The MSBA was formed to promote and protect use of the river by many users. It acts as a pressure group and is the forum for a wide variety of interests.

The various local authorities, including the mayor of the Medway towns - also known as the admiral of the river, spoke at length about the regeneration planned by building residential accommodation on former industrial sites. He also hoped there would be riverside walks but had not really looked into the provision of access to the water which at present is fairly sparse apart from slip-ways from established boat clubs and marinas.

The Counsellor representing the Swale was more succinct but the lack of waiting posts when leaving the Swale via the Kingsferry lifting bridge also shared by commercial shipping was outside his remit.

The speaker from Peel Ports, responsible for the commercial activity on the river said that during the recession commercial shipping had diminished. Their vision is to make sailing and water sports available to all and to monitor health and safety on the water.  The new Marine Navigation bill would not change the regulations in use on the Medway.  Those authorities with pilotage certification and other directions already had power to create bye-laws and regulate safety in harbours.   The wind-farms are outside the 12 mile limit but there had been too little consultation on their siting.  The electric cables have to be laid to come ashore where the national grid dictates.  Recently some have been uncovered by natural scour and the companies' solution is to dump piles of rocks on them, which form man made islands in places that were originally safe channels.  Some of the existing wind farms are due to be extended and some are likely to encroach on the deeper waters used by amateur sailors when crossing the estuary.  The MCA and Trinity House had not been consulted before the above problems were experienced.  Leisure sailors were asked to, if possible, take photographs of speeding PWCs and report any such to Medway VTS.  The Peel Ports are responsible for Medway buoyage, run a dredging programme, clear the river of debris.  They informed the audience that survey data was available on request.

The Queensborough Harbour Trust will run the service from 1 April 2013.  Queensborough is one of the few safe havens for yachtsmen on the Kent estuary coast and is extensively used by any yachts coming up river to London from the Continent and other parts of the UK.  From the coming summer, beaches on the Isle of Sheppey will be covered by RNLI life guards.

Tom Cunliffe's presentation was highly entertaining.  He pointed out that the MCZ fraternity wants to increase protection of the sea bed and its habitat, quite rightly, but where anchoring was still occurring in Studland Bay the seahorse population was increasing.  He was more concerned with how the population will cope when renewable energy runs out rather than global warming.  He told us that the Viking colonists in Greenland arriving in 1000AD buried their dead 6 ft  down - impossible today due to permafrost.

Dick Holness, one of the 3 authors of East Coast Pilot  was most interesting.  Notices to mariners are kept up to date on their web site <www.eastcoastsailing,co.uk>.  He too is worried about the way in which the wind farms and cables leading ashore from them, are encroaching on channels used by fishing boats and leisure sailors.  When the Kentish array is extended it will cover the deep water route.

He also informed us that the author of East Coast Rivers would no longer keeping information about the Rivers Deben  and Alde up to date and did not know who would be taking on obtaining the pertinent information.

We were pleased to meet up with Rodney Pell and his wife and we wore LSC regalia!