1. Thames & Kennet Marina to Calais 21st June to 21st July 2024.
- anna Ozberk
- Jan 18
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 21
21st of June 2024 on a beautiful, sunny day, with supplies onboard, full water and fuel tanks and an empty black tank - we depart from the Thames and Kennet Marina in Caversham, embarking on our exciting new adventure.
It felt quite strange to be leaving the marina that had been our base/bolt hole to go back to when the weather turned bad or we had appointments to get to, and now we were baseless, it was actually liberating, although sad to be leaving the friends that we had made. We had already driven the car back home and returned to reading by train, so we also had no transport of our own to rely on anymore.
All the breakables had been packed and stored away safely, so we were using plastic plates and plastic wine glasses until we had completed the channel crossing. Even though our barge is a 'C' class, it can still roll around on the open sea.
Ayhan had specific dates in mind for the channel crossing but trying to align the tide times, the weather and the Pilot's availability for the voyage from Teddington (the beginning of the tidal Thames) to Calais, was certainly proving a challenge. We had already experienced multiple setbacks, such as high river levels caused by the persistent rain, a necessary medical procedure that went wrong and needed to be redone, and then both of us getting Covid and waiting untill we tested negative, which meant instead of our journey beginning April/May it was late June. Thats life!
21 - 24 June. Caversham to Henley on Thames. (13km, 3 locks in 2¾hrs) Still recovering from our first ever bout of Covid and dealing with a lingering cough, we opted for a leisurely start to our trip. We went the short distance to Henley and moored there for three nights, where we had a relaxing time. It also happened to be the Ladies Regatta weekend, so we watched some of the races, enjoyed the wildlife and just people watched.
24 - 25 June. Henley on Thames to Bray Marina. (28 km, 7 locks in 6hrs). After Henley, we decided to indulge in an overnight stay at Bray Marina where there is a lovely Mediterranean restaurant with views overlooking the visitor's pontoon. It seemed like a perfect way to celebrate Ayhan's belated Birthday (we had both had covid when it was his birthday) and to also celebrate the beginning of our adventure ahead of us.
25 - 26 June. Bray Marina to Penton Hook Marina (22km, 5 locks in 4hrs)
26 - 27 June. Laleham (3.15km, ½hr) Moored on a small riverside pontoon for the night.
27 June - 3 July. Laleham to Hampton Court Palace. (13.3kms, 4 locks in 3½hrs). We went on to Hampton Court Palace, passing through Windsor and stayed for six nights. During our time there, we explored the Palace and its amazing gardens, cycled to Kingston-Upon-Thames, relaxed, and people watched. Hampton Court had their annual RHS Garden Festival too, so we enjoyed watching the stream of visitors and some were famous, so it was good fun to spot them. We kept an eye on the weather forecast and stayed in contact with the pilot for updates for his return to the UK. We need the Pilot to come with us from the tidal Thames (which begins after Teddington lock) to Calais for insurance purposes. Hampton Court is near to Teddington which meant we were ready to go when the weather window opened. We also caught up with some good boating friends Paul and Pauline from ‘Josephine Florence’ as they were heading off to Teddington, ready for the Channel crossing and Catherine and Phillip from Jabberwok, who moored near us and we had a couple of days cruising together too. We also met Pamela, who was working at the Hampton Court festival and is a fellow WOB - Women on Barges.
3 - 4 July. Hampton Court Palace to Teddington. (4.5km in 1hr). We decided to go and get ourselves acquainted with Teddington, so had a wonder around the town and checked out the supermarkets in readiness for stocking up with supplies for our journey through London and onto Calais - whenever that might be? We also went out for supper with Catherine and Phillip to the Anglers Arms for fish and chips!
4 - 5 July Teddington to Paxmead (18km, 3 locks in 3hrs). After a couple of days of pottering around we went up river to Paxmead, mooring by the river side for the night.
5 - 9 July Paxmead to Shepperton Marina (3.3km, 1 lock in 1hr). The weather became very unsettled again with more wind and rain forecast, so we then headed for Shepperton marina for comfort & safety where we stayed for five days and caught up with the laundry and boat cleaning.
9 - 12 July. Shepperton Marina to Teddington (17.3km, 2 locks in 2¾hrs). Hoping that the good weather window would open we set off and waited at Teddington.
12 - 14 July Teddington to Queenborough. (110kms,1 lock in 9 ¾hrs) Finally on 12th July all things came together - the weather was good and the pilot was able to join us - so we set off at 5am through Teddington lock. The weather was calm if not a bit chilly, but we were excited to at least start the journey even if it meant that we couldn't get all the way to Calais, we would at least be getting some of the way.
