Why sail around London?

Thankfully, I haven’t been asked this. Some things demand no explanation. What I have been asked, from time to time, is: what made you think about it? Actually, it’s not an original idea entirely; people in narrow boats have been doing it for decades - though not by the extended route I am taking. It's not a new idea to me either – as I’ve already paddled around London in a kayak. The boat, a bright yellow, snub-nosed beast (a Roto-Bat for any veteran paddlers out there) was better suited to Alpine torrents than slicing easily and quickly through flat water. Nevertheless, we (I and others from my canoeing club, the Westminster Boating Base), managed this loop of 67 miles in two days. Christ, we must have been fit. If I were to try that today, I’d have a heart attack by the end of the first hour. This loop I am attempting is considerably longer, going much further east (all the way to the QE2 Bridge) and a little further west. I am allowing a passage speed of just 9 miles a day – and in a craft far better suited to the journey than that old plastic thing! I was heartened to read recently, in Peter Ackroyd’s Thames: Sacred River, that Ackroyd considers a journey on the Thames to reveal more about mankind than any trip on the oceans of the world. Well, this is probably true. I’m sure that a hazardous ocean journey would teach a lot more about other things though: like the one person undertaking it to start with. I was surprised also, on starting Conditions of the Working Class in England by Frederick Engels, to learn that the German Marxist/reporter is a big fan of sail and the Thames, remarking what a sight of industry met his eyes, of a sort unparalleled anywhere else in the world. He goes on to state his preference for the old boats of sail over the new ones of steam. 

In fact, the river has always been a draw to great writers and artists. Turner and Dickens are probably the two best-know chroniclers of the river – both men were fascinated by it for different reasons. Dickens was drawn to the human drama and death the river represented, and Turner to its ever-changing light, something he struggled mightily to transpose to canvas. Roni Horn, an American artist and writer, has recently staged an exhibition of her work at the Tate Modern, on until 25 May. The ‘Thames room’ consists of a number of large photographs of the river (just the surface of the water) in different moods, with extended captions along the bottom. It’s amazing how different the water can look from moment to moment – exactly the same problem that Turner struggled with. Have a look at Horn’s work by clicking on this link: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/ronihorn/default.shtm