Thames trip

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Was thinking of heading north this bank holiday weekend from Ipswich, up to Lowestoft, but the tides are not are very friendly, and suggest that a southbound passage might be more sociable!

We have wondered about a trip up into central London to St Katherines....

Anyone got any advice on tidal times for best trip, any issues with flood barrier etc etc.... charts are all on the boat, so not had chance to look at them... i'll browse the almanac later....

And most of all.... is it worth the 40nm slog?

 

[Kristal]

As a yachtie permanently based in Central London, I would say it is probably NOT worth it - I frequently commute the boat between London and the East Coast and once did Woolverstone to London in one fell swoop. It is not something I'd want to repeat - it took close on 14 hours and it was very tiring. Two days, with a stopover at Queenborough, is really the best option. It's also a hard slog in the Thames, quite bleak out in Sea Reach, and often windless above the barrier. There is also a lot of traffic at weekends, and can be quite stressful. Once you arrive, St Kats, whilst very pretty, doesn't really offer much entertainment potential without spending a huge amount of cash - £3.50 a pint is quite usual in the Dickens Inn.

Sorry to sound so discouraging!! Do bear in mind, though, that I do it often and am getting rather bored with it, so my opinion is likely to be a result of mild jading. London does look lovely from the river, and if St Kats proves too much, I can heartily recommend Limehouse (whose lock operates a wider tidal windowk, incidentally) which has better pubs, more subtle views, and a very nice crowd.

But it's the getting there that is the killer, I would venture, and unless you'd plan to leave the boat there for a week, I suspect it's too much for a weekend.

/<

 

[Stemar]

Apart from hitting a 4ft standing wave under Westminster bridge, my abiding memory of a trip down the Thames is going below to get some sleep as we approached Canvey Island and getting up 4 hours later to find we were alongside Canvey Island. Didn't like that tide much!

 

[RMA]

I have just taken my boat from Burnham on Crouch to St Katherine’s and left it there for the kids to use as a floating pub. We took two days, stopping the night in Sharfleet Creek off the Medway. A lot of people stay at Queenborough but its not my favourite spot. We left Burnham two hours before low water and made use of the flood from the Whitaker round to the Medway, that’s about 35 miles and took about 6 hours, although we didn’t rush too much. An alternative, if its fairly calm, is to spend the night in Hadleigh Ray to the west of Southend Pier. You do need to set off for London at or soon after low water, the tides run hard in the river and you need the flood to get up there in reasonable time. We took our time and it took us about 5½ hours to get to St Katherine’s – the distance is about 35 miles again. High water at London Bridge is about 90 minutes after Southend.

The lower reaches of the river are not particularly pretty but I don’t go up there very much and find it all quite interesting. Once you get past Barking it starts to improve and just keeps getting better. Other shipping is not normally a problem but you do have to watch the river boats once you get past the Barrier – they seem to ignore yachts. If you listen to London VTS you will be aware of what is moving about on the river. Its all really quite straightforward.

I usually leave St Katherine’s at high water and go back to the Crouch in one hop, which normally takes about 11 or 12 hours for the 70 miles. I appreciate that it will be quite a bit further for you.

St Katherine’s is very good and the kids love it but the prices seem a lot higher than they were the last time I visited – nearly double by my reckoning so perhaps next time I will try Limehouse.

 

[Cotillion]

Depends if you are doing it for the sailing or a trip to London. If the first then I wouldn't bother if the latter then where else can a family stay in London for under forty quid a night.

Getting in to London isn't so bad on one tide. Getting out is another story as you are certain to get a stong foul tide before you get out.

Wouldn't have thought a bank holiday weekend would be long enough to make worthwhile.

Kim

 

[ZuidWester]

Why not Faversham or the Medway?

Why get stuck in St Catherines when you can enjoy the ancient town of Faversham? London is great, but you need time and tide, plus good weather in order to enjoy it.

 

[mainshiptom]

Re: Why not Faversham or the Medway?

You are welcome to drop in fav or even the swale or Harty ferry, We often anchor in the Swale and love it a lot, You can fish and watch seals and loads of lovely thames barges.

Tom

 

[dickh]

Re: Why not Faversham or the Medway?

I've done it on a couple of occasions but always stopped off at Queensborough. Time it so you get maximum use of the flood tide up the river. Agree St Kats is not so nice now so I'll try Limehouse next time - probably next year now. I've done it in a 20' bilge keeler(and got a b******* from the river police about being on the wrong side of the river) a 23' and a 27' boat. Look out for lots of flotsam and the waiting buoys outside St Kats can be a bit lumpy - and you may have to raft up.
Good experience though and you must do it at least once.

 

[SwedishLass]

Re: Why not Faversham or the Medway?

From the Colne in an old fashioned 26' boat St Katherines can be done in one tide but it is a struggle. You have to punch the tide down the Swin to reach Southend pier at low water ( this for me is the critical bit ) after that we usually end up motoring up the Thames with the flood. It is not an excercise in efficient sailing. Once there we stay for a week to recover and make the most of all the tourist sites. That is when it gets expensive! General concensus is 2 days there using tides break in Queenborough area.
May/June this year the weather going was something else...... http://www.hillgf.freeserve.co.uk/acboa/newsletter%200605.pdf