the problem of Sheppey

 

[sighmoon]

One possibility however for me seems to do some dinghy sailing on the Thames to practice skills and just for fun, whereas having a cruiser seems to be better option for the coast.

If you join Greenwich Yacht Club, they have club boats you can use.

There are also council run places. I sailed a bit in the one in Millwall dock (so not really the Thames, but nearly) - quite laid back; let me take the 2 year old out (which others didn't) but the boats were very ropy. £12 or so per hour