Conyer Creek Expedition

A fantastic opportunity to sail along the Kent coast as an MYC fleet. We'll be setting our sails early morning for a day sail up to Conyer Creek mariner.

Conyer Creek Sail

Sat 30th July 2022 and Sun 31st July 2022

MYC is organising a two day sail for dinghies and yachts on the Saturday 30th July to Conyer Creek, returning the following day. Yacht/s will set off at 07:00 from Ramsgate and plan to arrive at Margate for 09:00 when the dinghies will join them. The tide will be incoming so carrying us all the way to Conyer Creek. The journey distance from Margate to Conyer Creek is 22 nautical miles, so for dinghies it's a long-distance sail.

It is estimated that the journey from Margate will take no more than 5.5 hours. This is aimed at double handed dinghies with ideally 2 helms as it's a long duration to sail solo, but it's not essential.

There will be a stop at Herne Bay which is just under half way, at around 2.5 hours into the sail. Herne bay has public toilet facilities (& ice cream ). After a 15-20 minute break at Herne bay we will set sail again past Whistable, turn left up the estuary and round the back of the Isle of Sheppey until we reach Conyer Creek on our left. We plan to be there by 14:35 which is high water. The creek dries out and can only be accessed 1 hour either side of high tide. We will need to take sails down at the end of the creek and either motor in, if you have one, or be towed in by the safety boat which will join us for the entire trip (from and back to Margate). Once at Conyer Creek Marina, sails & rudders will be left on boats as the site has said it's reasonably secure (& they don't have anywhere to store them). The mooring fee for each dinghy is £22.

After a shower, it's a short walk to the pub (which is also owned by the Marina). We plan to have a bite to eat and maybe a celebratory drink or two!

The Marina manager is kindly allowing us to camp for free overnight for those that wish to. There are toilet & shower facilities there that are open 24/7. Tents, sleeping bags and the like can be carried by the yachts (and transferred from the safety boat at Margate). For those that prefer or need to return home, transport is offered at a total cost of £30 per person which will get you back to our Margate boat yard and then picked back up the following morning for the return journey.

For anyone being picked back up on Sunday we will meet at 11.30am in our Margate boat yard before being driven back to Conyer Creek (50 mins) for the return journey. We will leave Conyer Creek at around 2pm for the return sail back to Margate, earlier if water allows. Again, dinghies to motor out of the creek and sail when at the estuary. High water is at 15:10 and following this the tide takes us back to Margate.

Sue's yacht will join the dinghies in the marina as it has a lifting keel but following advice from the Marina having looked at the tide heights, other yachts will need to pick up a buoy in the estuary and would not be able to join the rest of the group at the pub unless they are happy to camp on shore or use the transport home because there is no way to access the moored yachts after 1 hour following high water.

The safety boat will hold spares and tools for any breakdowns but if a repair can not be undertaken then boats will either be towed by the safety boat or more likely the yacht/s. It is essential boats are thoroughly checked over before this trip and are well maintained. There is a charge of £10 per person towards the cost of fuel for the safety boat.

We require that you take the following equipment on board your dinghy:

Phone and waterproof case, sailing knife, whistle or fog horn, additional clothing layers or splash jacket, buoyancy aid, anchor, long painter, sun hat, snacks and drinks, sun cream, compass, VHF radio preferable and waterproof GPS ideal but not essential, paddles.

Sailors must be confident in doing their own righting in case of a capsize and any club boats must use a mast head float, responsibility of the helms.

We will review the weather forecast on the 28th July to ensure we have favourable conditions for the weekend to enable us to go ahead, minimum 8-10 mph and maximum around 15mph. We also need to ensure we reach Herne Bay by around 11:45 in order to reach our final destination in time for high water at Conyer Creek, if not we will turn back to Margate. We don't plan to sail with a head wind in either direction, so the wind and weather does need to be on our side but it's hoped this will be a cracking sail along our coast!

We need to know who and how many would like to attend so please let us know by Monday 25th July, on what boat you plan to be on and ideally with whom, and if you are camping or would like to get a taxi. Please send these details to Lynda Town on 07956 308766, on Whatsapp preferable.

For any questions or queries please contact Steve Town via Whatsapp on 07378 292007

Tide times

Tide data for Margate

Last updated 8:58pm on 5 August 2024