Meridian Canoe Club

Maidstone Canoe Club have kindly invited Meridian to join them on a trip to Nore Marsh and Darnet Island in the Medway Estuary.

Hi All,
 
I was intending to organise another inter club paddle on the Medway Estuary earlier this year but never got round to it, too much going on. However,  I am thinking of doing one on Saturday 21st September, a bit late in the year but hopefully the summer will last that long.  The plan would be to launch from the Strand at Gillingham and paddle out to Nore Marsh which is an interesting wild life area and when caught at the right tide levels resembles a maze. The tide would be rising from about 9am till about 2:45pm so no chance of getting marooned in the marsh, then land on Darnet Island for a lunch stop. Launch time would be about 11am.
 
If anybody is interested I will work on a more detailed plan and circulate it to all interested. If you know of any other local club contacts please pass this on.
 
 Best regards,
 
Geoff Orford
Maidstone Canoe Club

This trip is based on Discovery your Estuary trip 1, details and video can be found at
http://www.discoveryourestuary.com/cano ... ilone.html
a map at
http://www.discoveryourestuary.com/CanoeTrail-1.pdf
and chart at
http://www.visitmyharbour.com/harbours/ ... 2012-chart

Both myself, Kathryn, Lauren and Emily are interested.
If you would like to join us let me know.

I will post more information as I receive it.

Hi Tim,
I'm running tech and sound at a conference that day, but Emily is up for this.
Can anyone fit her in their car?
Thanks,
Phil

Received this email from Geoff:-
Hi All,
The long range weather forecast, for what it’s worth, is showing light winds for Gillingham on 21st Sept so at this point the trip is definitely on.
Details:
Location: Meet at the Strand Slipway (N 51.396 E 0.563) but please note that you can unload boats at the end of the slipway but can only leave your car at the car park
Numbers: no restriction on numbers attending
Times: 10:30 for 11:00 launch return at approx. 15:00 depending on length of lunch stop.
Paddling Skill: 2* or equivalent need to be able to paddle on choppy water for a distance of 6 miles, with stops.
Boats: Suitable for Touring/Crossover/Sea Kayaks and Canoes not really suitable shorter play boats
Paddle distance: From strand slipway to Nor Marsh 1.5 miles, Nor Marsh to Darnet Island approx. 3 miles depending on how much time spent on Nor, Darnet to Strand 2 miles, total approx. 6 miles
Tide conditions: High Tide at Darnet Ness is 14:35 so we will be launching on a rising tide and paddling against the flow but it will not be very strong, possibly returning on slack water.
Food/Drinks: Bring a packed lunch for a stop on Darnet Island.
What to wear: MUST wear BA, Definitely bring a cag, the rest is up to you.
Points of Interest: Nor Marsh is an RSPB reserve and resembles a maze at low and middle tide but floods on high tides, you can get a good view of this on Google Earth, pretty safe to explore the channels on a rising tide, which we will have, but not recommended when the tide is falling as you may get stranded. Darnet Island has a Napoleonic Fort that can be explored but strictly at your own risk, plenty of bird life around the Marsh and Island, good views of Kingsnorth Power Station if you like that sort of thing.
Safety considerations: There will be several experienced sea paddlers in the group, some of them coaches, tow lines, first aid kits, mobile phones, split paddles, pumps.
I will keep an eye on the weather forecast and will only cancel the trip if strong winds are forecast and will e-mail this list.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Best wishes,
Geoff


Kathryn has agreed to liaise with Maidstone and for more information contact Kathleen on:-
01322 524 959
07949394411
kathleenbm@btinternet.com

Quite a trip with a wide variety of water to contend with.
Starting with paddling against the tide to get to the mysterious Nor Marsh.
Which at low water is a maze of narrow channels.



Then estuary paddling to Darnet Island

to stop for lunch

and a chance to explore the Napoleonic fort.

Finally more estuary paddling against the tide for the return to Gillingham by which time Nor Marsh was now submerged.


Thanks to Geoff at Maidstone Canoe Club for organising this trip and inviting Meridian.

Maidstone Canoe Club pictures are at:-
http://www.maidstonecanoeclub.net/jooml ... 9-P9213120