Ebb & Flow

The small workboats of the tidal Thames

Dwarfed by other vessels, construction sites and piers along the river, there is a fleet of small workboats, open topped or with a wheel house, navigating the river in all conditions. Unless you’re looking out for them, they can pass by un-noticed but their work is vital to smooth operations along the river.

EDDIE C making her way along a rough stretch of the Thames

They fetch and carry people and goods; act as safety boats; serve as platforms for filming, PR work, surveys, structural inspections both above and below the waterline, and numerous other activities associated with the maintenance of buildings, embankments and structures along the river.

Safety boat FELLUCA at the Tideway Chelsea Embankment Foreshore

Some belong to particular pleasure boat cruise companies, working solely for them, ferrying skippers, mates and crew from a nearby pier to where their vessels are moored, and others are available for hire for long or short term.

DUTCH MASTER with small boat CYGNET just visible by the stern

Thames Cruises’ GUVNOR moored at Lambeth

There are many active civil engineering projects along the tidal Thames but by far the largest is the Tideway Super Sewer for London, now 40 percent complete, which has twenty-four construction sites, all using small workboats along with the other vessels they need onsite or for deliveries.

Wal Daly-Smith, now Mate with Bateaux London Cruises, worked earlier this year as a safety boat skipper at the Blackfriars site. His boat, Diveco 1, assisted with diver operations and played a big part in the building of the cofferdam.

Diveco 1 inside the Tideway cofferdam at Blackfriars earlier this year.
© Wal Daly-Smith See his Thames images @RiverLens

It was a complex job and as Wal explains, one of the main tasks he had was “to act as safety boat. The divers would be lowered into the water by crane and I would be on standby, a good distance away with my engine shut down. The divers also worked off a pontoon, which I would push around with the boat.” Their work involved welding and burning, all of this in extremely murky, dangerous underwater conditions.

Sunset from inside the Thames Tideway cofferdam at Blackfriars.
© Wal Daly-Smith See his Thames images @RiverLens

Wal also told me how the Diveco boat was used to help with rescuing fish trapped in the cofferdam as the water was drained out. “A zoologist from London Zoo took part ensuring the fish were netted in the correct way and freed back into the river on the other side”. Over 1,200 fish, of several different species were rescued. Here is yet further proof that there has been a spectacular renewal of marine life in the river since the dark days of 1957 when the Thames was described as “biologically dead” by the Natural History Museum.

After the fish were moved to safety, the boat assisted in the removal of thousands of tons of sludge. “I could feel the prop dragging through the thick silt once the cofferdam was drained,” he added.

DANCHA from Eel Pie Island racing through a sparkling Thames

These are just a few of the many small workboats to be seen along the river but there are many more hidden within structures or tucked in alongside or behind bigger boats. With names like ROSIE, ALFIE, LOVELY BOUY and REBEL, they all have their own characteristics and are fun to watch. But make no mistake, their skippers need a lot of skill to handle them in the often turbulent waters of the Thames.

JOANNIE B making her way downstream past the Palace of Westminster

For more information see: https://www.tideway.london @TidewayLondon and follow @RiverLens for pictures of life on the river by an aspiring Waterman ⚓️

With the tide in full flow…

…the swift running currents of the central London Thames divide and stream through the constricted spaces between the embankments and beneath the bridges.

Swift running tide beneath the Blackfriars bridges

For those working along the river, they can be a useful energy-saving way of getting around and you will see all types of boats from tugs and tourist boats to kayaks skilfully taking advantage of this when they can.

Further downstream, if you’re walking by Tower Bridge, or taking a river trip to Greenwich, the Thames Barrier or beyond, you’ll not only see the usual traffic but also the occasional impressive-looking ship on a visit to London. Some come right into the heart of the City to moor alongside the permanently berthed historic HMS Belfast, which took part in the bombardment supporting the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944.

HMS Belfast permanently moored near Tower Bridge

Last September I was lucky enough to have been close to Tower Bridge when the bridge lifted and the sail training ship STS Lord Nelson came through. And later in the month I spotted her sister ship, sailing vessel SV Tenacious further downstream, making her way seawards past the ever-changing skyline to the east of the City.

These two elegant ships are owned by the Jubilee Sailing Trust, in existence for over thirty years, and their mission is “to give people of mixed abilities and circumstances the freedom to explore their ability, potential and place in the world through inclusive adventures at sea.”

SV Tenacious heads seawards past the ever-changing City skyline

No-one is disadvantaged as the ships were specially designed to be wheelchair accessible throughout. Trips have been variously described as adventurous, challenging, confidence-building and inspiring but perhaps the most revealing is a comment from one voyager “that sailing for me on these ships is the only time I feel free”, expressing a liberation from the fears and restrictions that can curtail everyday life.

Moored next to HMS Belfast, former RMS St Helena on a visit to London, January 2019

In January 2019, the former Royal Mail Ship, cargo liner RMS St Helena, sailed beneath Tower Bridge, mooring next to HMS Belfast, in her new role as an ambassador for the launch of the Extreme E electric car racing series. There was something majestic and romantic seeing her among us in London after she had served the islanders of St Helena with all their needs for nearly thirty years.

She was much loved by the population and they gave her a memorable send-off in February 2018, including a last propeller inspection by the St Helena Dive Club, whose members posed underwater for a photo with the island flag. After leaving London, she sailed westwards round the coast to undergo refitting and refurbishment so as to be able to act as a movable base for each of the Extreme E races when events begin in 2021.

As I was turning to leave, a pool of reflected light unexpectedly and magically shone onto part of her starboard side and I further understood why this ship had been held in much affection.

In April 2019, the Greenpeace ship MV Esperanza came to London to launch a year long Pole to Pole expedition ‘Protect the Oceans’ from the Arctic to the Antarctic, to highlight the many threats facing our oceans and to campaign for a Global Oceans treaty at the UN. It was a timely visit as climate change, plastic pollution, overfishing and deep sea mining have been making the news with television programmes such as David Attenborough’s ‘Climate Change – the Facts’ and the recent demonstrations in central London by the pressure group ‘Extinction Rebellion’.

MV Motor Vessel Esperanza alongside HMS Belfast

Find out more and see when ships are due into central London: www.towerbridge.org.uk

And for detailed information on shipping movements see The Port of London Authority: www.pla.uk

Unsung Heroes

Port of Call