An Unofficial East Coast Cruise with Greenwich Yacht Club August 2020
In the absence of an official Greenwich Yacht Club East Coast Cruise due to Covid 19 protocols, a hardy group of sailors ventured out 'unofficially', but suitably distanced, on what turned out to be a rewarding if stormy week in mid August. It was, as always, a pleasure to sail in company and meet at anchorages and harbours along the way; this time more anchoring than usual, perhaps to better distance ourselves, perhaps because it is so satisfying to drop the hook in quiet places and watch the sunset. Looking back at my previous posts I see a lot of sunset photographs, so only the best in future!
The first half of this year seems to have just been swallowed up by horrible circumstance but at last we can go sailing and it is a tonic to see big skies and distant horizons again. This trip it's been big winds and bigger seas than Snow Goose has seen on our previous estuary ramblings. The boat performed excellently throughout, she is tough and steady and sails well with a bit of wind – she definitely has a preferred area of wind speeds, 12 to 17 knots, perhaps all boats do.
This trip I had the bonus of the company of my son Zephyr, who despite not having much cruising experience is a natural sailor, perhaps due to his long experience of that thoroughly intuitive kind of sailing, windsurfing.
Day 1 Gillingham to Queenborough
No wind to speak of at the start of this short journey down the Medway but rising to around 9 knots as we went and despite being a rather grisly afternoon it was somehow atmospheric to begin our week under the grey tones of wide Medway water and sky. We joined the catamaran Tiger Lily at Queenborough, and five boats eventually rafted up on the (appropriately) grey visitor buoy as we were joined by Eos, Lena and Aeolus. The sixth boat Caroline V opted to anchor in nearby Stangate Creek. A convivial evening of mild social distancing made quite natural by the cockpit spacings of rafted boats.
Day 2 Queenborough to Harty Ferry
With the forecast suggesting better wind the following day friendly consensus decision making led us not to cross the Thames Estuary for a day and instead make our way to Harty Ferry in the Swale via the Kingsferry Bridge. With little or no wind we made sedate progress processing up the Swale to the bridge and went through after only a short wait. This lifting bridge which carries a road and railway line and used to be the only way to get to the Isle of Sheppey is now dwarfed by the newer road bridge which sails over the landscape and can be seen for miles. The older lifting bridge is a noble affair, like an ancient Egyptian gateway with its huge tapering concrete bastions, we slink through to a different world beyond. From here after passing leviathan factories served by working wharves and various industrial ruins the Swale opens up to become a wide and peaceful body of water. The deep(er) water channel is narrow though and you had to concentrate on not wandering from the buoyed route. After anchoring at Harty Ferry for a few hours we decided to go on a seal hunt and potter downstream in a downpour to admire the colony of Grey Seals. Such relaxed animals, about 20 lolling bodies watch us watching them - Very rewarding especially returning to a beautiful evening on the anchorage, to enjoy the best of this excellent spot.
Day 3 Harty Ferry to Brightlingsea
A long crossing, wind all over the place and what wind there was, seldom more than 5 knots. So we motored with only an hour's sail in the middle of the journey in a sudden quite vigorous squall. Of course we put on our waterproofs just too late and got thoroughly wet clambering into salopettes et al. We pass within a few hundred meters of the gaunt and eerie Red Sands Forts. Great skies all day with shower laden clouds parading around. We arrived into Brightlingsea in time pick up a berth among the other GYC boats which had somehow all got ahead of us - I think we motor at about 3.5 knots at engine speed of around 1200 rpm. We could go faster but at 1500 rpm the engine uses noticeably more fuel. As it turned out this trip involved much more motoring than usual and more searching for fuel at the various stopping points.
Day 4 Brightlingsea to West Mersey
Suddenly it's windy and the GYC fleet decide to stay put in Brightlingsea for another night. So not wishing to miss out on some good sailing we opt to head out and sail up to West Mersey. A good decision – after a choppy start in the mouth of the Colne we head west on a fine strong wind beat into the Blackwater to West Mersey. Sun, spray over the bow and gusty winds up to about 20 knots make sailing a real pleasure - judging when we are pinching too much and whether to come off the wind a degree or two to speed up and only getting it right towards the end of the afternoon. We could have got there sooner if we had sailed a little freer - next time. As it was we came into West Mersey in good time and were assigned a space far enough into the river for a peaceful night on a buoy. Interestingly at high water these moorings are a lot more exposed, no longer having the shelter of the river banks, and at this point a swell came in from the estuary to remind us that it really was quite rough out there.
