Salty Bottoms Summer 2011

[Guest]

It is London Jonathan!!

I suggest you book a table here Mark, we can highly recommend it. http://www.cafedesamis.co.uk/

We tended to do our own thing during the day in London meeting up in the evening to eat together. Limehouse or St Kats it's only a base but good local eateries in the evening would be a bonus. The last place we ate in St Kats a bottle of beer was £9.

[MY littleboat]

I think there are certain different interests within people doing the trip,

I dunno Ian - How far is each from Spearmint Rhino??

[senator]

You could always run with me up the Medway Gav, could go window shopping for a largish boat with a pole.

[senator]

Depends whether everyone wants to do 2 nights in London and 2 nights just outside.

Have put limehouse on the table for last year and this year but both times despite me passing on the information that it is supposed to be a better marina with good facility's and restaurants it was thrown straight out because everyone wanted to go to London. As far as I know it is still in the flight path of City Airport, Still on the A13 and still just outside London and unless someone has moved it still in the same area.

No problem at all with a night stopover if the times don't marry for the lock but I would rather be in London than just outside, everything is weather dependent but if Queensbourgh/Chatham is the stop before there is not much chance of not being able to get up the Thames, If running from further afield it will make sense to pencil in Limehouse for the night but I wouldn't want to spend 2 nights there.

[MY littleboat]

Ian I hear the window shopping around St Kats is far better than Tower Hamlets!!

We have spoken about this at length today and although I see the attraction for the rib crews to get up past the Olympic Stadium (Be careful of the security checks now in place on the river) Our priority is still Kats. I guess you, Mark and Ourselves will be running together anyway as that makes sense as we will all be looking for a cruise of 20 kts plus (prob 25ish) and yes it would be good if we all ended up in similar destinations, however, as Mark also points out, we intend to be using the boat as a hotel room in London and spending more time in the city itself

[baz1033]

Depends whether everyone wants to do 2 nights in London and 2 nights just outside.

Have put limehouse on the table for last year and this year but both times despite me passing on the information that it is supposed to be a better marina with good facility's and restaurants it was thrown straight out because everyone wanted to go to London. As far as I know it is still in the flight path of City Airport, Still on the A13 and still just outside London and unless someone has moved it still in the same area.

No problem at all with a night stopover if the times don't marry for the lock but I would rather be in London than just outside, everything is weather dependent but if Queensbourgh/Chatham is the stop before there is not much chance of not being able to get up the Thames, If running from further afield it will make sense to pencil in Limehouse for the night but I wouldn't want to spend 2 nights there.

I must be looking at the wrong place as the lime house im looking at is 1.9 miles by road to st kats so can someone tell me where limehouse is if its so far away as you cant get to any atractions

[mbird]

Guys,

This is getting a bit daft imho.I really don't understand why the sudden change of minds on the strength of a conversation with a chap in a yacht club? Rough plans were agreed at Southwold at Easter, and the question never arose then, despite other forumites posting a long time ago on this thread that Limehouse is a better marina, that wasn't even considered. Ian floated the idea again, and again, the group decision was to stick to St Kats as it is a known quantity. On the strenght of that decision we have all booked into St Kats, and were happy with that choice.

Now all of a sudden, things are changing and alternatives being thrown in. Is there another reason for this that I am not aware of?

I'll say for the third time that I am happy with one night in Limehouse, if it is necessary in the case of missing the lock or to give us more of a tide window. I will then be moving on to St Kats as planned. What everyone else does is up to them, though obviously I'd much rather stick together, it is not essential for the whole two weeks and we can easily meet up at other destinations.

Too often have I changed queue in Tesco's only to find the new queue moves even slower than the one I was originally in.

[baz1033]

OK

Shall we agree on 1st night limehouse as this helps with timings, tides etc.?

Then crews can choose how much time to spend at each marina .

Barry

[mbird]

Fine by me Barry

Does that mean we all now need to amend our bookings for St Kats and make new bookings for Limehouse?

[Guest]

Mark the chap at rnsyc gave us the low down on limehouse which made it sound a lot more apealing. Tide times I don't think are an issue for either location.

[baz1033]

Yes we will need to book limehouse

[Guest]

Limehouse for us offers the possibility to take a rib ride up to little Venice and up the tidal to teddington. This still has to be investigated and if posdible would meen no more than two nights in each Marina. If not possible then stick with plan A.

[MY littleboat]

Am I guessing that the rib thing has more to do with this descision than anything else?

[G&A]

Forgive me being scratchy but we don't all have ribs! We have children who need to travel by train depending on the awkwardness of 3rd parties. Has anyone considered the added cost of travelling to places from limehouse by rail? Us girls aren't spectators either.

