Up the Thames

[tarik]

Greetings


I want to sail up the Thames in the Spring, how far can I get without having to take the mast down?

Many thanks

David

 

[bdh198]

It all depends how high your mast is.

I have a Sailfish 18 with the top of its mast sitting 7.8 meters above the water. A few years ago I sailed her all the way up the Thames from the North Sea and comfortably sailed under every bridge all the way to Richmond. The first bridge that took a careful approach was Hammersmith, but if you check the tides you should have over 9 meters above chart datum. All the bridges on the tidal part of the Thames (except Hammersmith and the Richmond bridges) have over 10 meters clearance at chart datum.

Earlier this year I continued up the Thames from Teddington Lock to Windsor Lock, and to be honest unless you have a mast you can drop and raise easily you're best off leaving it off the boat and exploring by engine. The bridges (and power lines) up river from Teddington Lock suddenly get a lot lower, and they never seem to be more than than a mile apart.

 

[bdh198]

For the tidal Thames, The Port of London Authority website is a good place to get bridge height information: http://www.pla.co.uk/Safety/Thames-Bridges-Heights

For the non tidal Thames, one place to start is this page from the Environment Agency. However, be careful as they do not show other obstructions such as power lines (but also has useful lock information): https://www.gov.uk/guidance/river-thames-bridges-locks-and-facilities-for-boaters

 

[Plum]

Greetings


I want to sail up the Thames in the Spring, how far can I get without having to take the mast down?

Many thanks

David

St Katherine's dock/Marina just before tower bridge will probably be your limit unless your mast is very short.

Colin. Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[tarik]

Thanks for your replies. I should have said that I'll be sailing my Centaur.

David

 

[Twister_Ken]

There used to be a race from Ranelagh SC at Putney to The Tower of London. My Fireball mast got under all the bridges in between.

 

[mickyp168]

I used to sail dinghies on the upper Thames. One thing you need to consider in the spring and summer season are the large number of pleasure boats going up and down. Lots are holiday makers with not much idea of what they are doing. It makes sailing especially a fair sized boat not as agile as a dinghy difficult. Predominately you can run or broad reach down stream but have to tack up stream So if you get up that far its probably best to drop the mast and motor. Also I am not sure if you can anchor or have to use a mud weight like on the Broads.

 

[VicS]

Greetings


I want to sail up the Thames in the Spring, how far can I get without having to take the mast down?

Many thanks

David

Thanks for your replies. I should have said that I'll be sailing my Centaur.

David

Hammersmith will be your limit. You wont get under there even at MLWS.

It you have a VHF antenna you'll not get under Putney either.