Kayaking London: Tower at Twilight

By James Tracy

I recently had the opportunity to run the London Marathon. As a part of that journey, my wife and I spent a week in London. As an avid kayaker, I was hoping for an opportunity to kayak the Thames river. As a major source of transportation and historical significance, I knew it would be a special opportunity to experience the river from a kayak. A few months before the trip, we began to research and plan.

When it came to choosing a company and guide, it was pretty straightforward. There were just a handful of kayaking companies in London. I saw the twilight trip with the London Kayaking Company and thought it would be cool to see the city by night. They had stellar reviews, 4.9/5 on Google. When I checked out their website, I saw lots of great photos, but also noticed a partnership with British Canoeing, Port of London Compliancy, and a full description for the difficulty of the trips. As an experienced kayaker, I could tell they had their details well-minded. 

The logistics of the trip were fairly simple. We would arrive at the starting point in Greenwich, paddle into the heart of London, and then paddle to our exit point near the Tate Modern. It would be at sunset, so the 2nd half of the trip would be in the dark. I wasn’t sure about river currents or any of that, but if the guide has 30 years of experience and calls this paddle similar to a brisk walk, my wife and I should be able to handle it.

We arrived at the start, and had a brief safety and logistics meeting. Our guide for the evening was Harry Whelan, and he was accompanied by an assistant.  We talked a bit, and he set us up with all the necessary and appropriate gear. We were to paddle in a tandem kayak with a rudder.

We launched, and began heading towards London proper. I was focused on being set for wake, and Harry got me on board with the understanding that the rudder would hold us fine throughout the wake, and I could focus on just paddling forward and having fun. He was right!

We passed the national Maritime museum, located near Cutty Sark. Harry shared stories with us about the development of it, and some of the stories of the royalty that passed through there. The stories he shared weren’t the sanitized museum grade version, but a bit more raw. That added to the draw of the trip, because we felt like we were getting insider knowledge. 

We worked our way past major landmarks, and crossed under the Tower Bridge. It was a true sight to be seen in the sunset. We then saw the Tower of London, and Harry told us about how traitors were tortured there. My wife and I paddled right in front of the traitor entrance.

As we continued, we passed other London landmarks:

• HMS Belfast, a WW2 battleship parked on the river and turned into a museum
• The Shard: a new skyscraper
• St. Paul: a historic cathedral that is required by law to be able to be seen from different points in London, affecting the construction of the city
• Tate Modern: an art museum with a tall tower
• Millennium Bridge: a turn of the century footbridge

Around 8pm, the sun was going down. Harry activated lights on the bow and stern on each of the boats. We continued on and got close to Big Ben and Parliament, staying on the east side of Westminster Road. Harry informed us that the tide would be turning soon. He had it down to the exact minute. We got to see both of those landmarks glowing in the night. 

After we turned, Harry heard on the radio that there were tugboats coming, and those would kick up substantial wake. We ducked behind a dock, right underneath the London Eye (observation wheel), while it passed. As we were about to move again, Harry got another radio call that another tug was incoming. He asked if they could hold back, so we could make the tide turn and start getting back to port, and to my surprise, the tug said yes! Harry explained along the way that he’s been doing this a while and that they all know each other. I was impressed!

We paddled another 20-30 minutes back to the Tate Modern. We exited on a sandbar to the north side of the river, and got unpacked. We did a quick debrief, and said our goodbyes. While we were in the middle of the city, public transportation made getting back home a breeze.

Overall, this was a great night. It was a unique perspective getting to experience the city from such an angle. During our trip, we got to tour the city via bus, by foot, via the London Eye observation wheel, and via a power boat tour as well. The kayak tour was our favorite because of our ability to get in close proximity to so many landmarks in a three-hour span. We also appreciated the perspective of getting to see landmarks at night. It was a very unique adventure, and one we won’t ever forget.