Sorry I'm getting fed up

[Guest]

Am I guessing that the rib thing has more to do with this descision than anything else?

The rib thing would be an added bones, the couple who sold Limehouse to us were sailies in there sixties and not into ribbing.

We liked the fact it's two mins from Limehouse station and there are lots of good eateries around for the evening. Not sure of the extra rail cost Annie but the mooring fees are £25 a night cheaper. We spent a 7 nights in St Kats last year and the only local food place I would return to is Waitrose. I accept that if we return to St Kats we will catching taxis at night or cooking on board.

[G&A]

Some of us girls have spoken bout pitching in and cooking together so we didn't see that as a problem, eating out is nice but good food costs so we were banking on all mucking in. I know the non-tidal areas are beautiful but not without restriction. I think it wod deserve time but not as a hurried venture causing difficulties elsewhere, maybe that is a trip of it's own worth? Overnight fees will be cheaper in a residential area-but does that mean we have to be quiet? I feel if it's been discounted on more than a couple of occasions, there must have been reasons for it? As a stopgap I agree, if we all have enough of St kats then it's a possibility, but it was coming across as a detour for u guys to play on ribs, if that's wot u want to do that's your call, but rightly or wrongly I would have thought that would have been brought into the equation long ago.

[senator]

Bare in mind that we will only be able to lock into St Kats 1 1/2 hours before to 1 hour after high water and that will be the same whether we are doing it from the mouth of the Thames or from Limehouse, if we do go into Limehouse we will need to be on the boats the following day for a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon to move them, means we are going to have to organise the second day around moving boats which could well have implications on peoples plans while in London. and the ideal arrival time for Limehouse will be the same as St Kats due to tides, that is unless every one wants to punch it all the way up the Thames.

If it is necessary due to weather, long run or problems Limehouse is eminently sensible due to its longer lock window but I wouldn't fancy wasting the second day to move the boat.

Is Limehouse on its own a stop worth making and taking out the opportunity to visit another East Coast port along the way? If the marina is that good then maybe, but it is totally inconsistent with everything that has been laid out so far. Apparently Chatham is a really nice Marina with a good restaurant but this has been veto'd in favour of a concrete barge. We have to go to Gillingham for fuel, absolutely no need for others to go there so have no problem with going alone but we don't need to go to Limehouse.

Limehouse has its own DLR station don't know if travel on the DLR is included within the central zones for the underground but the saving of £25 per night on moorings would more than pay for it so it is technically only going to take another 10 minutes or so and a change onto the underground to get to the attractions but likewise it will only take the same to get to Limehouse for a meal if the restaurants are that good.

From what I remember of St. Kats the cafe rouge knocked out some decent grub all be it pricey and apparently the Anchor Tap just over Tower Bridge does cheap and cheerful.

Original plan was 3 nights in London, to make any sense of a split stop that needs to be extended to at least 4 and one day of that will be disrupted with moving boats at specific lock times around mid afternoon, or ungodly hours in the morning as there are morning and afternoon locks available that week.

Can't see a problem with those that want to go to Limehouse going and those that would prefer St. Kats going there. it is a few days out of 2 weeks cruising so there is plenty of time to spend together, Allows anyone who wants to use their ribs or even the better restaurants of Limehouse the freedom to do so and those that want the central location the chance to do that.

It is supposed to be an enjoyable holiday not a permanent argument.

[Guest]

Can't see a problem with those that want to go to Limehouse going and those that would prefer St. Kats going there. it is a few days out of 2 weeks cruising so there is plenty of time to spend together, Allows anyone who wants to use their ribs or even the better restaurants of Limehouse the freedom to do so and those that want the central location the chance to do that.

It is supposed to be an enjoyable holiday not a permanent argument.

Limehouse and the rib/dingy trip is something we will decide after further investigation. Wayne, Tracy, Barry and Sharon were party to the information about Limehouse and this is a way of sharing the info with all. If we do decide to go to Limehouse we will be more than happy to go alone or in company.

Now shall we decide where to go on the way back

[Guest]

Some of us girls have spoken bout pitching in and cooking together so we didn't see that as a problem, eating out is nice but good food costs so we were banking on all mucking in. I know the non-tidal areas are beautiful but not without restriction. I think it wod deserve time but not as a hurried venture causing difficulties elsewhere, maybe that is a trip of it's own worth? Overnight fees will be cheaper in a residential area-but does that mean we have to be quiet? I feel if it's been discounted on more than a couple of occasions, there must have been reasons for it? As a stopgap I agree, if we all have enough of St kats then it's a possibility, but it was coming across as a detour for u guys to play on ribs, if that's wot u want to do that's your call, but rightly or wrongly I would have thought that would have been brought into the equation long ago.

