Medway Estuary Club Paddle 10th Sept 06
With the highest spring tides for a decade due to the alignment of moon and sun and the subsequent strong gravitational pull, it seemed opportune to drift down with the tide from the Strand at Gillingham to Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey. An evening/night paddle was planned, but did not fit in with the tides, so we went on Sunday 10th.
I arranged to meet up with car shuttlers at Queenborough to give them a lift back with my wife, Jen, as she had agreed to ferry me back after leaving my car and trailer there to get boats and bodies back at the finish. I missed one vehicle that arrived late, but fortunately there was another left there, and cramming people in, we managed to get all back to the start.
I had notified people to be ready to leave at 1500, but because of the late vehicle and driver we finally left at 1530. With an easterly headwind the tide was still rising, lapping up to the wall of the swimming pool at the Strand and as high as it gets in fair weather.
Twelve club paddlers set off, making for the beacon at Nor Marsh. A short water stop on the little of Nor Marsh which was showing, a taste of samphire for those whose taste buds are missing out, and we headed downstream across and through the marsh. Tufts of seagrass showed above the water and it was possible to paddle straight across, but with the dropping tide there was always the chance of being stranded high and dry with a very muddy walk to get back to the water. The seaward end of the marsh showed a good outflow with small riffles to play in.
Now started the evocative names of the estuary.
Horrid Hill and Motney Hill passed by on our starboard side as we made our way down the Half Acre channel to paddle between Slayhills and Millfordhope Marshes. Just before entering the channel Paul nipped off to have a chat with a sailing cruiser who had gone aground on the high tide and was waiting for the next tide at 0400 to try to refloat. They had just crept a bit too close to the island, easy for paddlers to have the same fate, but in shallower water.
The current was noticeable now, and around Slaughterhouse Point and in to the top of Stangate Creek we benefited from the combined drainage of Halstow Creek and The Shade (which drains Bedlams Bottom).
A fast paddle with a sluicing tide down Stangate was slowed by the second boat emptying of the trip, the first caused by a poorly fitting spraydeck (very near the Strand) and the second by a leaking boat. Down into the Medway proper and past Deadmans Island, we turned inside Queenborough Spit and made our way up to Queenborough hard. Experience and wisdom showed here as the neophytes paddled hard against the ebb tide down the Swale, while others took the easy route in slow water and overtook.
One of the highlights of the trip occurred on the way up to the hard as paddlers on the Sheppey side of the channel were lucky to see some seals. Jen Newman commented she had seen one, but James saw at least three. Most frequently found at the other end of the Swale, seals are a bit of a rarity in Queenborough.
No capsizes, two near sinkings and a very long paddle. Estimated at three hours, it took nearly four and a half – in racing K1s and K2s I have paddle it in less than one hour.
All did very well. Estimated distance (with a bit of lift from the tide) was around 17km. Longest paddle by far for many there. A good paddle for all – I enjoyed it!
Paul Newman