The journey through London was amazing! It got a bit windy and chilly, but the river conditions were absolutely fine and there wasn't a lot of traffic, just the odd Uber boats - akin to the red buses on water - but none caused us any concern. Ayhan really enjoyed cruising past all the wonderful landmarks of London, especially 'The Houses of Parliament', 'Tower Bridge' and going through the 'Thames Barrier.' I was like a tourist taking photos and videos. I left the helm work to the guys, Ayhan did a lot of the helm work through London itself as he wanted to enjoy the experience. I was the tea, coffee and food lady. Making sure the crew were well looked after.
We weren't sure at the beginning of the day if we would go directly to Ramsgate. We had said that we would see how the conditions were. The weather was starting to get windier, and it had already been a long day, so we went to Queenborough and arrived at 14.45. Queenborough is a bit off track, but to continue to Ramsgate would have been just too much, it had been a 9¾hrs journey. The boat actually went quite fast through London, we hit speeds of 16.5 km per hour as we were surfing with the tide. Our boat speed would normally be around 6-8km p/hr.
Queenborough isn't the most exciting of places, but they are friendly and were were safe. The weather the next day wasn't good, so we decided that our pilot - Mark - should stay another day with us and see how the weather was the next day.
14 -15 July. Queenborough to Ramsgate (64km in 5 ¾hrs). Thankfully the weather was good enough to go to Ramsgate, although getting windy later on, so we decided to leave at 5am, which meant we were fighting a bit against the tide but we had nice conditions otherwise and we arrived at 10.45am just as the wind got up, so a good call to leave early.
It was quite windy for the rest of the day at Ramsgate but when checking the weather conditions for the channel crossing the next day, we decided to do as we had been doing, which was to leave early and go against the tide for a while so as to have the best weather conditions.
15th - 21 July. Ramsgate to Calais. (60km in 6 hrs). We left Ramsgate at 4.45am. It was a beautiful, calm and sunny morning and the sea was flat. The tide wasn't much of an issue at all and it was really the best conditions, I couldn't have hoped for more. I will admit to have been quite anxious before hand about the crossing, but I had the best time, taking photos and videos and keeping the crew fed and watered. We did have the shipping channel to contend with and the entry into Calais harbour, which is very busy with ferry boats coming and going all the time. Ayhan was at the helm for a lot of the time as he wanted the experience of doing the crossing, should he need to do it again.
We arrived at Calais at 10.45am (11.45am French Time) so just 6 hours to do the crossing and that was with some waiting around for the ferries to go in and out of the harbour. Not long after arriving the wind started to pick up and it began raining, so yet again we had been lucky with our timings.😁
Calais Marina is controlled by a lock and a lifting bridge, which opens and closes according to the tide times, so we had to moor up onto a floating buoy in the Calais harbour until around 6pm. Once the lock and bridge opened, it was like boat 'Wacky Races' to get into the Marina as spaces can be limited but being a 57ft, 35 tonne steel boat, meant that we had some weight behind us and the other smaller boats kept their distance which enabled us to go in before them. We had actually arrived before them, so we weren't jumping the queue and we wanted to make sure the other boats didn’t jump the queue. We made it to a nice spot in the marina where we stayed for 6 nights.
That evening we went out to a lovely nearby fish restaurant and had a celebratory meal. We all decided on mussels that came with chips, bread and had some nice French wine. It was a great way to begin our journey in France. We had finally made it across the channel!!!🥂🍾
The next day we all had to go passport control which is at the Ferry terminal and we had to get there early so that our pilot - Mark - could get booked onto the ferry back to the UK. It was a bit of a walk - about an hour - as we were too early for the free shuttle bus.
We liked Calais. We decided not to rush off. We had some chores to get done. Ayhan wanted to get all the salt washed off the boat - being a metal boat. I had to unpack the breakables that had been neatly packed away in case the crossing was rough, so I had quite a task of unpacking and doing the laundry, whilst Ayhan had the task of washing the boat. Thankfully the tap water in the Marina was softer water than on the Thames. We also stocked up on food and drink, got a French gas bottle for cooking, filled the fuel and water tanks and got a French sim card for our onboard modem. We were now ready for the French inland waterways.🤞🤞The only downside to being in a busy marina was every time new boats came in and there was no available mooring places, they would come along side us (being one of the larger boats) and tie up alongside. Quite often we would be out and return to find we had a very close neighbour. Some boat people are more considerate than others. If they were careful, we didn't mind, but some were not, which can be more than frustrating!
Whilst at Calais, we also met up with friends & fellow Piper boat owners, Steen from Eadlin and Alan & Susan from Dea Latis. Our socialising in France had began! 🍷🥂😀
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