The voice of boating on the tidal Medway and Swale
CA Kent Section Winter Talk which is open to MSBA members.
Marine mammals and their interaction with sailing vessels by Claire Pasquier Olcott RVN. The venue is the Dog and Bear Hotel Lenham and the talk starts at 20.00. Full details on the flyer.
Marine-mammals-talk-invite-to-msba-281123Medway Yacht Club is looking for a new Chief Instructor. This is a full-time/permanent role with a salary of £25K – £30K. See below for more details or contact Ian Farlane, MYC Manager.
The RIB in the photo was abandoned or washed up on the RNSA slip at Chatham Historic Dockyard recently. UPDATE: The RIB has now been claimed by its owner.
The aluminium access bridge and connecting bridge between the walkway and wooden hammerhead pontoon have now been imposed with weight load restrictions, declared by our structural engineer. The aluminium canting brow & bridge at the Crundell’s Wharf end is now restricted to a maximum of 4 people (or 400 kg) along the total length of the bridge. The connecting bridge between the all-tide walkway and wooden hammerhead pontoon is now restricted to a maximum of 2 people (or 200 kg) along the total length of the bridge.
RNLI Sheerness has published this story: The demise of a local yacht club has resulted in the Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat Station receiving a huge donation of £78,000.
The Allhallows Yacht Club Ltd, based on the Grain Peninsula within the Allhallows Leisure Park had been unable to negotiate a new lease with the owners and the sad decision was taken to wind down the club which was established on the same site in 1964. The AYC Ltd company memorandum and articles stated that should the club be closed down for any reason then any remaining funds were to be donated to a local boating related charity. Following a unanimous decision by the club members it was decided that the Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat Station would be the benefactor due its close proximity (by sea) to Allhallows and the fact that over the years the Sheerness RNLI volunteers have helped out AYC club members on a number of occasions when they found themselves in difficulties. Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat Station Coxswain/Mechanic Paul Jarvis along with his predecessor Robin Castle and Sheerness lifeboat station Operations Manager Nigel Budden met representatives of the club on Saturday 7 October at Lower Stoke on the Isle of Grain and were astounded when Andrew Vincent (AYC President) and Mrs Cheryl Frame, on behalf of her late husband Barry Frame (AYC Commodore) presented the huge cheque to them. Also present were Claire Vincent (AYC President), Nigel Godden (Rear Commodore) and other longstanding members including Mrs Anne Letch who joined the AYC with her husband in 1968. Mr Vincent said: ‘Whilst we are very pleased to be able to benefit such a worthwhile institution as the RNLI it was with great sadness that this was the final act of Allhallows Yacht Club’. On behalf of all the crew and volunteers of the Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat Coxswain Paul thanked all those present for their generosity but also offered commiserations for their loss.
We have received a superb video update by Nicola White on the sad story behind brave Dr Sidney Bernard’s marshy grave on Burntwick Island:
Peel Ports now have a live arrivals and departures board that we can access online:
www.peelports.com/marine/our-ports/london-medway/vessel-arrival-and-departure-board-medway
This should be very useful for race officers and organisers of other events on the river.
This link is now on our Links page.
This yacht was seen hard aground in the entrance of Stangate Creek on Sunday. The inshore lifeboat attended: “a call came through for the crew to assist a yacht with two people and a dog onboard that was hard aground with its bow actually up on the saltings in Stangate Creek and reported to be taking on water at the stern. Making best speed the inshore lifeboat arrived on scene and immediately took the two people and the dog off the yacht, from where they were taken and transferred to the all-weather lifeboat. The two people plus their little dog were taken back to the boathouse and made comfortable.
For more information visit www.upnorsailingclub.co.uk
Over the summer the Medway estuary and Swale (MEAS) programme team has been busy working on the contracts for the 3 pieces of work which we will start with: the programme-wide enabling activities, and the 2 schemes (Elmley and South Sheppey, and Sheerness and Queenborough). This means that we can start commissioning work and developing options.
See below our latest briefing note which introduces the MEAS programme and sets out why we wish to work with partners from across the strategy area.
As we start this significant programme of works, we know that there is a lot that we don’t know, and that there will be great opportunities for us to achieve more by working with others. We’ll need help from partners working across the area to put the recommendations of the strategy into action, and hopefully achieve even more for people and the environment whilst doing so.
Please do get in touch with the MEAS team if you have any ideas, risks or opportunities that might interact with the programme: MEASS@environment-agency.gov.uk