Friday 15th August, a group of paddlers from Chiswick Pier Canoe Club joined Wight Expeditions for a round trip to the Second World War Thames estuary forts.
The trip was brought forward a day, to take into account the higher winds on the Saturday, but this gave us absolutely perfect conditions. Warm, sunny, clear skies and perfectly smooth sea conditions added to the eerie presence of the World War Two structures.
The history of the forts is probably best explained through the Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts
The pictures speak for themselves. Haunting, atmospheric, eerie, alien and strangely beautiful.
The trip is highly tidal and weather dependent. Launching from Sheerness, the paddle was approximately 30km over about five and a half hours ( including a good break for lunch and photos around the tower bases).
Thanks again to Rhys and Paul, from Wight Expeditions, for helping us develop our planning and navigation towards independent paddling.
