Thames Trip Sunday Sept 7th

[andy g]

Guys
In order to coincide with the Tall Ships being on the Thames from 5th to 9th of September , we will be organising a paddle on the Thames which will hopefully enable us to see most of these vessels from the water.

We have yet to work out the details of the paddle, as we need to know where the berths are, and calculate the effect of the tide, so please bear with us while we discuss this. In the meantime please reserve this date in your diaries.

Paddlers should be of a 2* standard, but please contact Tim Harlow , or myself if you are in doubt.

Andy , Tim H , and probably Paul

[Jules]

Yes please, I'm in.

[Gary]

Hi Guys, I'd like to go on this trip .

Thanks gary

[SharonSwift]

Louie and I would love to do this but not sure whether we would be considered 2* standard? Sharon

[andy g]

Sharon
If you are at the pool on Wednesday I can assess you both. You don't have to hold the award but you should be confident paddlers and able to make your way against the tide of necessary.
Give me a ring if you would like to discuss (0) 7703 823619

Andy

[andy g]

Folks
We are approaching the deadline for this trip , so can we assess numbers please , and how many folk need transport to and from the river . It is likely that we will face parking restrictions so car sharing will be vital.

So far we have :

Tim H
Julia
Gary
Sharon
Louie
Me

I am sure there will be more than this , so please declare yourselves now , so we can plan things.

Andy

[andy g]

Guys
Tim H and I have been working to finalise this trip. It is complicated by the number of closed roads and access issues which have been instigated by Greenwich Council. They are expecting very large numbers of visitors to view The Tall Ships.

We will leave the exact itinerary flexible so we possibly make changes on the day to take into account the tide and weather conditions.

Basically we are going to get on and off at Greenwich Yacht Club, but there is very limited parking, so we need to restrict ourselves to 4 cars maximum. We also might need a very early start , on the water before 10.30 , which probably means loading up the day before at the boathouse , if anyone has an issue with this please let me or Tim know soonest please.

Paddlers so far declared:
Tim H , Me, Gary , Julia, Alex, Don, Sharon , Louie,


Please us know soonest if you want to come along.

Andy

[andy g]

Folks
Thanks to research by Tim we have drawn up the following plan for Sunday.

Meet at boathouse 9am
Load boats and leave by 9.30.
Arrive at GYC 10.00
Launch before 10.30.
We then paddle against the last 2 to 1 hours of the incoming tide though the Thames Barrier, across the Woolwich Ferry to Woolwich Pier.
Arrive about 11.45.
View Tall Ships moored here.
Leave by 12.15 and use last of incoming tide to take us to slipway opposite the Ahoy Centre. We carry our boats over Horseferry Road, and enter Docklands Watertsports Centre (we do not stop to view any Tall Ships en route.)
We then enter the Millwall and West India Docks, and paddle to view the Tall Ships at Wood Wharf and find a spot to eat our packed lunches, maybe at DWSC.
HW at Greenwich is 13.17 so by now we have the ebbing tide to take us back.
We leave DWSC and head for Greenwich Pier to view ships there, then onto Victoria Deep Water Terminal and Enderby Wharf to view the Tall Ships moored there.
We return to GYC after 15.30; trip distance 10 miles (including 2.5 against the tide) plus distance in docks .
Maybe have a drink and snack in their bar/cafe if they have one and if it's open and make more useful friends...
Leave by 16.30.
Back to boathouse by 17.00.
This is quite a long day, but it shouldn't be too challenging a paddle apart from the first couple of miles against the tide.

Can you please declare any interest in coming now , as we might not be able to fit in any last minute paddlers on this trip due to the parking and other restrictions.

Andy G & Tim H (0) 7703 823619

[Tharlow]

I'll let Andy write a review for this exceptional trip.
Here are a few of the photos which I hope captures the day we had.
Unfortunately the right half of photos are not shown.
To view the complete picture, right click on picture and click on 'Open image in new tab', then click on picture for bigger size.
Then click on View Raw Image in left side bottom corner.


David wonders, 'Is that a Tall Ship I see?'

Heading towards The Thames Barrier.


Is this a Tall Ship?


Or this?


This is a ship that is tall but isn't a tall ship.


We eventually find a Tall Ship.


Louis did very well on his first tidal trip which at times was quite challenging.


As did Don.


Heading towards Greenwich.


It was also Sharon's first trip on the Thames who did very well.


Soon we had an endless procession of Tall Ships....


..with excited crowds gathering at Greenwich to watch Dave majestically paddle by...


As we continued towards the 02, more Tall Ships were moored or passed us.




Finally I think Don's contented smile at the end of this trip sums the day up for all; tiring but very satisfying.


Thanks to Andy for getting this trip together and to Alex and Dave for safety cover.

[Tharlow]

Don's pictures at:-
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 642&type=3