Medway, Swale, C&B N Page 4

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The Tuesday Night Club on Tour

Tour 2001

Thames Estuary, Medway, Swale, Thames Estuary, Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, Thames Estuary and Tidal Thames to Brentford

4- Medway Estuary, Swale and Faversham Creek to Faversham.

Wednesday 2^nd May 2001

We entered Allington Lock at 07.30 and locked out at 07.38, around high water. The weather had not been very good in the NE blow department (gusts up to 20 knots at Sheerness!) and we were expecting a rather rough passage to get round the corner and into the Swale. It was our intention to get to Faversham that night, as the tides were favourable.
Uneventful trip down to Rochester. Medway Bridges passed at 09.15 and Rochester Bridge at 09.35. Some buoy timings as follows :- Medway No30 (I) – 10.05, Medway No 30 – 10.10, Medway No 28 – 10.15, Medway No 18 10.40. The last bit going round Queenborough Spit Cardinal Buoy (11.30) was very rough, probably the worse encountered.
Ian steered straight at it and at the moored ships at Sheerness, so as the turn would be somewhat in the lee. From Weathercall reports it was around 18 knots, NE. Thank God this was only for a short while until we turned into the Swale and came surfing in on it until sheltered. The Queenborough Yacht Club pontoon mooring only had one yacht on it and he had been helpful enough to moor right at the end.
We came in at some speed to get steerage and a quick centre rope bollard stop ensured that the yachts transom remained intact! This was at 11.45. JC had already obtained the “official” QYC charges for using their pontoon and the concrete barge centre channel. The concrete barge was £6 per night (but hardly ever enforced). The Pontoon was £25 per night and to get back IN to the auto security door, you had to by a 50p non returnable token. There was no charge levied on us for a daytime meal and wait the tide stop.
We had a nice pint and pub grub in the nearby pub (the House at Tides End? or summat like this!) Ian C also carried out his main reason for dropping off at Queenborough . . .a trip to the “Bosuns Stores” chandlery. Still in the window was the long range Seagull out board tank that Ian had been fantasising about, since he first lovingly saw it on our Medway / Swale Explo trip. Ian was disheartened to find that someone else had already been promised it, but that being in the window display, it was very difficult to extract. Ian and JC helped the old dear dismantle the display and for £25 the brass long range tank was Ian’s – he took it to bed every night and spent hours staring at its pristine condition.
Off we went on the start of flood at 14.55. Swale No5 Buoy – 15.15, Kingsferry Bridge – 15.40, Swale No 8 Buoy – 15.50, Swale No10 Buoy 16.25, Swale No 8 Buoy (other side!) – 16.35, Swale No 4 Buoy – 16.55. Just before the entrance to Conyer Creek a piece of old rubbish on a sand bank started moving, it ended up as pair of seals! At Harty Ferry a small fishing boat came whizzing up to us asking where were headed, as there was a 5ft swell out at the entrance to the Swale, we said that we would soon turn off to Faversham!
This soon followed at 18.00 and we rounded Faversham Spit Cardinal Buoy and headed up the Creek. Soon we came to the junction with Oare Creek and the amazing Shipwrights Arms pub, that is only reached by water or a tiny track across the marshes. At 19.00 we stopped on the dry dock barge at Iron Wharf Boatyard.
We were a bit in advance of the flood and had grounded a few times in the last stretch up to here. Neil wandered into town to check out the Town Wharf. It was empty and a 60ft narrowboat would have no trouble winding by it at around high water. We trickled up, winded and arrived (20.00) after checking the bottom (grid iron timbers, but unlikely to bottom as this bit dredged!) Good old Frank had started to prepare one of his specials – peppered steak casserole and very good it was too, washed down with some excellent ships Sicilian Syrah red wine. Poor old sods that we are we retired early again as we were knackered. This was just as well as we did not really know what was in store tomorrow.