All Swale and Harty: A circumnavigation of
Sheppey
I set off from home in darkness, 30 minutes later I was on
the A2 heading into Kent with the sun rising in front of me. I was reminded of
the repeating epithet in the Odyssey; “Dawn with her rose red fingers…” which
seemed fitting as I was setting off on an Odyssey of my own ; A 30 mile
clockwise circumnavigation of the Isle
of Sheppey off the north coast of Kent. The route would take in river, estuary
and open sea sailing in some of the remotest parts of the South East and still
within 50 miles of central London.
The plan was to set
off from Queenborough, which is situated on the top end of the Swale and use
the last of the ebb tide to sail out into the Medway and then into the Thames
estuary. I would then sail south-east along the north coast of Sheppey into the
face of the flooding tide for 10 or so miles until reaching Shellness point and
the other end of the Swale. Then the flooding tide would be with me until 1pm,
by which time I hoped to be at the midpoint of the Swale at Conveys Milton Creek where
the tide splits and the ebb tide would then assist me as I made my way back Northwards
toward Queenborough on the upper part of the Swale.
I launched from Queenborough just after 6.30am low tide was
forecast for just after 7.00am. The wind was blowing a strong force 3 from the North
West directly down the Swale and Medway. The wind over tide made for choppy
conditions as I tacked out.
Leaving the Medway early morning
I was considering already what the conditions would be like
in the Thames. If conditions were unsuitable I would turn around and sail back
into the Medway, but as I got into the wider mouth of the Medway the sea
flattened, no doubt helped by the approaching slack water.
Garrison Point
I had printed out my course onto laminated marine charts
from my memory map app with the compass course and distance between the
navigation markers I would use as my way points.
My charts with bearings and distances
The first two were about 1.5
miles apart. After that I had a run of 7.5 miles to Shellness point at the
bottom of the Island.
Looking back to Sheerness
As I would now be sailing south east against the incoming
tide my plan was to measure my progress between the first two markers,
extrapolate the time and if I was confident I could get to midpoint of the Swale
before the tide turned I would then commit to the long run, which would be in
part under the primordial looking clay cliffs of the island which offered
little landing opportunities.
Approaching the "Mid Cant " marker
I reached the first marker in about 25 minutes and the
second one in a similar amount of time. I was making much better then expected
time against the tide; I committed to the long section to the bottom of the
island.
The long run
My route was now on a more southerly bearing and changed
from broad reach to a run. The Essex coast on the far side of the Thames
estuary disappeared over the horizon and the sea state got a little lumpier as
the fetch increased, the canoe surfed down some of the steeper waves but never
felt out of control. My
focus was on Warden Point which lay about 4 miles ahead of me, the morning was
murky and further south heavy rain clouds were unleashing themselves on the
North Kent coast.
Approaching Warden Point, Storm clouds over Kent beyond.
As I passed the point the wind died off a little. I altered
my planned course which would of taken me around the shallow mud banks and
sailed closer to shore past Leysdown-on Sea and headed for Shellness point and
the mouth of the Swale.
The clay cliffs of Sheppey
I tied off the sheet and rudder and paddle sailed around the
point and into the flat waters of the Swale. It had taken me just 3/1/2 hours
to travel 16 miles so far, a speed of about 4 knots.
Now aided by the tide as I turned the corner the sun came
out as I passed the white beach of Shellness.
Shellness
Thousands of birds wandered
around on mud flats, seals basked in the sun on sand banks, the golden wheat
fields of Kent and Sheppey lay on both sides of me.
Shellness beach
In the midst of this
idyllic setting of natural beauty my thoughts instinctively turned to the pub.
The Ferry Inn
The Ferry Inn is situated on the Isle of Harty on the south
side of the Island and must be of the remotest pubs in the South East. I landed
on the old ferry slip and walked up for a swift pint of ale.
The ferry slip at The Ferry Inn
The mid circumnavigation pint
Selfie heading up the Swale
I didn't hang around,
as I still wanted to get to the midpoint of the Swale where the tide splits by
high water. I took the opportunity to remove my drysuit as the day was now very
hot, and set off once more.
Heading up the Swale
The
wind was starting to die off now to a force 2 but I still had made to the point
where the tide splits by 1pm, at distance of 24 miles in 6 hours, not counting
the pub stop, my average was now 3.5 knots.
High tide for Sheerness at the top of the Island was
predicted for 1:15 pm. My plan was to reach the split at this time and then
enjoy the ebb tide as it pulled me out of the upper Swale back towards
Queenborough. As I passed Convey Milton Creek the Swale narrows.
I was feeling a
little tired now. The wind had died to a force 1 and was now directly on my nose
as the Swale turned north. I sat down on the bottom of my canoe expecting the
tide to ebb and drift me lazily along for the last 5 miles of the trip. Except
it didn’t. At best I was stationary at worst I was being push backwards. Why wasn't the tide turning? Out came the paddle and I made tortuous progress into
the wind and against the tide. Was the Northerly wind holding the tide back?
Did I miss read my research on where the tide splits? Was I going to be pulled
back from whence I’d come so close to the finish? The next 1.5 miles to the
bridges was a really struggle, it took me an hour and a half and still the tide
did not turn. The wind offered nothing, when a slight breeze did come trying to
tack just brought me out from the edges and into the main channel. I discovered
that the tide at the top of the Swale is an hour later in turning then that at
the bottom. I probably could have moored
up in the channel and waited for the tide to turn rather than try to paddle
against it.