Annie the idea of a dinghy/rib trip was to include everyone for a trip up the canal from Limehouse to Little Venice. My thought was that we could do it by dinghy, rib , bike, walking or public transport whatever people wanted to do. It takes in London Canal Museum, Victoria Park, London Zoo, St Pancras Lock, Little Venice and Regents Park with lots of waterside pubs and restaurants along the way. It needed a bit more investigation but I just thought it might be a nice way to see London that most other couldn't. The other Idea was a boys only trip up the tidal Tames to Teddington lock and back . Six blokes three ribs I thought it was something we could do whilst the girls went shopping. This will probably be our last trip up the Thames for a time so not really something we could do as a separate trip.

[MY littleboat]

Neiuporrt?

[senator]

Just one more.

Have just got off the phone from someone who has shown an interest in Clanny, he is based on the Thames and was last week in Limehouse basin for the first time after previously always going to St. Kats. Obviously with the thoughts of which to use fresh in the head I asked him what he thought of Limehouse and he said

"It is not a St. Kats". The lock, while open longer is a real pig to get into if you are trying to do it when the tide is running with eddies outside that are hell bent on smashing you on the lock wall. The Harbour Master and Lock staff are absolutely brilliant and nothing is too much trouble for them, the marina is ok, the area around it is not up to much, the main restaurant in the marina is not very good and quite expensive, he wasn't aware of any good restaurants around other than Mr Ramsey's establishment on the corner and that is seriously pricey. Overall OK for an overnighter but if staying longer would choose St Kats every time. Just another view from someone who has just come back.

Given that the London Moorings will sort themselves I agree it is a good time to start sorting the rest of the trip into some sort of order so we can start on passage planning for the whole two weeks.

As far as I remember (and Easter was a long time ago) we were assembling in Hamilton dock on the Saturday ready for a start Sunday.

Leg 1: Run to Tichmarsh for 2 night stay, there was mentions of Shotley along the way so can we get that one buttoned

Leg 2: Run to Queensborough to moor to the lighter for BBQ, we will probably be running to Gillingham for fuel and have not decided whether we will be at Queensborough or Chatham on the night, a lot will depend on tides weather etc. but at the moment the leaning is to rejoin the group.

Leg 3: Run to St. Kats/Limehouse for 3 nights, some possibly staying longer.

Leg 4: Discussed was the Crouch, Tollesbury, Brighlingsea or any other places in the area.

Leg 5: Ipswich

Leg 6: The Deban

Leg 7: Lowestoft

Does anyone remember it differently and if right can we Start to pin them down

[Guest]

Ian

A couple of questions

If we spend the night on the lighter going up to St Kats we will have hours to kill before leaving after lunchtime for St Kats lock. Similarly if we do the lighter on the way back we will arrive mid morning after leaving St kats early doors.

Would we have to push tide down out of Ipswich to get over the Deban bar.

Just looked at tide times and the lighter on the way up is the option with st Kats opening from 1400 ish.

[senator]

Would definitely have to push some tide out of the Orwell for the bar on the Deban but could possibly eliminate most of it if the tide times are right with a lunch stop on the Orwell, allowing us out of the lock in Ipswich towards the bottom of the tide, a run down with it then lunch and push the last bit. Maybe Gav or Annie could advise on a suitable venue towards the bottom of the Orwell?

Would we be going to Tidemill Marina on the Deban, better for us with Rachel, Heather and dog, or would everyone want to pick up a buoy for the night? There are good BBQ facilities in TideMill but there are also some nice anchorages in the lower river. not sure if 6 or 7 boats could be accommodated.

Queensborough/London/ Queensborough don't think there are any major issues with lock times, just a bit of a lie in.

[senator]

Another thought is to cut the Deban completely and do the Crouch and one in the Blackwater?

[MY littleboat]

Running out of the Orwell both Suffolk Yacht Harbour at Levington and Shotley offer very short hops to the sea and within 30 mins you'll be turning left and heading past felixstowe ferry... Ian I know you prefer a solid stop, my preference would be shotley as the resturant there is very reasonable and pretty easy to arrange their lock opening, however, if we are leaving Ipswich pushing an incoming tide, there are lots of swing morings at pin mill and the Butt & Oyster is a damn fine pub. OK it'll be a bit further to push against the tide after but worth a stop - ideally you still want to be going into the deben just before high tide rather than HW as the journey up to Woodbridge isnt a quick hop and ensuring you have enough clearance over the cill at Tidemill is essential.. although again, some of the best nights I've ever spent in a boat have been down on the Deben picking up a swing moring! (Sorry Ian I know we are planning around that)

Just a quick reminder of what the deben is like here is a reminder

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