The cruise was intended to appeal to the smaller, shallow drafted and/or bilge keeled boats in the club. USC members however are, among other things, unpredictable so I should have been prepared the four boats that arrived at the Faversham Spit Buoy, all of them fin keeled, three of them over 30 feet, with drafts up to 6 feet.
Skybird, Northern Gipsy and Denebola joined Patanda for a quick breakfast meeting to discuss pilotage strategy for the three mile ditch crawl to Faversham town. After careful consideration of several proposals it was decided to follow Alan and Jean as they'd done it before. So off they went and we all followed like obedient sheep. After confidently passing the Shipwright's Arms, the creek began to meander and we slowed dramatically as Northern Gipsy kindly demonstrated where the deep water wasn't. They got away shortly afterwards and followed behind Patanda.
It was unnerving knowing that the little water beneath the keel wouldn't be there for very long. Strange also was being in the middle of a field in the Kent countryside on a yacht, using pubs and cottages as navigation marks and grazing cattle as transits. Was this marinised rambling! But armed with the excellent chartlet supplied by Swale Council, a little common sense and the 'Good Pub Guide' we arrived safely at Iron Wharf without further incident.
The scene as we approached the town was well worth the stress of getting there. The old wharf buildings with traditional barges and smacks alongside were just as they would have been for hundreds of years.
Roger from Iron Wharf directed us to the deeper berths as we prepared our lines. An hour or so later we were all comfortably settled upright in the mud and off exploring the historic town. The Thai food in the Phoenix was well received as was the ale in various traditional watering holes in the town.
After allowing us to rise at a civilized hour and enjoy a 'Full English', the water returned to the creek to carry us home. We all motored to Columbine before setting various amounts of sail for the run back towards the Medway. Skybird and Northern Gipsy hoisted all kinds of exotic downwind canvas leaving the 'spinnaker shy' Patanda miles behind in their wake. Jamie on Denebola however had a far more sensible plan and went further out into the estuary to find his supper. This was obviously successful as he was heard on VHF requesting suitable recipes for his catch. Social secretary Jackie 'Delia' Smith on Osprey kindly pointed out that the fish he had described were of the inedible variety and best returned to the 'oggin. He later claimed to have caught some fine Sea Bass and invited us to join him to sample his recently cooked bouillabaisse. We respectfully declined.
This was an excellent cruise to a really special, historic and beautiful piece of east coast maritime heritage. Faversham is right on our doorstep and worthy of far more regular visits. If you've not been yet do hurry as the creek is silting up and Bob Barratt the Builder is eagerly acquiring the wharfs and foreshore to convert into UPVC heaven.
Jerry Dennis Cruise Captain
Here is a navigation guide to Faversham Creek complete with chartlets to download and print
Medway & Swale Estuary Partnership also have a Faversham Creek navigation guide leaflet with the same information, and tourist info about the town, you can download a PDF (1MB) file from their publications page.
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