Most cruising guides to the Medway start at Sheerness and go upstream as if you are coming in from the sea in your forty-footer from, say Lowestoft or Dover. I shall start from Upnor near Rochester and deal with cruising first upstream and then down river.

If you are going by road from London you will probably take the A2 to Strood, which is separated from Rochester by the Medway. Turn left at the traffic lights immediately after going under the railway bridge; go up the hill to Frindsbury and then turn right at the signpost “T.S. Arethusa”. A mile of so further, turn right at the signpost “Upnor Castle Ancient Monument”. Go past the castle car park, keeping right past the village of Upper Upnor. Very soon on the left is a turning leading down to a public hard.

When you sail upstream from here, Chatham dockyard is to port and army territory to starboard. Whitewall Creek can be explored at high tide, but is only half a mile long and several derelict hulks lie along the north bank. The saltings to the south of the creek are too shallow even for the smallest sailing boat. The mouth of the creek is about three-quarters of a mile upstream from our starting point, on your starboard side. Beware an extensive mud-bank on the south side of the entrance.

Continuing upstream, we pass Sun Pier, Chatham, from which motorboat trips are run on summer weekends to Lower Upnor. Rochester docks are next to port. Many barges with high overhanging bows are moored here and the current is very strong especially on the ebb. Giving these vessels a wide berth we soon see before us Rochester railway bridge. This is a terrifying sight to the helmsman of a small boat as just before one passes beneath, the bridge looks lower than the top of the mast or gaff. In fact, the bridge clearance at high water springs is 22 ft.

The motorway bridge about two miles further presents no problems; it is sufficiently high and the supports are sufficiently wide apart to make sailing through quite easy in mid-stream. Cuxton is soon reached, to starboard. From here the river is pleasantly rural for some miles. The jetties at Cuxton are high and dry at low tide, and the banks are very soft mud. Just over a mile upstream to starboard, before a large factory building, is one of the few places where one can walk ashore at low tide. The hard opposite is owned by the army.

The village of Wouldham, with its general store, has no easy access from the river. One has to choose a gravely part of the bank and then scramble up the slope, or make use of the ferry steps half a mile further on, to port. Around Snodland, the reeds remind one of the Norfolk Broads. Upstream from here the river is not suitable for sailing boats because of narrowness, riverside industrial development and the very low bridge at Aylesford.

Returning, one notices the public landing stage just before Rochester Bridge to starboard as we are now going downstream. It is possible to sail under the bridge unless it means beating to windward or unless the tidal current is against you.

After passing our starting point, we continue downstream to Lower Upnor, where are the ‘five star’ Medway Yacht Club with all its moorings, the training ship Arethusa from the ‘days of sail’, and a public hard, though I cannot recall seeing anyone use it. The scene here is very pretty, as wooded hills slope to a sandy shore. Hoo Island is next seen ahead and small boats can sail between it and the northern shore. This should be attempted about an hour or two before high tide. When I sailed through in a 12 footer I had a following wind but kept the centreboard down to feel for the bottom! It never once lifted, and mud banks topped with grass are plainly seen on both sides.

The usual course, however, is to pass to the south of Hoo Island. On the southern bank of the river, which is about half a mile wide here, just beyond a conspic. gas-holder, is Gillingham Strand. Here there is a large public hard easily reached by road and giving access to a stretch of the river which is excellent for sailing.

Gillingham Reach, being broader than those parts of the river already mentioned, has a tidal current not quite so strong as they have. Following the main channel, one passes between the two circular blockhouse forts of Hoo and Darrett Islands. Here the current is again strong. There is a hard of sorts to the southwest of the fort on Darrett Island, beside the breakwater. Dinghy sailors often visit the island on days when the tides permit, and I have even seen a tent on it. No doubt all unofficial, but there are no ‘keep off’ notices. Beware the drying bar between Darrett and the island to the south, Nor Marsh.