Day 5 West Mersey
Time for a rest day and some essential shopping - diesel. We blow up the tiny tender and the newly serviced, smooth running outboard takes us through the chop to the town jetty where various notices tell you that its closed and not to moor to it which is a bit strange. But the West Mersey welcome turns out to be very good indeed - a short conversation on the shore with a sailing family revealed that it is a couple of mile walk to the nearest fuel, but brilliantly and generously they lent us bicycles and we had an enjoyable ride through the town. Quiet, quaint even West Mersey is Essex vernacular at its best, now the home of this boaty community. As it happens it only occurred to us when safely back on board Snow Goose that one of the bags we had used to carry the fuel belonged to the kind people who lent us bicycles and worse still at the bottom of the bag was a posh waterproof jacket. So back in the tender through the windy chop to the shore and up the street to their house to give it back– they hadn’t yet missed it. In amongst all this coming and going we had time a fine lunch of oysters and chips - as you do in West Mersey.
Day 6 West Mersey to Harty Ferry
Wind Westerly and South westerly 0 rising to 20-30 knots through the day
Setting off at 0700 proved too late for the tide gates and this became a long day as a result. It started well though with an enjoyable sail until midday as the wind built in the south west and until it was on the nose. We reached the Spitway, obligatory crossing point that all boats must pass through on their way north or south, slowed in the last hour by the tide rising against us. After the Whitaker Beacon we head south sailing closer and closer to the wind as the route inevitably forced us more and more into the south west. The wind rose to 20-30 knots and with a wind over tide choppy sea progress was slow until eventually the tide turned and the going became tougher still with wind and tide against us. Motor sailing and tacking into the funnel of the Thames estuary in this big chop was hard but at least picturesque in sunlight and fine cloudscape. But eventually it got too difficult to make worthwhile progress and I toyed with the idea of going straight on into Sheerness and the Medway for the night. However it soon became clear that although we were equidistant from Sheerness or the Swale, continuing to head west was going to be really slow and tough going too. So I decided to go, as planned, into the Eastern Swale to Harty Ferry for the night and then on to Queenborough the next day. We crabbed across to the Sheppey side trying to get under the shelter of the cliffs and out of the worst of the sea. This was a long slog but eventually paid off and we were able to go eastwards along the Sheppey coast with the tide for a bit in relative shelter and in a fine evening. The last long motor into the eastern Swale was indeed long with a vigorous spring tide against us. But we got there and came in past the seal colony watching us comfortably from their shiny mudbank. We anchored up tucked in close to the south shore at Harty Ferry for shelter in preparation for a windy night. Anchoring here is a bit tricky as the bottom is quite steeply shelving but it held OK and proved much more comfortable than the North side would have been. Phew – a long day indeed. Lesson: Plan more carefully. We should have set out at least an hour earlier to get to the Spitway before the tide turned and then pressed on into the Thames Estuary ahead of the next turn of the tide – working with the tide not against it. This is lore in the estuary and I’ve crossed it often enough to know it! We would have got in two to three hours earlier had I planned it better. Never mind the sea sparkled, the skies were great and it was a good experience. As always the boat behaved as solid and strong as ever.
Day 7 Harty Ferry to Queenborough
Wind Westerly 20 to 40(!) knots
As predicted, the wind had got up in the night and in the morning was blowing hard even at our sheltered anchorage. However the anchor had held and we set off up the Swale at 11.00 with a very strong wind kicking up white horses and making windward progress tough motoring even with the tide. Spectacular conditions for an effectively inland waterway. We were pleased not to be going round the outside of the Isle of Sheppey that day. We finally arrived at the Kings Ferry Bridge and after a discussion with the bridge elf (I hasten not to say troll) about all the problems of engineering and trains etc were allowed through quite quickly. Actually he was friendly and well meaning and we shot through to a windy mooring in Queenborough and a rest.
Using the Swale to get back to Queenborough proved essential. We would have had a difficult time using the other route and might even have had to turn back, so all in all a good outcome.
Day 8 Queenborough to Gillingham
Wind Westerly 20-37 knots
More tough conditions but a bright sunny morning and actually a very enjoyable motor sailing beat up the Medway in a metre of wind over tide chop. With a reefed main only we were able to tack up river reasonably easily, skilfully helmed by Zephyr all the way. We arrived at Gillingham Marina to the usual steep rise in temperature in the sheltered marina basin and a calm lunch on board before packing up.
This was a week of headwinds, not a single day of down wind sailing or even broad reaching, just beating. And considerably more motoring than I am used to. But for all that we enjoyed it very much. We were sorry to leave the GYC fleet at Brighlingsea but got more sailing as a result and importantly we got back across the estuary before the wind became too strong to cross in our intended time away. A lovely week.