Home / More (Swale) Mud

By Hoopla54

October 15, 2007

OK so mud is what East Coast sailing is about is it? Just a brief tale to help anyone else avoid some of our hard won experience, this October week-end! All I needed to do was move Aurai to a boatyard and the Iron Wharf at Faversham advertised in PBO seemed, after a few quick phone calls to be the real deal for the winter. Faversham is 2.25Nm up the creek from the East Swale, the Swale flowing both ways East and West around The Isle of Sheppey.

We took the ebb tide out of the Medway leaving at 04:00, my stalwart crew at such times, Graham, getting a couple more hours kip, and reached the Richard Montgomery wreck as dawn was breaking, just having completed Container ship avoidance techniques. They all seem to carry far more lights than they should to help see the direction they are heading. You have to reach the Wreck before heading 110 degrees to avoid the Cant a fine bank of mud extending well out to sea off Sheppey. Now at LW it is eerie to hear the depth alarm go off so far out and it is no good thinking dry stuff to right and wet to left, as the Spile Bank gets you from Port!

Lovely sunshine cleared the way for a run up to the North Kent windfarm. No one else out except one fishing boat, and then a change of direction to line up with bouyed marks into the Swale. We admired seals again, swimming nearby and sunbathing on the mud and motored into Harty Ferry to kill some time.

Plan was to take the tide up to Faversham, with an hour to spare, ie set off at 12:30 to arrive at 1:30 and with HW at 2:30 have something in reserve. We had the pilot book so just do it, only the depth was little over 2m when Aurai touches at 1.4m, the transducer being on bottom of hull and giving depth from there! Travelling slowly, we were overtaken by impatient boats, then missed one tiny green washer bottle masquerading as a SHB and hit mud! Graham did his thing with anchor and dinghy, we winched off, set off again, rising tide helped, hit mud again, passing yacht towed us off.

By now we had no faith in Pilot Book - it was just not detailed enough as though middle of river would seem to be safe in fact channel sweeps left to right all along, without markings. One more touch and stick and our hour was used up with .75Nm to go, visions of night on our side came into mind. Phoned home and then boat yard, no reply, then got a call from yard asked if they had workboat to tow us off? Some hope I thought, but now along comes Peter with his geriatric tug boat, so off mud we were towed (anchor and all) and right up to the wharf. What a little dream boat to keep as a yard workhorse. We had missed the tide for a hoist out but that followed the next day.

What did we learn? Once we arrived everyone told us we should not have tried as tide was depressed by High Pressure. We should not have thought to do the creek as first timers without a "pilot" or a tow! When we get there, what is available but a detailed chartlet of route and channel A4 size to 3Nm? Only you have to get up the channel to buy one. I might write to Pilot book to suggest they recognise its availability. Though we had enquired, on quoted depths and tidal heights we are now advised that mini-springs are probably not enough in fact, well we will know next time.

Graham saw my less charming side but the yard is an amazing place, rural with trees and bushes, built almost entirely from reclaimed railway carriages or containers as people not only work on their boats but set up week-end residences beside their boats, some may live all week for all I know, and the most patient and encouraging staff boat people around. Aurai still works her magic with immediate mini-crowds wanting to admire her and say how pretty she was etc. The yard staff even taking a pride in her narrowing rear and breeding!!

Regards all - happy winter sailing, I can crew on someone else boat now, yippee. CH

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