Sailing the shipping forecast: Unlocking the secrets of the Thames

Beyond the shifting sands and windfarms lies a cruiser's paradise. From London’s heart to Suffolk’s quiet mudflats, discover the magic

The Thames sea area extends from the northeast corner of Norfolk to the Kent coast at Deal and across to the continental coast between Petten in North Holland and Oostende in Belgium.

To the uninitiated, the whole of the area may seem characterised by shoal water, shifting sandbanks, windfarm developments, busy shipping routes, significant tidal streams and short, steep and uncomfortable seas. However, to those who know it better, it is a wonderful and varied cruising ground in relatively protected waters, with a multitude of harbours and anchorages.

On the English coast there is a whole series of rivers and creeks to be explored, necessitating only brief excursions out into the Thames estuary. The mightiest of the rivers is, of course, the Thames itself. A passage up the Thames is a passage through time into the heart of London.

Crossings of the Thames Estuary are totally dominated by the currents and the shallows.

In poor visibility or with strong wind against tide it can, indeed, become pretty unpleasant. But prevailing winds are off the land and inside the protecting shoals swell is minimal. The currents can be harnessed in your favour, flooding southwest towards London or Dover and ebbing north-eastwards.

The continental coast is less indented but gives access to a maze of interconnected inland waterways, including mast-up routes from the Schelde northwards all the way to Delfzijl on the Eems, and southwards to Gent or Antwerp and Brussels. In Belgium there is a mast-up canal linking Zeebrugge to Brugge.

Following a very early start, The Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club at Lowestoft had seemed a good place to pause to celebrate being back in our home waters of the Thames shipping area. A call to Lowestoft Port Control had reassured us through the blind corner at the entrance, and the Royal Norfolk Harbourmaster had helped us to tie up on one of the finger berths.

Showers and a good meal in the clubhouse soon restored our sense of equilibrium.

The following morning, we motored out at low water, taking care not to cut any corners between the buoys marking the sands. Past East Barnard the wind began to fill from the northeast and we were soon ghosting southwards with mainsail and cruising chute.

With the flood under us, we hastened past the lighthouse and beach huts of Southwold. Soon, Sizewell power station loomed large from the gentle green landscape around it. Off Thorpeness, the wind veered more easterly and we switched back to our genoa to hold the angle. Close along the outside of Aldeburgh Ridge, a small daysailer stole a march on us down the inside of the shoal, but past Orford Ness, now bereft of its lighthouse, we freed off again and overtook them.

At the Orford Haven buoy the daysailer turned in towards Shingle Street and then headed up the Ore.

It was tempting to follow them up to Orford.

Tinfish is too big for the visitor moorings there, but we’ve had many tranquil nights at anchor in Short Gull. It’s only a slightly longer dinghy ride to Orford Quay, the Jolly Sailor pub, and delicious Pinneys smoked fish.

With enough of the flood still to make it, the smaller boat might be going on up to Aldeburgh or even all the way to Snape. Aldeburgh visitor buoys are another favourite spot for Tinfish, and a walk up the beachfront to the Scallop sculpture and back is well rewarded with fish and chips. With shallow enough draught, it’s a great adventure to follow the withies up to Snape Maltings on the tide.

Only a few miles more down the coast and now the temptation to turn into the Deben. Like the Ore, it’s essential to have the most recent, seasonal chartlet for the entrance here. Electronic charts take a while to catch up and it is amazing to witness the effect these entrances have on dedicated screen junkies.

We’ll have downloaded the Imray chartlet and we’ll be following the actual, seasonally laid, buoys. But on the screen we might, apparently, be sailing straight into a solid green drying bank. It’s unnerving to the first timer, but it’s worth it – there is magic within.

The moorings at the Ramsholt Arms are a popular spot. We usually go a bit further up and anchor at The Rocks under Ramsholt Cliff, then stretch our legs back down to the pub from there. We’re too big for the visitor moorings at Waldringfield, where there’s another busy pub, but we sometimes anchor just above them. All the way up to the Tide Mill at Woodbridge is too tidally restricted for us over a weekend, but with more time, try to be there close enough to springs to have enough water over the cill to stay a day or two. Especially for visiting Sutton Hoo.

But we were homeward bound, so on we pressed on into Harwich past Landguard Point, keeping a good lookout for shipping in the channel. We were running out of tide, but with the wind veering south of east we carried on past Halfpenny Pier and up the Stour.

We anchored south of the channel in Copperas Bay. Here, at last, we cracked open the beers gifted a few days previously by the lovely members of the Humber Cruising Association. We gazed over the rolling pastures along our most familiar and lovely shoreline and savoured the completion of our Round Britain.

Tomorrow would bring a return to our mooring under the woodland on the Orwell. Then convergence with normality on the muddy hard at Pin Mill where we would unload the dinghy amidst the bustle of visitors to the Butt & Oyster.

As with any prolonged voyage, we felt the time warp that we had sailed all the way around Britain yet seemed to have set out only yesterday. It seemed no time at all since we had dropped the mooring and taken the last of the ebb downriver and out past the cranes of Felixstowe.

That morning had dawned crisp but bright and we ran out across the Thames Estuary under just our genoa in a fresh wind from the north-northwest.

Our course was set towards Ramsgate, but to starboard were all the places that we sail to so often at weekends or for summer weeks.

The Walton Backwaters have been a favourite since the children were small. We would anchor at Stone Point and go ashore to play – jumping into the water off the steep-edged shingle or ‘splatching’ in the mud patch that lagoons for a while at high tide. Inspired by Ransome’s Secret Water we circumnavigated the island in dinghies and explored in kayaks.

