The season is started... and with a bang!
Morgana was lifted on a Friday.. I went down solo, and by Sunday evening after 2 days of backbreaking effort she was antifouled and polished, and ready to go back... so just 48 hrs out of the water.... not bad!
And the following Friday we all troop down to the boat with a special trip in mind... yes, we're off to London!
The trip has been long planned and is in company with 'The Tinkles'... more on that name later
The plan all along has been to set off on Saturday morning and initially head over to Chatham... the wind howling in the rigging Friday night not sounding great though... so it is with some pleasure that we awoke Saturday morning to find it having dropped considerably to perhaps 16 to 20 kts... so off we set...
It was to prove an uneventful journey... with the wind largely on the nose, there was far too much motoring, and it could certainly be described as 'chilly'.... I helmed most of the way, and despite several layers of clothing, including thermals, I wasn't overly warm...
On the upside, it was interesting to enter the Medway... especially as we passed the sunken remains of the Richard Montgomery, which still contains a huge amount of explosives, and has several weed festooned masts eerily poking out of the water... the Medway itself is an unattractive river for much of its initial few miles, being surrounded by mud, upon which are deposited a wide range of ugly industrial landscapes from power generation to grain production... not much to appeal really.... and then suddenly, its character changes as you reach Gillingham, and it becomes much prettier... we motor all the way up the river to Chatham where we lock in uneventfully.... 48nm... a good start
The following day is spent at the Chatham dockyards, a very well presented tourist attraction that gives you a fascinating insight into the production of wooden ships in the great age of sail.... of particular interest to myself was the RNLI exhibit... it is truly hard to conceive the bravery of the early rescuers when you look at the open deck rowing boats that were used....
Sunday evening, we decide to set ourselves up for the trip up the Thames and so a lock out of Chatham into lighter winds (still cold), and we move the boats down to the Visitor mooring at Queenborough.... its a pleasant enough location, quiet, but industrial... we are charged for the night which I don't mind at all... but £9 seems a bit steep...
Monday dawns to be the day... no more than 15kts... but freezing cold still... and yes... bang on the nose... mind you, the Thames wanders so much that no direction really works...
We make our way out of the Medway, and turn left up the Thames.... where within 10 minutes we were visited by a black rib loaded with Thames river police... just a series of polite questions called across, and we were on our way... good to see that care is being taken frankly...
WE carry on plugging away, with the sails out, then away again, then out again... the wind remains stubbornly well forward of the beam... but its not the end of the world... we have plenty of new views to take in... mainly industrial for the first good few miles, with the odd interesting bit, but not a lot to draw particular enthusiasm, until the Dartford Crossing, or the QE2 bridge if you prefer.... what a treat to sail underneath after years of queuing patiently on the bridge above as the M25 plays its usual tricks!.... at this point we are reminded that we are motoring up a rover into the centre of one of the worlds great cities, as we hit a ladder floating in the water!
No harm done, we carry on... after what seems like an age of endless dull docks, modern warehouses and run down river fronting yards, we approach Gallions Reach... and suddenly the character changes... it is here that you feel like you are entering London. The property changes to residential anc commercial, the industrial stuff fading away, and then the Thames flood barrier appears.... we radio up, and are given permission to pass through the massive structure designed to protect the homes and workplaces of 8 million people from flooding...
Mr Tinkles is not far behind us.... Alan's glum observations about the boat name he has inherited are proved true as the barrier control ask him to repeat the boat name 4 times with a tone of glee!
And then we pass various grand sights.... the Greenwich Naval college and observatory, along with the Greenwich meridian... the O2 Dome.... and suddenly we round the corner, and there it is ahead of us... Tower bridge.... we are there...
We grab a bouy outside of St Katharines dock to wait for the tide... it is coming in slowly today... and at 0.5m below prediction, we are over an hour late locking in... which is also a protracted effort... we are in the lock for an hour!
Eventually, the inner gates open and let us into a haven of tranquility... here in central London... its hard to believe that this is in London... a peaceful pretty dock.... we tie up right outside the beautiful Dickens Inn, a wooden buidling dating from the time of its namesake, and all draped in spring flowers, and to the otherside a glimpse through the buidling at Tower Bridge..... what a great place!
Miles logged 100nm
Miles this season 100nm
Miles since this blog started 4,680nm
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