I have been asked to add some notes relevant to dinghy cruising to the list of Thames launching sites already published over the past couple of years.

Although the Thames is Britain’s most renowned river, few citizens have first-hand knowledge of the water. In keeping with that, the Thames is an excellent place to get away from it all. Save near a lock at weekends in the peak summer holiday period, one always seems to have the river to oneself.

THE WATER One who consulted me proposed to drift downstream, letting the river do the work. I had to disillusion him. The fine-weather current is maybe ¼ knot. When the river is in winter spate the current can be 3 – 4 knots but the conditions are hardly right for dinghy cruising under sail, and great care needs to be taken not to fall foul of weirs, etc.

While on the topic of the water, it is safe to say that more people are drowned in the placid Thames than in the raging seas off Cape Horn, so the river needs full nautical respect. But, at least, though you may drown if careless, you will not be poisoned because the water is the cleanest of any major river in Europe.

LOCKS AND BRIDGES Scattered along the 140-odd miles from Lechlade to the Tower are a hundred bridges as well as 44 locks and a half-lock. The lowest bridge, at Oxford, allows just 7½ feet of headroom. The others are rather better and some will pass a full dinghy sail, but any sailboat that is to proceed along the river must have some contrivance for readily lowering the mast, preferably while in mid-stream. Hence a gunter rig is convenient, but a one-piece mast can be lowered if hinged at the mast step and an extended forestay lanyard is used. This should pass through an eye on the bow fitting and fasten somewhere within easy reach. A 7 lb weight on about 8 metres of 6 mm braided line makes a handy temporary anchor for use in mid-stream when lowering or hoisting sail or dropping the mast, etc.

All Thames locks are meticulously maintained and are worked for you during daylight hours. The sail should be lowered in the lock approach. The dinghy sailor is wise to let the power craft go in first and then tuck in behind, so when the lock is opened the heavies can get away first. Then one can row out and hoist sail without hassle while the others vanish round a distant bend.

In the lock there are vertical chains for light-crafters to hang on to, and there are steps for civilised disembarkation. On entering a lock to descend, pull the rudder blade nearly out of the water to avoid having the boat sheer about as the water moves forward past the boat while the lock empties. Fenders are essential to avoid abrasion of gunwale against the lock wall. At the lock they will check if you have a licence. The annual licence for an unpowered dinghy is only the per capita cost of a modest restaurant lunch, viz. £6.12p. With power, a dinghy becomes a launch and the fee is much steeper (about 4x for a 12 ft dinghy) and you have to meet all the regulations: e.g. the boat’s name must be on both bows and on the stern, nor can the name be like that of any other registered boat. Short period licences are available, but they are not worthwhile for an unpowered boat. For the licence you have a free run of all the river and the locks from Cricklade to Teddington.

MOORING Notionally there is a public towpath along the entire length of the navigable river. It changes bank every few miles. ‘Towpath’ is a variable term. Near habitations it is a recognisable path, road even, but out in the green it is just a right of way along the bank. According to a critical 19th century judgement, you have to take it as you find it. In principle, the navigator can moor anywhere on the towpath bank. The availability of the other bank varies. By grazing land or woodland you will usually be all right for the night, but you will rarely be welcome at the bottom of someone’s garden.

In any case it is better on the towpath side because you can walk there without trespass for pleasure or to reach the hinterland.

The land grades down to the sea, averaging 1¾ feet per mile but the water in each locked reach stays more level. Hence the height and nature of the bank varies. Just below a lock it may be 6-10 feet high whereas, just above a lock the bank will be just a foot or so high, i.e., just a nice height for mooring a dinghy. The exposed banks are usually gravelly rather than of clay. Often the grass curves over the edge to give a soft berth, but fenders are usually needed if you care for your gel-coat.

When mooring anywhere bear in mind that the water level can rise rapidly following an upstream cloudburst, or fall a lot should there be a problem at the next lock downstream.

There are numerous sandy beaches along the river and, as an alternative to lying alongside, one can run the dinghy in on the sand. If sleeping aboard it is best to keep the dinghy afloat just off the beach with one anchor ashore and one out in the river from the stern. In any case, note that these pretty beaches are really places where cattle come for water. Before deciding to stay overnight check for fresh droppings or hoof-marks that imply cattle actually in residence, else your repose may be disturbed by playful bullocks. These intend no harm, but even a friendly nudge from half a ton of beef can easily crease frail equipment. Just above Rushey lock I once met a horse that loved to nibble the canvas of any boat that moored at the bank of his field.

