Chris wrote:
> <MrAkcio@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:8c4f2dcf-b415-4866-8918-e6b6974374cf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Hi,
>
> I live in London near Canary Wharf and I'm interested in getting more
> into sailing, but I'm finding it difficult to identify somewhere
> within easy reach to do this.
>
> In people's experience, what's the best way to do regular sailing from
> London? I'm thinking about buying a small boat (e.g. 20 - 26ft) to
> build up experience in, but again I have no real idea where to keep
> it.
>
> I've looked into the option of sailing on the Thames, and the
> Greenwich Yacht Club is nearby, but from what I've heard the tide flow
> around central London is extremely strong and not great for sailing.
> However the location would mean it was very feasible for me to get out
> at will on weekends. I'm not sure what costs are like for this
> (mooring, club fees, thames river registration, etc). Also nearby
> there are a range of marinas (Limehose, Surrey Quays, Poplar, St
> Katherines) but these all seem somewhat expensive (c. £3,000 p.a.) and
> are more geared at either short-term stays or liveaboard barges /
> houseboats.
>
> As I don't have a car, anywhere outside of London needs to be readily
> accessible by public trans****t. Up to 90 minutes journey time would
> by okay, but really the shorter the better.
>
> My experience is fairly limited, I have an RYA Day Skipper
> certification with about 10 days of experience, as well as some
> experience of Dinghy sailing in lakes / docks. Specifically I'm
> interested in getting more yacht / keel boat experience rather than
> dinghy sailing. I occasionaly visit the Docklands Sailing and
> Waters****ts Centre which is nearby, but this is somewhat limited in
> scope (a small dock on which dinghy's can be sailed round in circles).
>
> Any suggestions / thoughts / comments would be very welcome.
>
> Regards,
> GC
>
>
> The Thames downstream of London has erratic winds partly due to the
> topography effects of buildings and river, the water is subject to the
> effect of river current flow, tidal streams and wash from large
> vessels. There are obvious disadvantages but also benefits. The
> water is sheltered enough to permit sailing in all but the most severe
> weather, there is little fetch so wave height is limited, if there is
> little or no wind you can make significant progress under sail by the
> intelligent use of tidal flow which generates enough relative wind to
> steer a reasonably responsive boat around downtide hazards with a
> little forethought. There are always lots of interesting things to
> see and places to stop and visit making even a modest trip enjoyable.
>
> Regarding moorings and sailing base I personally feel from what you
> say that your best bet would be to go along to Greenwich YC and talk
> to them about member****p and moorings. It is a few years since I used
> to visit them regularly but they were always very welcoming, friendly
> and helpful. It would also present an op****tunity, maybe, to do some
> casual crewing for members to get to know the water better before
> committing to purchase of your own boat. Further downstream is Erith
> YC on the South bank who have a very active member****p and Thurrock
> YC, a friendly club with good facilites, on the North bank just
> upstream of TIlbury and a short walk from Grays railway station.
>
>
> Chris
Both Burnham on Crouch and Chatham on the River Medway are reasonably
accessable by puiblic trans****t from docklands. In Burnham, the marina
is 5 minutes walk from the station and in Chatham the MDL Chatham
Maritime marina is about 10 minutes by bus from the train station.
The reason I am suggesting two marinas so far from London is 1. No Car =
No way of trans****ting an outboard or oars so a swinging mooring
without a launch service isn't really pratical, 2. The further you are
up the Thames, the greater part of your sailing time you waste getting
down river to decent water to sail on and back again and 3. both marinas
mentioned have 24 hour acesss for smaller yachts (With a 40 footer one
would want to avoid trying to enter at low water springs) so you can
spend more time sailing.
Both are around the £2000 per annum mark for a 25' boat, Burnham is a
bit pricier but has various sup****t facilities and a chandler on-site
and Chatham has the price kept down by the proximity of a building site,
but is about 15 minutes walk from the nearest chandler and has no
on-site technical sservices (which means they *DONT* charge you 10% of
the invoice if you bring in a contractor)
Is 'dont have a car' actually dont drive? If not, you can be *slightly*
more flexable as you can hire one to get the kit down to the boat
beginning of season and back at the end. Otherwise you are really
limiting yourself to yards/moorings/marinas with workshop sup****t
within walking distance and you'll end up leaving a lot of gear on the
boat that would be better taken home over the winter.
Somewhere else to consider is Galleons Point Marina in docklands (Its
just below the Wollwich Ferry). Its *slightly* over five minutes walk
from the nearest DLR station and its quite affordable last time I
checked. The disadvantage is you have to pay a PLA locking fee whenever
you go in or out and depending on draft, you wont be able to get in for
an hour or two either side of low water.
For the Thames below Teddington there are NO LICENCE FEES for private
leasure craft. On both the River Crouch and the River Medway, one has
to buy a river licence if your boat is more than an occasional visitor.
I think Chris is giving you good advice to join a local club. The
Thames is very busy and is difficult water for anyone with limited
experiance to sail on ubtill they know it thouroughly. At least if you
crew for some local skippers you can get to know the thames safely and
you will also be able to ask an experianced member to help you examine
any boat you are considering to eliminate the real lemons. (Once you
*have* decided on a particular boat, a survey is advisable on anything
worth over a few thousand to give you a list of what needs fixing, make
it possible to get more than third party insurance and make sure there
are no serious problems you + your friend may not have noticed)
Take your time over looking for your own boat, dont rush into buying the
first one that catches your eye. Meanwhile, GO SAILING!
|