We walked the long way up to the Naze Tower, or cheated in dinghies up to Walton and Frinton Yacht Club and into town for ice creams. Even now, the Backwaters sunsets always seem sublime and the calls of the oystercatchers aid the transition into relaxation. Just one night there always feels like a chance to recharge.

On down the coast, past the Naze and along the Wallet inside Gunfleet Sands and windfarm, the anchorage at the entrance to Pyefleet Creek on the Colne is another place for swimming and walks ashore, just a dinghy ride from the bustle of Brightlingsea.

It’s one of the spots where Thames barges and other sailing workboats gather. The usually stately progress of the barges is a common sight around the Thames Estuary and rivers.

In racing mode they reveal their magnificence, thundering past under full sail.

From Pyefleet we might potter across Mersea Flats to the other end of Mersea Island and pick up a mooring at West Mersea. Ashore, a barefoot feel with everyone in holiday mode. Or we might sail up the Blackwater to anchor at Osea Island – often a beat but helped by the tide.

Further up the Blackwater is Heybridge Basin where you can lock in. For a proper dose of sailing barges, a quick pit stop on the visitor pontoon at the historic Hythe Quay in Maldon is possible over high tide, or a longer stay for boats that are happy to sit alongside in the mud.

Passages between the Blackwater and the Crouch need a bit more passage planning through the Spitway, which is a shallow channel connecting the Wallet to the Swin. Then it’s along the Whitaker Channel between the sands, being careful not to be taken by surprise by the Foulness Firing Range.

Burnham-on-Crouch is a yachting centre of age-old pedigree. The river runs here between sea walls and marsh banks and on a grey day it can feel a bit bleak, but the welcome ashore will be a warm one. Working the wind and tides upriver to North Fambridge Yacht Station is good fun and soon becomes cosy and rural.

The Roach branches off the Crouch downstream of Burnham and for shoaler-draft vessels opens a short cut into the Thames through the Havengore lifting bridge.

We’ve been up the Thames on the tide past the ships and cranes of London Gateway, under the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, through the Thames Barrier, past the O2 and onto zero longitude on the meridian as the iconic buildings of Greenwich came into view.

Now vying with fast ferries, tugs and barges, coupled with strong currents and funnelled winds, conditions became quite challenging. But there was huge satisfaction in bringing our own boat into the middle of the capital. Back down the Thames, we’ve tiptoed past the explosive wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery and tacked up the Medway to Chatham.

The north side of the river feels very industrial, but a turn south into the creeks takes us back into more natural surroundings.

And then there’s The Swale. Once the main route of the Thames, south of the Isle of Sheppey, now an area of creeks and marshes and another hub for barges and traditional craft. From there we have run along the north Kent coast, through Copperas Channel and on to North Foreland.

But this time we were on a mission, out past Stone Banks buoy towards Sunk Head Tower, a gybe and a turn into Black Deep. A bit ahead of ourselves, the remaining ebb was kicking up against the brisk northerly, but the sea soon flattened as the flood set in. Another gybe at Fisherman’s Gat and we ran on towards North Foreland in building seas.

Ramsgate is always a welcome sight, but today it felt more significant. It was our first stop on our Round Britain. We’d made the break. From here we would be leaving the Thames and heading through Dover.

Places to stop

The handsome clubhouse of the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club is a great place to start/finish any passage. The museum trawler Mincarlo is nearby.

The Ore gives access to the ancient port of Orford, overlooked by Henry II’s castle. Ferry across to the National Trust nature reserve and historic military site at Orford Ness with its sobering blast test buildings. Further upriver are the cultural and heritage meccas of Aldeburgh and Snape.

From the Deben at Woodbridge visit the Anglo-Saxon royal ship burial ground at Sutton Hoo.

Harwich, on the Stour, is an old port town with a fort, lighthouses, lightvessel, and Electric Palace cinema – one of the oldest cinemas in the world. All within walking distance of Halfpenny Pier.

The Colne leads to Roman Colchester. The Blackwater takes you to Maldon, still a hub for Thames sailing barges. The Thames will transport you into the midst of all that the capital has to offer. The Medway is home to Chatham Historic Dockyard.

Like Lowestoft, Ramsgate is a strategic and welcome harbour and a good place to pause. IJmuiden is the gateway to Amsterdam; Scheveningen to The Hague; Zeebrugge to Bruges.

The Norfolk Broads

Lowestoft, with plenty of well-protected mooring options, is the best place to go through the opening bridges and lock into Oulton Broad and the southern Norfolk Broads. Great Yarmouth also gives access to the Broads, but the strong tidal flows and exposed quayside mooring are more difficult to negotiate. See www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/navigating-the-broads

The Walton Backwaters

Star of the Arthur Ransome story Secret Water, the Walton Backwaters are an iconic destination for Ransome readers but the entrance may feel daunting for first-timers. The channel in from Pye End buoy is narrow and shallow but sufficiently well marked. The reward is anchorage in an idyllic setting amidst the curlews and oystercatchers.

St Katharine Docks, London

Just downstream of Tower Bridge on the Thames, ‘St Kats’ provides visitor moorings within walking distance of some of the most popular tourist attractions. Pre-booking is advisable. Access times are HW -2 to +1.5 hrs. Call ahead and try to minimise waiting time – the river can get very busy and rough. See www.igymarinas.com/marinas/st-katharine-docks/

Chatham Maritime Marina, River Medway

The marina entrance lock has 1.5m over the cill at LWS and may restrict access at very high HWS, but is generally 24hr. Chatham Historic Dockyard is a short walk with its ships, covered slipways and multitude of exhibits. A whole day there is scarcely enough. https://thedockyard.co.uk

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