CAMPING ASHORE Sleeping aboard solves all the overnighting problems. Everywhere belongs to someone: you can sleep ashore only by courtesy of the landowner. I am not well informed on camp sites because I have always slept in the boat, but there are several official camp sites along the river that will be listed in the relevant directories, and there are plainly many sequestered spots where a bivvy could be set up on a dusk to dawn basis without trouble if you are tidy. Paul Gedge used to take loads of urchins camping along the river and wrote a delightful little book Thames Journey (Harrap) that can still be found in second-hand book shops.

FOOD Because of flooding, most habitations keep away from the river bank, so there are not many places where you can step ashore into a supermarket. If you carry basic stores enough for a few days, you can stop where you fancy. Pubs will afford a bar meal midday — though ones near the river will provide haute cuisine at high prices.

SANITATION The cleanliness of the Thames is jealously guarded and no discharges may be made overboard into the river. Hence the dinghy sailor proceeds as one who is camping ashore. A bucket is handy. Plumbed provision ashore is infrequent, but there is plenty of seclusion among bushes along the way.

PLANNING The Thames is rather deceptive in the relation between distance and time. In my experience 12 miles is a very good day’s run and 16 miles is the upper limit for pleasure. This is not a function of the speed one can do through the water, but it depends on the spirit of the river itself.

On many cruises I have found that I keep pace day by day with the powered craft to the great surprise of their skippers who sometimes remark on the phenomenon after they have overtaken me several times during the week. I pootle quietly along, enjoying every moment of sailing or rowing. They rush along and than stop for hours in the middle of the day to cook meals, snooze, watch TV or walk the dog. Then, of course, each lock needs about half an hour to pass. In any case, there is no point in rushing along the river: it is not what you come for.

Useful river guides are the annual Thames Book by Link House, and the Nicholson Guide (now 2 volumes). The former has diagrammatic maps, the latter uses the 0S 2½ inch maps as a basis. Stanford produces a folded map which is convenient, in a plastic envelope, as an on-deck chart. This should be marked boldly to show which bridges can be cleared mast-up and which need dismasting and to what extent.

There are a host of books on the Thames. I will add but two: for true flavour read Robert Gibbings’ Sweet Thames Run Softly (Dent) and, for better local information, Small Boat on the Thames by Roger Pilkington (Macmillan). Both are highly readable.

WEATHER The wind tends to channel along a river one way or the other. Hence it is either with you or against you. Because the summer current is feeble, you can sail either way so, if you have the choice, sail with the prevailing wind. It is much easier. In the Thames valley the wind dies around 6pm on a summer evening in settled weather. A gale, on the other hand, is no respecter of the clock. Moreover, apropos gales, you should not overlook the possibility of having to stay put for a day during a blow; and, in choosing a mooring, it is always useful to get into the lee of some cover in case it does start to blow in the night.

There is a special phenomenon on the Thames, discovered by me, that I call the ‘bridge and lock breeze’. No matter how calm the day, or how idly the sails sag while you row, you can be sure that the wind will pipe up as you approach an obstruction and at the critical moment you will be tearing along looking anxiously for a place to luff up and drop the sail.

TIDAL WATER Below Teddington lock you come into tidal water (not yet salt) belonging to the Port of London. There is no fee for pleasure craft for using the water. There is a half-tide lock at Richmond which allows free passage 2-3 hours either side of high water, else you pay. Now that the docks have mostly closed there is very little commercial traffic above Greenwich though there are many, assertive, river buses some of which run until the small hours with dancing parties aboard. The stream is quite strong on the ebb, so an anchor needs to be adequately heavy (the bottom is mostly hard) if you want to stay in the same place overnight. A 9 lb folding anchor has served for my Otter with canopy up. From time to time in the night, a heavy bump indicates the passage of a lump of driftwood.

Here and there, one can tie up to a floating pontoon or alongside a moored craft. But avoid mooring at a raft of barges because these swing at tide-turn, possibly re-grouping, and a small dinghy can get crushed. Likewise, be chary of moored, swim-headed barges as you go down on the ebb. It would be fatal to get carried under these. You can take the ground at low water for a quiet night on the hard, but watch out lest you come to rest on a jagged bit of discarded hardware.