The lifting bridge
Eventually
just before the lifting bridge the tide let go and the wind picked up enough to
allow me to tack, paddle sailing to it. The tide was still a couple of inches
too high to allow my mast under the bridge so I stepped it quickly at the shore
and paddled underneath
The new bridge
Now I was truly on the home straight .I once again sat in
the bottom of the canoe and just let the tide slowly take me along, marvelling
at the stillness and silence However this part of the Swale is designated for
jet skiers so the quiet was occasionally broken by the swift passing of a water
skier or jet biker.
Cos cos for tea!
After a bit of food and feeling rested from my paddling
exertions I furled the sail and started
paddling once more , eventually rounding the last bend to land once more where
I had started.
The last bend
It took me 10 hours in total, not counting my pub stop the
average speed was 2.7 knots. My odyssey was complete, and the pint of lager in
the pub at Queenborough tasted like ambrosia!
I'm starting to really love the Medway.
There is some thing intangible about the vast, flat openness of the Medway, the proliferation of wildlife, the temporal landscape of the Salt Marshes and the pathos of a post industrial landscape that make it a intriguing and mystical place. My intention was to sail from Queenborough to Fort Darnet using the tide to take me there and back with the decent F3 from the wind south east to assist.
I got to Queenborough at around 9am with about 4 hours to go before high tide.
I still managed to get lost on the way, although the route I took was through the blossoming apple orchards of Kent, so quite beautiful.
As I assembled the canoe for the first time this year the air was very still, not much in the way of the force 3 winds forecast. Although I hoped that the winds would pick up later in the day.
The Slipway onto the Swale
The tide was still well out as I put in on the Swale.
as the flood tide enters the mouth of the Medway from the Thames estuary it also flows up the Swale.
With little or no wind a bit of paddling against the tide was called for.
Some coastal shipping entered the mouth of the Swale, coming up on the tide, luckily I was well off to the side of the shipping channel.
With no wind I thought it was a good time to explore a little of Deadman's Island.
Deadman's Island; so called as its where the victims of the quarantined ships, or possibly of French prisoners of war,were buried. There are small beaches between the banks of mud...
... consisting of a plethora of tiny shells...
As soon as I landed on the Island some of the dead men became apparent. The waves are gradually eroding the island and exposing the graves.
As I was walking about a couple of skiffs made their way up the Swale. One landed in an adjacent beach and I had a chat with the skipper. He is a member of the Community harbour at Queenborough, who took over the running of it after the Council bailed out and threatened to close it
After a while I decided I would press on into the Medway and let the tide carry me into the estuary.
Another skiff appeared from Queenborough rowing club; Sexburga (named after an Anglo-Saxon Queen) we had a good chat on the water. The guys at the stern also run Sheerness Sailing club and are the organisers of the 40 mile Isle of Sheppy Round the Island Race and were very keen that sailing canoes should take part. Unfortunately this years race clashes with an event I'm hosting on the River Dart estuary in Devon.
With what little wind there was behind me ,I set off into the Estuary, heading towards the mouth of Stangate creek, marked by a line of electricity pylons that run through Chetney marshes.
Once past the mouth of Stangate I kept to the edge of Burntwick Island, there were loads of sea birds swirling about excited by the rising tide which was now flooding the salt marshes.
Even with very little wind the tide was pushing me at a terrific pace. if you watch the video you can see how fast I was moving in what was no more the a F1 wind on my back.
I started to think about how I was going to get back to the Swale without a decent wind even with the ebbing tide to help. I pulled up on a beach to look for Fort Darnet. I couldn't see it looking far down into the estuary even with my binoculars.
I had some lunch and put out again into the still flooding tide, I thought i would see if I could make any progress against the tide to reassure my self I could get back if needed.Paddling at full volume I could only just about hold my position. Thats when I bottled it and decided not to go any further into the estuary, even though I knew the ebb tide would be in my favour coming back
By now the tide was flooding into Burntwick island, I could get away from the strong currents of the main channel and, by lifting my rudder and leeboard , paddle myself in and over the Island.
I was able to paddle myself back towards the mouth of Stangate creek.
Right on one the mouth is a concrete gun emplacement occupying the high ground. I pulled my canoe up behind it and decided to sit and wait for the top of the tide.After a little while the wind began to fill in nicely. Although it was now coming from the North East rather then the South East.
Looking down the Medway from the mouth of Stangate creek
Just a little below the gun emplacement are the remains of the barracks that housed the men who manned the guns, I decided to sail over the island to have a look...
The old barrack block
I was then able to paddle onto Stangate creek proper,unfurl the sail fully and get some decent sailing in with the wind finally blowing the Force 3 the forecast had promised.
The sunshine was getting a bit murkier so I decided I would head back towards Queensborough. There were a couple of wrecks I had noticed on Chetney marshes. On the top of the tide I was able to sail right up to them..
Gladys of Dover was a large sailing barge. There's a really nice story about its history here.
there was another wreck, name unknown....
Just beyond this wreck are a line of posts delineating Shepard's Creek; its only accessible at high tide, it winds its way between Deadman's Creek and Tailness Marshes providing a short cut from the Medway to the Swale.
I tacked my way along the creek back to the swale, a last bit of excitement afforded by the sight of the Sheerness lifeboat towing in a yacht to Queenborough that presumably had an engine failure.
Once back off the high water meaning it was only a few meters back to trolley my canoe back to the the seawall I loaded my canoe and had a swift half in the friendly Yacht Club.
One day I'll make it Darnet Fort , but I'm in no hurry, theres a lot to see on the way!
