Moorings in Thames Estuary and tidal Thames

This area covers the tidal Thames from Teddington Lock, the upper limit of the tide, through London and out to the estuary between Kent and Essex. The Port of London Authority looks after navigation from just below Teddington to a seaward line between Margate and the Gunfleet lighthouse. The Medway and the Swale fall outside its limits.

In west London the Grand Union Canal meets the tidal river at Brentford, where the former dock is now a marina. Chelsea Harbour Marina lies on Chelsea Creek and is entered through a lock around high tide. Moorings in the Thames estuary and tidal Thames are found mostly in these locked docks and basins.

In central and east London, St Katharine Docks sits just below Tower Bridge behind a lock that works around high water. Hermitage Community Moorings at Wapping has visitor berths on the river itself with no lock. Limehouse Basin is where the Regent's Canal and the Limehouse Cut meet the Thames, with berths for residential and leisure boats. South Dock Marina at Rotherhithe, run by Southwark Council, is one of the largest marinas in London, and Poplar Dock Marina lies in the old Docklands. Greenwich Yacht Club has an all-tide pontoon a short way above the Thames Barrier.

Below the Barrier the river widens and carries a lot of shipping. Erith Yacht Club has a half-tide pontoon and moorings, and Thurrock Yacht Club at Grays has moorings. Gravesend has moorings and a sailing club, and Embankment Marina there is a gated basin in the old canal basin.

On the Essex shore, the creeks around Canvey Island hold a couple of thousand shoal draught boats, most of which take the ground at low tide, while Holehaven Creek offers the only deeper-water anchorage. Benfleet Creek has two yacht clubs with drying moorings and a boatyard, the Island Yacht Club and a boatyard sit on Smallgains Creek, and Leigh-on-Sea has boatyards too. This shore suits boats that can take the ground.