Then... decide your route

"I didn't know you could do that" is the response of most people I have told I am sailing around London. Well, with a bit of rowing, you can. People have been making circular London journeys for years in narrowboats, but as far as I know, no one has tried it in a small boat. 'As far as I know' is, of course, a way of saying 'I couldn't find anything on Google'. Small craft not known to those in narrowboats or barges. You are closer to the water, there is no diesel engine to drown your thoughts and the sounds and smells that surround you - and you can go where you please, irrespective of draught (the bit of your boar that sticks out underwater) and the odd bit of land you might have to pull your boat over. My trip will take me OVER the A406 on an aqueduct, under Maida Vale and Islington through canal tunnels, through the Thames Barrier, alongside the runway of London City Airport, and to where the gulls cry and big shipping manoeuvres in the black, estuarine part of the river under the QE2 bridge. Thanks to the kind efforts of members of the Thames Sailing Club, Britain's oldest river sailing club founded in the late 19th century, I had a base for the trip, in Surbiton, west of London, in Kingston-upon-Thames. From there, it's obviously east on the Thames, until Teddington Lock, where the leafy stretches of the upper, rural non-tidal Thames start to alter to the urban, brown-water tidal Thames, also known historically as 'the London river', where the Thames starts to run for the North Sea in earnest. Soon after, I will turn left onto the Grand Union Canal, to describe a rough, clockwise semi circle, joining the Thames 28 miles and four days later at Limehouse Basin in east London. This will be the hardest part of the journey, as 200 or so low bridges (and 37 locks!) mean that I will be rowing most of the way. I am doing the rowing leg on the way out, eastbound rather than the way back, based on Britain's prevailing winds which come from the south west. A note of terminology here: a wind from the south west is called a south-westerly wind, as winds 'come from'. Tides however, 'go to', meaning that an easterly tide is one that moves in an easterly direction. Anyway, back to the route: I'd much rather sail into the wind on the way back, with the flood pushing me on, than row into a headwind on an unhelpfully stagnant canal. From Limehouse, I will sail east along the Hackney Cut, a pretty much deserted leg of east London's back rivers, into the Bow Back Rivers proper, where I will meet the site of some regeneration in preparation for the 2012 Olympics. This is an impossibly bleak landscape for the most part, sailing past the blank concrete backs of light industry. From the historic Three Mills, I will sail south east, on the Lea River, back to the Thames, exiting through the semi-tidal meanders of Bow Creek onto the River Thames, after a rowing 'hiatus' miles. Perhaps the best moment of the trip will be re-stepping the mast, hoisting the sail, and starting to fly before the wind once again. From there, it's east through the Thames Barrier, and then east all the way to the QE2 Bridge. The sound of the M25 making hollow banging noises at it crosses overhead is a contrast to the seals that sometimes bask on the banks here, serenely indifferent to the heavy shipping manoeuvring on the river. This is the most easterly part of my voyage. From here I will return part of the way to Limehouse, before diverting to take in the Victoria, Albert and King George V Docks that surround the runway of London City Airport. Sailing just alongside the passenger jets taking off and thumping down, I will leave the docks at the west end, taking to the Thames again for a short while. From there, I will use the West India and Millwall Docks to cut off the Isle of Dogs and continue west. This means missing maritime Greenwich, but I have sailed past its architectural wonders many times before. It might be strange rowing through these docks. They are 'the' docklands, with the architectural atrocity of Canary Wharf Tower blowing steam off its tip and standing over its ranks of sycophantic rivals. After leaving these docks, it's time to set the sails, and catch a ride all the way on the flood tide to Surbiton.