Two
Thames Trips
Report by Martin Longhurst
On 27 and 28 June 2016, Jenny and I joined the Balmoral, commanded by
Captain David Howie, for two trips from Gravesend Town Pier.
The first trip took us to Southend,
Chatham and round the Isle of Sheppey.
On the first leg of the sailing we
passed Thames Gateway container port.
We passed the Medway Queen at her
berth at Gillingham Pier.
The Isle of Sheppey is joined to the
mainland by two bridges at Kingsferry, towards the
end of our circumnavigation.
The small bridge carries the railway
and local traffic and is lifted to allow water traffic to pass.
The high level road bridge is a
relatively recent addition.
The Tuesday trip took us round virtually
the whole of Kent, passing Dover about three o’clock.
The harbour, ferries and white cliffs were seen to advantage.
Our destination was the small port of
Rye on the River Rother. It is scarcely
big enough to take the Balmoral and there is a very short tidal window.
The first stage was for the Rye Pilot
to come aboard.
Entering the mouth of the River
Looking astern shows the narrowness
of the channel
Our destination was Rye Wharf about
one and a half miles from the town of Rye (one of the Cinque Ports) which can
be seen on the hill in the background
The ship was turned before berthing
at the Wharf – here she is at right angles
Disembarkation in progress
As soon as all work was completed at
the berth, Balmoral departed for the Solent before the tide fell again.