Having passed the forts, one faces the gigantic new power station, of which the chimney is a Iandmark for the whole estuary. The river turns to port at Oakham Ness, marked by a jetty with a derrick-like construction upon it. Beyond here, boats must be seaworthy, helmsmen experienced, and ‘spare parts’ or tool-kits carried!

To the south lies Otterham Creek, but as the seawall is for the most part concrete, large stones or metal plates, one cannot beach a cruising dinghy, though no doubt it would be suitable for those wishing to spend a night at anchor.

Stangate Creek, further downstream, divides into many lesser creeks, but it must be remembered that it is only possible to get ashore at high tide because of the extensive mud flats.

Keeping the ‘eternal flame’ of the Isle of Grain oil refinery to port, we pass Queenborough to starboard and reach Sheerness, where there is a pier about half a mile south of Garrison Point coastguard station. Immediately south of the pier, one can leave one’s boat on the slightly muddy shore and go for a short walk to the ‘seaside’ of Sheerness. This is useful to know if the wind is northerly.

If you are not bound for Sheerness but are turning to starboard to enter Queenborough harbour, which is the entrance to the Swale, beware a spit on the west side marked by a beacon. Queenborough can be identified from the main river by green gas holders, and, when you are nearer, the mass of yachts at moorings. There is a very long concrete hard accessible at all states of the tide. You are now in the mysterious Swale, which is neither creek nor river. The sea flows in at both ends on each rising tide, and the two tidal streams meet near Elmley without causing any dangerous turbulence, at least in fine weather.

After passing Queenborough, one has to negotiate the extraordinary ‘Z-bend’ of the Swale. This is best done with a fair tide. Kingsferry bridge is a lifting bridge, but small craft pass beneath without needing to disrupt the road traffic. Before reaching the bridge, however, one sails for about two miles in real cruising waters. The only signs of human life are a few cruising yachts, whose skippers give a cheerful wave; wading birds line the shore or take flight with characteristic plaintive cries.

As the bridge comes into view, watch out for water skiers! They usually launch their speedboats from the firm ground just before the bridge, to starboard, but immediately after passing under it you will see a new hard on the port hand where quite large boats can be launched.

Opposite, many motor cruisers and similar craft are moored or lie on the mud. A mile and a half further on, to port, is the Swale Sailing Club. This is the only sailing club open to the public in the Swale, except for the Hollowshore Cruising Club at Oare Creek. The manager the Swale Club is a helpful and understanding type.

Just past this club are the Elmley Hills. In contrast to the flatness of the surrounding regions, they tower thirty feet or so above the high water line! Grass-covered, they are usually dotted with sheep. Avoid Milton Creek, to starboard, which has chemical works along the banks. Turning to port, we enter the shallow part of the Swale. At the now discontinued ferry hard (a ridge of shingle) a notice proclaims that two gas mains cross the ‘river’ here. An identical notice faces it on the other side of the narrow channel. Vast mud flats extend on both side of this channel, which is marked by cylindrical black buoys. Fowley Island, except at high tide, is seen high and dry in the distance beyond a great expanse of mud, looking like part of the mainland. The creeks of the Swale are narrow, winding, and inaccessible at low tide.

Passing into the wider deeper part of the eastern Swale, we reach Harty Ferry (again discontinued). The ferry house on the hill to port is now a comfortable pub. The hards give access to both shores at all states of the tide, and the mainland one, marked by stakes, is connected by road with Oare and Faversham a few miles to the south.

The entrance to Oare Creek itself is about half a mile further, on the southern shore. At low tide the entrance is nothing but a mud bank. There is a green wreck buoy nearby. The creek is, of course, described in the Dinghy Cruising Association Handbook (East Coast).

The channel, now about half a mile wide, extends in a north-easterly direction between the seaweed strewn Hourse Sands and the southern shore. This is an area to be avoided in north easterly winds.

If I have emphasised the dangers and drawbacks of these waters, it is only in the interests of safety. The Medway, with the Swale, provides one of the most interesting cruising areas in England, and some of the finest sailing.