Sandwich (River Stour)

The tidal flows in the River Stour are slightly unusual...... with the net result that strangers are advised to only tackle the passage to Sandwich on a rising tide.

The tide times given in the link are for Richborough, which is near the entrance. High water at the Quay comes around 40 minutes later. The flood tide can reach a surprising speed in the last hour or two. This is probably because the flood is of a somewhat shorter than usual duration, varying between three and five hours. The duration of the flood is dependent on it's height and also on the amount of freshwater trying to flow out of the River. In contrast to the truncated flood, the ebb can persist for up to 9 hours....

The bar across Pegwell Bay dries out at almost 1 m over CD. The River varies between depths of 0.5 m and 1 m under CD with plenty of drying patches. Levels fluctuate and cannot be guaranteed. Maximum depth at the quay is slightly over 2 m during spring tides. Almost this much can be carried under the swing bridge at Sandwich to the adjacent boatyard. With careful pilotage boats drawing up to 2 m can reach Sandwich at spring tides. At other times only shallower draft craft should attempt the passage..... after careful consultations with the charts and tide tables.

See the harbour website for more information:

http://www.sandwichphc.uk/


Further Pilotage Details...NEW 2018. The channel across Pegwell Bay has altered dramatically. The old loop around past the car wreck has been abandoned and a newly developed straight channel replaces it. The buoyage has been enhanced but the buoy marking the Vauxhall wreck remains in place. The R/W safe water mark at the entry to the channel has been moved and is now in position 51° 18.3'N 001° 24.0'E

Probably the ideal time to make your approach is about two hours before high water, and to bear in mind while in the river that the tide may well be propelling you forwards (and into possible trouble) more quickly than you think.

Strangers should not even contemplate a night-time entry as everything is unlit. Inter boat communications on the River is handled on VHF channel 8, and there is 6 kn speed limit. The approach lays to the SW of Ramsgate and it's beginning is marked by a red and white safe watermark (that is actually not what it says as it can dry out). If approaching from an easterly direction attention needs to be paid to the Quern Bank, marked by a westerly cardinal buoy West Quern (Q(9).15s). This dries to less than one metre at LAT.

From the South East the Cross Ledge just about dries at LAT, and is marked only on its western extremity by an unlit green buoy. With sufficient rise of tide neither of these should be a problem for a shoal draft boat. The red and white safe water buoy can be found by leaving the absolute outer edge of Ramsgate harbour wall behind you on a bearing of 065T (Unfortunately the chimneys at Richborough Power Station which were a useful guide are no longer there). Moving on this transit line which is at approximately 255° will first bring you to the red and white buoy, marking the start of the entrance channel.

We posted warnings in 2014, 2016 and now in 2018 about the buoyage in the channel. They have rebuoyed the channel and a 2023 chartlet of this can be found by clicking the thumbnail image below (It will open in a separate window) Note that they warn that the channel can change and this chartlet and the buoyage needs to be taken as "advisory" in addition to our notes there are the compiler's notes in our "Have your say section below"

NB At the time of editing at the end of March 2023 the buoyage does NOT conform to the channel. SHMs 5 & 7 are up on the mud to the NE of the Channel and both the PHM No2 and SHM No 1 are up on the mud to the SW of the channel. It is uncertain when the Port Authority intends to reposition these buoys so if you do discover they've been repositioned it would be good if you informed us

Establish the midriver depth going sharply from side to side. Then go to the inside of each bend and follow a contour of say half a meter shallower than the depest water. Then when round that bend and in the straight before the next cross over, noting the deepest depth again, and begin to follow a shallower contour around the next bend. Do not go anywhere near the Isolated Danger Mark pole. The outside of the bends are VERY steep to.From the Fairway Buoy you should be able to see a four-legged scaffold tower with a northerly Cardinal topmark almost due North of you; ignore this for the moment, lay a course about 346T from the Fairway Buoy and look for the red and the green buoys between you and the beacon; try not to straight line nav between the buoys as the corners are not for cutting!!

Once you have reached these two buoys turn gently to port, eyeball the next two buoys to the West of you and follow the buoyage in. The Pepperness buoy is in the middle of the channel.

At the top of extremely high tides the marshes and the beaches are completely covered in this area, and it is essential to stay within the 35 m wide channel as marked by the withies/buoys. At the end of the marked channel you will be in the River proper and the deeper water tends to be on the inside of the bends. Check the chart.

Move up to Sandwich town on the rising tide. Exiting the River Stour requires this process to be run in reverse, no matter how tempting it looks to head directly to sea. You must go round the U bends. The Harbourmaster notes that from 2010 the buoyage leading up to Richborough will be placed further towards the edges of the channel (to accomodate occasional ships). Visitors used to skirting these closely would be advised to give them a wider offing than usual