Nomade moored in St
Katherine Yacht Haven ahead
of setting off for the Med
Passing the
London Eye in the
centre of Londondelicacy here in France – doesn’t ease the shock. I have a real phobia
of all things that slither.
My concern is that the instant I ease the pressure on the fi lter cap,
the mighty serpent will fl op out, descend into the bilges and never be
seen again – until it starts to stink. Nothing for it but to grab it by the
tail and the two of us wriggle out of the engineroom. It feels like a
scene out of the late, great Steve Irwin’s The Crocodile Hunter with
me shouting to anyone who might hear, “Crikey, this thing has teeth”.
But we make it out and Monsieur Le Eel is returned to the briny deep.DODGING THE SHIPPING CONTAINERS
The Channel crossing turns out to be a real nailbiter. Thick fog has
enveloped La Manche with Dover Coastguard warning of two cable
length visibility. Not knowing exactly what a cable might be I had to
look it up; it’s 606 feet, so 1,212 feet in total. Roughly the length of
three and a half football pitches.
The smart thing would be to leave it for another day. But the
forecast is wretched, with wind, waves and weather on the way. Today
it’s fl at calm. Time to crank up the radar and away we go. Radar and
AIS are god-given pieces of kit. We spot the P&O ferry out of
Dunkirk, and the towering, 1,000 foot long MSC Yokohamacontainer ship barrelling along at
20 knots across our bow. But what
the heck? Out of nowhere, not a
couple of miles away, 15 huge ships
blip on to the radar, seemingly
parked right in front of us.
Gradually through the murk
their gargantuan outlines appear.
Only through the binos can I see
the tell-tale anchor chains angled
down from their bows. Expand the
chart on the plotter and it becomes
clear they’re on the hook in the
Channel Traffi c Separation System central reservation, waiting
patiently for the tide to change. Phew.
We glide in to Ramsgate, get directed to a nice side-on berth and
pop the champagne. Our fi rst Channel crossing. Piece of cake.
We spend the next couple of days riding the tide into the Thames
Estuary, nipping down the Medway for a look at Chatham, then into
the Thames proper for a magical cruise into the very heart of
London. My heart soars as the good ship Nomade sweeps through
the Thames Barrier, Greenwich on the port beam, Canary Wharf to
starboard. Then, in all its awesomeness, Tower Bridge ahead.
St. Katherine Yacht Haven is worth every penny of its lofty day
rate. For me, this is the stuff of dreams. My dad brought me here as a
kid and I’d wander around in awe, gazing at the mish-mash of craft.
When I worked in London back in the 80s, fi sh ‘n’ chips at The
Dickens Inn, a mooch around Nauticalia and, naturally, a look at
what was tied up on the pontoons, was a weekend ritual. It was
always a dream to come here on my own boat.
In the end we stay for three weeks, moored right next door to the
MV Havengore that carried Sir Winston Churchill’s coffi n after his
funeral at St. Pauls. As for the birthday party, 20 mates quaff bubbly
on the boat before adjourning to the excellent River Lounge Italian
overlooking the lock. It is a splendid night.
Tomorrow we have an 8am rendezvous with the lock, and the start
of a fi ve-month adventure, through the heart of France, hopefully
under that bridge at Thaon les Vosges, and on to the Med. Better
start chilling the rosé now.^
Next month: Along the Seine and in to Paris.Approaching Tower
Bridge on a jaunt
down the ThamesCANALS TO THE MED54 JANUARY 2016