2014 Flow and Ebb: Shaun Wall
http://www.pla.co.uk/assets/tilburyq12015.pdf accesses tidal resources for planning trips to and from Dartford Creek. It is not a link! It allows you to download a PDF for Tilbury ! You can get any table you want from the PLA. Silvertown (also called Woolwich) tide table is appropriate for Bow Lock. Tide at the lock is about 20mins after Silvertown. 5.9m Silvertown equates to average water level INSIDE Bow Lock. As "Dartford Creek Navigators", we need to know enough to plan a safe passage between Bow and Dartford in either direction. You should understand how tides work before going out on the tide. Safety is not an accident in this game. The Estuary is our sailing ground; Dartford is our home port; everything works around tides. Learn the flow and the ebb and let's start worth some basic facts and numbers.
HIGHEST Spring tide is ALWAYS between 2oc and 3oc (am and/or pm!) at Tilbury and is usually on the 2nd day AFTER a fullor a new moon. The night prediction is [usually] higher than the day prediction so look for the Spring in the dark. The lowest neap tide occurs with a gibbous moon during the same hour. Each time one of our boats sails, someone has to do the sums. (See "Ebb and Flow" for a case in point). We need to know what height of water allows us to get up the Darent or Cray ... get under Bob Dunn ... what height the keel bottoms on the cill or on a berm. Sums have to be done to get in and out of Dartford, to gauge when it is feasible to cross the bar and proceed up-river. Because of a glitch to be addressed (2017) over a leaking cill and ruckings there will only be a surplus of water in the creek when the tide is in. At any Tilbury [actual] reading below 4.0meters it is impossible to navigate even a rubber duck below Bob Dunn Bridge (A206) At any Tilbury reading above 5.0meters there will be enough water in Dartford Creek above the cill for kayaks and canoes. 5.0m actual Tilbury normally equates with cill level in the lock. At any Tilbury reading above 5.6meters it is possible to sail up into the "Jolly Farmer" wharf via Crayford Creek and also for boats of draught up to 24" (0.6m) to cross the cill and tie up at the lock quay. At any Tilbury reading above 6.0meters it is safe to take almost any boat anywhere in either creek. Above 6.0meters it is not recommended to moor at the quayside unless you really know what you are doing. The highest Tilbury tide almost never reaches 7.0meters and so is seldom encountered. However, Pentargon has been there! At 7.0m the whole lock and ruckings are submerged and it would be a good idea NOT to cross the eastern retaining wall, as there will be no points of reference for safe footfall. At this height, Bob Dunn Bridge has zero clearance and no points of reference for safe navigation of a boat such as the Springer used for the 2015/2016 survey. In March? 2018, the Thames Barge Decima, (draft 1.5m) made a successful passage under Bob Dunn to moor at the partly open bottom gates. During the ensuing months the gates were progressively dug out by hand to eventually give 0.5m clearance for Decima to pass through and tie up at the quay above the cill on Thu. 17th May 2018.
DARTFORD FORAYS Shaun Wall
Times and Tides: Shaun Wall
http://www.pla.co.uk/assets/tilburyq12015.pdf accesses tidal resources for planning trips to and from Dartford Creek. It is not a link! It allows you to download a PDF for Tilbury ! You can get any table you want from the PLA. Silvertown (also called Woolwich) tide table is appropriate for Bow Lock. Tide at the lock is about 20mins after Silvertown. 5.9m Silvertown equates to average water level INSIDE Bow Lock. As "Dartford Creek Navigators", we need to know enough to plan a safe passage between Bow and Dartford in either direction. You should understand how tides work before going out on the tide. Safety is not an accident in this game. The Estuary is our sailing ground; Dartford is our home port; everything works around tides. Learn the flow and the ebb and let's start worth some basic facts and numbers.
HIGHEST Spring tide is ALWAYS between 2oc and 3oc (am and/or pm!) at Tilbury and is usually on the 2nd day AFTER a fullor a new moon. The night prediction is [usually] higher than the day prediction so look for the Spring in the dark. The lowest neap tide occurs with a gibbous moon during the same hour. Each time one of our boats sails, someone has to do the sums. (See "Ebb and Flow" for a case in point). We need to know what height of water allows us to get up the Darent or Cray ... get under Bob Dunn ... what height the keel bottoms on the cill or on a berm. Sums have to be done to get in and out of Dartford, to gauge when it is feasible to cross the bar and proceed up-river. Because of a glitch to be addressed (2017) over a leaking cill and ruckings there will only be a surplus of water in the creek when the tide is in. At any Tilbury [actual] reading below 4.0meters it is impossible to navigate even a rubber duck below Bob Dunn Bridge (A206) At any Tilbury reading above 5.0meters there will be enough water in Dartford Creek above the cill for kayaks and canoes. 5.0m actual Tilbury normally equates with cill level in the lock. At any Tilbury reading above 5.6meters it is possible to sail up into the "Jolly Farmer" wharf via Crayford Creek and also for boats of draught up to 24" (0.6m) to cross the cill and tie up at the lock quay. At any Tilbury reading above 6.0meters it is safe to take almost any boat anywhere in either creek. Above 6.0meters it is not recommended to moor at the quayside unless you really know what you are doing. The highest Tilbury tide almost never reaches 7.0meters and so is seldom encountered. However, Pentargon has been there! At 7.0m the whole lock and ruckings are submerged and it would be a good idea NOT to cross the eastern retaining wall, as there will be no points of reference for safe footfall. At this height, Bob Dunn Bridge has zero clearance and no points of reference for safe navigation of a boat such as the Springer used for the 2015/2016 survey. In March? 2018, the Thames Barge Decima, (draft 1.5m) made a successful passage under Bob Dunn to moor at the partly open bottom gates. During the ensuing months the gates were progressively dug out by hand to eventually give 0.5m clearance for Decima to pass through and tie up at the quay above the cill on Thu. 17th May 2018.
DARTFORD FORAYS Shaun Wall
Times and Tides: Shaun Wall
