Unfinished business

PicoMicroYacht has still to finish it's Thames adventure and so continued down the river.

The river was surprisingly rough as the west wind played against the last of the flood, with the Queen Elizabeth 2nd bridge in the distance.

 Soon PicoMicroYacht was under the bridge and I was looking upwards, the tower blocks in the distance providing scale.

I had to look out for river traffic and keep my station.  A  ship was creeping upstream with two tugs huffing and puffing to keep it in the right position for docking.

 A solitary yacht came past under genoa, keeping the speed down so as to arrive at Gravesend at a particular time.

Soon I was passing the wharves at Gravesend, as the river  accelerated. I was now drifting down at six knots, with the greenish brown water in boiling turbulence around me.
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I made my approach, readying PicoMicroYacht for the only slipway.  A Port of London Authority launch made a beeline for me from across the river, wanting to quiz me about my intentions. After a brief chat, PicoMicroYacht was on it's way.

Gravesend Sailing Club kindly agreed to store my boat for a few hours. A chatty friendly group of sailors greeted me.

They conquer the mud in dinghies by going out at high tide and using the crane to launch.

Their friendly welcome made me almost want to join the club there and then, but PicoMicroYacht must continue onward.