Front row seats away from the crowds with lovely food, bar and toilets !  Join us at Tilbury then head down river to anchor off the pier for lunch and the start of the show.  You will be right in the flight path so bring cameras (and sun glasses !).  Back up to Tilbury at the end of the day.

RRP   £55 for adults, £27.50 for children fully catered.

LOYALTY CLUB OFFER Adults £45, Children £25 if you book 2 or more places

THAMES EVENING CRUISE NEW FOR 2010

Sat June 19th  1830-2200   £25 each – bring a picnic (we supply bar).

Join Thistle at London Bridge and enjoy Tower Bridge being opened especially for you as we head down river past St Katherine Dock, Wapping, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the o2 Dome before returning back up and through the bridge.   

SOUTHEND AIR SHOW Bank Holiday Monday – May 31 1000-1930

Front row seats away from the crowds with the comfort of our large covered saloons, great food, bar and toilets. Join us at Tilbury (free parking) to head down river to Southend Pier. Anchor off the end of the pier for lunch and the start of the show with planes flying straight over the barge. Back to Tilbury at the end of the day. RRP £55 for the day fully catered, Children 1/2 price

LOYALTY CLUB OFFER Adults £45, Children £25 if you book 2 or more places

THAMES EVENING CRUISE – NEW FOR 2010 ! Saturday June 19th. 1830-2200

Join s.b. Thistle in the Pool of London and experience Tower Bridge opening especially for you as we cruise down river past St Katherine Dock, Wapping, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the O2 Dome before returning. Bring your own picnic but we’ll supply a bar. £25 per person.

SOUTHEND AIR SHOW   Bank Holiday Monday - May 31  1000-1930

Front row seats away from the crowds with the comfort of our large covered saloons, great food, bar and toilets.  Join us at Tilbury (free parking) to head down river to Southend Pier.  Anchor off the end of the pier for lunch and the start of the show with planes flying straight over the barge.  Back to Tilbury at the end of the day.   RRP  £55 for the day fully catered, Children 1/2 price

LOYALTY CLUB OFFER    Adults £45, Children £25 if you book 2 or more places

THAMES EVENING CRUISE – NEW FOR 2010 !

Saturday June 19th.    1830-2200 

Join s.b. Thistle in the Pool of London and experience Tower Bridge opening especially for you as we cruise down river past St Katherine Dock, Wapping, Canary Wharf, Greenwich and the O2 Dome before returning.

Bring your own picnic but we’ll supply a bar.  £25 per person.

Only a week away, Easter has come round very fast this year.    “Thistle” and “Reminder” are re-rigged and already sailing but our shipwright and crew are working flat out to get Hydrogen ready for her first trip in a weeks time.

We do have some places free on Good Friday with two options to choose from :_

Option 1 - Join us late morning for coffee and biscuits on board, followed by a guided walk with experts from Essex Wildlife Trust along the sea wall towards Northea.  Return to the barge for a light lunch and then enjoy a two hour sail at 1430  to Osea Island and back.  RRP  £27.50        OFFER  Book two places for £45 

Option2   Join us for a two afternoon sail only 1430-1630 at £17 adults, £9 children

Ipswich History Cruise      Sunday April 25th  1030-1630  £50 fully catered

Why not join us for this popular day out on the River Orwell with our historian Stephen Nunn.  Ipswich was once Europe’s largest grain terminal and home to a large fleet of sailing barges.  Pauls, the maltsters for example, had their own fleet of 32 barges and Fisons started in a street near the dock.  A fascinating day out for people with an interest in the history of a riverside town, the people who worked there  and the barges that plyed their trade from Ipswich.

If you are interested in any of these trips please ring us on 01621 857567 or e-mail info@top-sail.co.uk

Although the weather was cold, it was a beautiful sunny day, so our happy couple chose to have a “Two Island” sail from Maldon Quay, past Northea Island, Heybridge Basin and to Osea Island before returning for a hot seated lunch on the Quay.

Their choice of lunch was our “Captains Table” menu, a basic but tasty lunch of Homemade Soup, Roast Beef with all the trimmings and Chocolate Raspberry Roulade.

Thistle’s next charter is a 50th birthday party, while Hydrogen is currently on the yard for winter maintenance.

The new programme of day sails and short cruises for individuals is now available on our website including the usual favourites of Barge Race Days, History Cruises, Birdwatching Cruises, Thames Cruises and many more.  We’ll keep you informed during the season of any last minute offers or new dates.

Private Hire

Birthday Girl !

Perhaps you have a special event to celebrate this year – a special birthday, wedding anniversary or a social event to organise.   Our barges provide an unusual and memorable venue for a function and we take up to 50 guests sailing and 80 when on the Quayside.

If you are thinking ahead to a barge trip next year, we have posted some early season dates on our website (still listed as 2009 programme).  These include Spring birdwatching, Ipswich and Maldon History Cruises and our first Thames Cruise of the Season  wth Tower Bridge lifting.

