Cruising

If you are less confident you can join in regular weekend cruises within the Medway Estuary. As you gain experience there are regular cruises in company throughout the year to places further afield.

If you are already an experienced cruiser and want to be self-sufficient the cruising grounds of the East Coast, France and Belgium are only a day’s sail away.

Likewise if you play the tides you can sail up the Thames to London in one day.

Cruiser class has so much to offer it’s members both on and off the water. There is always someone to help you should you have a problem with your yacht or any aspect of sailing.

For many sailors the defining moment that inspired them to pursue sailing as a sport or hobby was when after leaving the mooring under motor, setting up your sails, turning your yacht to pick up the wind, THEN, turning off the motor. There it is, the SILENCE, only broken by the sound of the wind in the sails as you adjust the helm for best course.

To find out more about Cruising at Medway Yacht Club contact the class captain.

Moorings

With over 200 deep water moorings available for cruisers of 20 feet to 42 we can cater for most of your needs.

A trot boat service runs to take you from the club pontoon to your boat. This service is on demand at weekends during the sailing season. At other times it runs by prior arrangement or a regular morning, lunchtime and evening run during the week.

For the more independant there is ample space to store a tender ashore and secure, fireproof storage for an outboard.

Shoreside Facilities

Medway Yacht Club is the only club in the south east with its own state of the art Wise travel hoist.

This is capable of lifting boats up to 12 tonnes drawing less than 2m out of the water and moving them to the car park for winter maintenance.

Deep keel yachts that need a shore cradle are catered for as the class has a number of cradles available for hire.

If you want a mid-season scrub the travel hoist can be used and the yard staff will clean your boat for you.

A cheaper alternative is to use the club’s scrubbing trolley and pressure washer. Using this a 30 foot boat can be cleaned in less than 30 minutes.

The car park has a 2.5m security fence and is covered by extensive CCTV meaning that your boat in winter storage is a secure as it can be.

When you go away for your summer cruise you can be confident your car will still be there when you come back.

The Tuesday Group

The Tuesday Group was started by a small group of retired members who used to come down to the club on a Tuesday to carry out mooring maintenance during the winter. Since then the club has employed outside companies to carry out mooring maintenance but the Tuesday Group has grown and is now one of the largest groups within the club with approaching 100 members.

The group still meets every Tuesday and goes for a sail in company, the destination is flexible and is weather dependent.

If you are recently retired and wish to try sailing join the Tuesday Group. There is no need to own a boat or have any sailing experience as all are welcome.

The Class Captain’s Story

The two chaps in the photo are Bob and John – the current cruiser class co-captains. This photo was taken on Bob’s boat during one of the Tuesday Group trips into the Thames Estuary.

John joined Medway Yacht Club in 2013 having already obtained an RYA Day Skipper certificate and had kept his boat in marinas. Although he had the qualification, he did not feel confident to skipper his own boat on a longer cruise. He found that the marinas did not offer the support he wanted to gain more experience. Upon joining MYC and the Cruiser Class, John found the members very welcoming and plenty of people with many sea miles only too willing to take him sailing either on their boat or on his own.

John is now an experienced skipper in his own right and became Cruiser Class captain at the end of 2019. As John says “The joy of sailing is that no two days are ever the same and you continue to learn new skills every time you go out.”