We departed from Queenborough at 0445 in order to catch the best of the tide up the Thames and make our mid-day lock opening time at South Dock Marina, Rotherhithe.
It’s a long way up the river Thames! As dawn broke we passed the Canvey Island, the new London Gateway Port, Gravesend and Tilbury Docks and then under the heavy commuter traffic on the Dartford Bridge. We passed container ships, tugs towing and pushing London’s rubbish barges, ships unloading sugar at the Tate and Lyle factory, and, as we moved closer to London, police ribs and extremely fast Uber ferries.
After calling London Port Authority on VHF we were authorised to pass through the Thames Barrier and we were then quickly in amongst the very familiar landmarks of the Millennium Dome, Canary Wharf and the Royal Navy College Greenwich. We decided to head all the way up to Tower Bridge in order to take some photographs and perhaps refuel on a fuel barge located off S Katherines Dock before heading back down to Rotherhithe and South Dock Marina.
Unfortunately the fuel barge was not manned so after negotiating the tourist boats around Tower Bridge we took a few photographs and headed back to lock into South Dock marina.
South Dock, Rotherhithe was unlike any other marina or harbour that we had experienced during our circumnavigation. The vast majority of boats were permanently moored and occupied by ‘live-aboards’, many appeared to be converted Dutch barges and occupied by young families; maybe it is a cost effective way to live in Central London?
We had a gentle afternoon tidying up, exploring the local area (not much to report – largely flats in redeveloped docklands) before welcoming the skipper’s London-based children, Rob and Juliet, on board for a drink.
The following day we headed off to have a look at the classic boats gathering at St Katherines but the main event of the day was Nigel losing his phone momentarily to a pick-pocket as we crossed Tower Bridge! Highlights were the collection of Dunkirk Little Ships, the steam tug PortWey and of course it was good to see Nancy Blackett again!
Later, with a 15 minute walk with a shopping trolley and jerry cans to Surrey Quays fuel station we refuelled and then enjoyed hosting more family – Angela, Phillip, Jack, Archie and Thomas on board for a few drinks although during the evening we heard the sad news of Queen Elizabeth’s death so we half-masted our ensign.
We needed to wait until midday the following day to exit through the lock so had a quick nostalgic walk to Greenwich and remembered days as ‘students’ at the RN College, Greenwich.
We headed back down the Thames concurrent with the 96 gun salute commemorating Queen Elizabeth II although nothing was heard. For much of the passage down the river we achieved speeds of over 8 knots over the ground and rather than overnight in Queenborough as originally intended we decided to press on to Ramsgate. It was long night, wending our way through the Thames Estuary, avoiding shipping and suffering a fairly unpleasant swell, eventually arriving in a near empty Ramsgate marina at 3 am.
Ramsgate was a pleasant surprise. We enjoyed the cafes and ‘curiosity’ shops under the arches by the harbour, were fascinated to see the old ‘Ramsgate School for Smack Boys’, had a quick look at the largest Wetherspoons pub in the country and enjoyed a tour of the WW2 Ramsgate tunnels. Sundowners in the splendid Royal Temple Yacht Club was very special.
