Medway and Swale Boating Association
The voice of boating on the tidal Medway and Swale
Peel Ports have issued Notice to Mariners No 21 of 2015 concerning a sunken 20 metre tug boat lying awash adjacent to “Trenchmans Wharf ” Cuxton. Only the mast of the sunken vessel is visible at high tide. All vessels should navigate with care and caution in the vicinity.
UPDATE 14.10.2015: The sunken tug Pelikaan has now been removed.
Planning permission has been granted for Russell Distillers to turn Pump House No.5 at Chatham Maritime into a distillery producing a range of spirits: premium vodka, gin and whisky. The Grade II listed Victorian building was used to pump water out of the docks. It will become one of the last of Chatham’s naval dockyard buildings to be brought back to use. Read more…
This young fellow was seen resting on the frame of the sluice gate of the weir adjacent to the lock. Another seal was seen in 2008 swimming as far up as East Farleigh lock, apparently going back and forth freely through the sluice gates at high tide. Read more…
Six dinghies started but only four finished the two laps and the winners were Alan Staley for the Traditionalists and Helen North for the Bermudans. Worries about whether the tide would make enough water were overcome by just launching them in anyway, the breeze overcoming any resistance of the mud. Read more…
For the second year running Medway Yacht Club is hosting the SE Regional Finals of the Honda RYA Youth RIB Championships, sponsored by Gillingham Marina. Further details…
The Gathering of Boats, which has replaced the Maidstone River Festival, will take place on Saturday, 25 July. Some 150 boats are expected to arrive in Maidstone town centre. Read more…
The Medway River Users Association, which represents boaters on the non-tidal Medway, is a partner of the MSBA.
The new bridge, which is to provide access from the A228 to a thousand new homes on the east bank of the Medway at Peters Wharf, halfway between Rochester and Allington, will have a clearance of 8 metres at MHWS. Compare this to Rochester Bridge which has just under 6 metres. During construction however the clearance will be only about 5 metres. See Peel Ports notice to mariners no 5 of 2015 for further details.
This strangely touching annual ceremony will take place at 3.15 pm on Sunday at Crundell’s Wharf (near the walkway to the All Tide Landing). According to Marco Devereux, “about 400 years ago some mariners were in distress and their lives were saved by the community of Queenborough. As a thank you to the community they left a small fund with the church for a service to be held in perpetuity in recognition of the sea, to be thankful for the bounties it brings and the travel, beauty, friendships it holds, and the grace that as mere mortals we have been granted a safe passage.”
Today the Deputy Mayor of Queenborough, Cllr Mick Constable, who also opened the original walkway to the All Tide Landing in 1994, opened the impressively refurbished structure. VIP guests including the Sheerness Lifeboat crew were treated to lunch at Queenborough Yacht Club.
The keelboat regatta, organised by Medway Yacht Club, is an open event with classes for racing boats from out-and-out IRC racers to gaffers and white-sails-only cruisers. For more details see www.medwayyachtclub.org.uk