Further dates for later on in the year will follow in the next few weeks.

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Stuck for ideas for a Christmas Present ?   Why not buy a voucher for a barge trip in 2010 ?   Just ring the office (or fill in our voucher form on the website) and we can easily arrange an open voucher for any value.

FLOATING “WINTER COTTAGE” HIRE

Our barge “Reminder” is available over the winter as a “cottage” on Maldon Quay.  Sleeping up to 14 guests, she is ideal for a weekend break for a group of family or friends.  Enjoy socialising, birdwatching and winter walks and evenings around the log burning stove.     Your weekend hire starts on Friday evening and lasts until 5pm on Sunday (extra days can be added of course !)

We apologise if you receive two of these newsletters. 

If you wish to be removed from our newsletter mailing list, please send an e-mail to info@top-sail.co.uk with your e-mail address and we will immediately take you off.

Topsail Customers are enjoying gorgeous end of season weather after a pretty good summer on the East Coast.

Maldon Regatta took place last weekend, both “Hydrogen” and “Kitty” were out amongst the classic boats and fishing smacks, Kitty leading the Parade of Sail to Maldon Quay, and Hydrogen bringing up the rear.

The Regatta included highlights such as the Rubber Duck Race (400 plastic duck competing to cross the finishing line off the Quay), Tug-O-War between boat crews and live music on the Quay.

Birdwatching Cruises

At the start and finish of the sailing season, Essex Wildlife Trust join Topsail on a series of birdwatching cruises from Maldon, Brightlingsea and Ipswich.  Three experts are on board to help spot and identify newly arrived winter visitors and resident birds.  The barge provides a fantastic platform for birding at close quarters.    Our autumn dates are fully booked, so keep an eye on our website for the new 2010 dates.

Christmas Parties

Party Time on Board !

For an unusual and memorable venue for a group Christmas Party, “Thistle” will be moored in Ipswich and “Hydrogen” in Maldon for lunch or evening parties for 20 + guests.   Hire is exclusive to your group and your meal is prepared freshly on board by our friendly and welcoming staff.

Menus are available on our website www.topsailcharters.co.uk

You may be interested to know, that Topail took out 12,500 visitors last season, and this is all organised by an office staff of one full-time (Stephanie Valentine) and two part time staff.  Louise Murphy is our office manager and Gilly Springett helps out two days a week.     Considering we also organise our own in-house catering, this is an amazing feat for such a small team.

New Marine Gallery

We have rented out our lower Boat Shed at Maldon Quay to “Quayside Gallery” who are exhibiting local artists and marine-related goods.   Open 6 days a week (Tues to Sunday, weather permitting) it is a great place to find a present for someone, or a great painting or photo to emind you of Maldon and it’s historic waterfront and traditional sailing fleet.

Topsail Charters are proud to announce they are one of two finalists for the Essex Business Award “Excellence in Marketing” .  We impressed judges with the planning and implementation of a strategy to “Beat the Credit Crunch” and “Staying Ahead of the Competition” , and will find out if we win in September.

LATEST OFFER

Wednesday August 12th.  Evening cruise from Ipswich onboard “Thsitle”.  1800-2100.  

Price including Ploughmans supper £30 per person.  Club Offer  £40 for two places.

 A relaxing cruise past the new dock developments (recently described by Gordon Brown as “The South Coast in Suffolk”),through the lock gates, under the Orwell Bridge and to picturesque Pin Mill.   Beautiful sloping river banks with historic houses.

History of “Thistle”

Thistle is the oldest iron barge still sailing and the only Thames barge built in Scotland.

She was launched by William Hamilton & Co on the Clyde in 1895 and traded through two World Wars before her first engine was installed in 1948.

Her first owner was H A Covington, a coal merchant of Battersea, London.  She traded regularly from the Humber to the Thames, carrying 150 tons on coastal voyages and 170 tons when bound between the Thames and Medway.

In the 1930’s her skipper was a Shotley (Ipswich) man named Amner who took his sons Jimmy and Stanley as mate and third hand.  Times were hard and cargoes scarce, and after a lengthy stay on the Starvation Buoys at Woolwich, their first order was to pick up a cargo at Guernsey, a notoriously unpredictable passage.  Stanley promptly left the barge and joined the Ipswich Fire Service, a much safer job and with a regular income.

In 1940 she was sold to The London & Rochester Trading Company still with the Amners as crew, and it was on a heavy passage in 1948 that her metal sprit bent, whereby she was towed back to Rochester, her sailing gear taken out and she was converted to a motor barge.

Thistle was sold out of trade in 1972 and restoration started at Woodbridge in 1980.  She then lay for 5 years near Battersea Bridge as a house boat before a complete restoration was undertaken in 1987.  She joined Topsail for her first sailing season in 1988 and has been with us ever since – for the last 8 years as owners.