John Carter and Nik Baker head out on an ambitious adventure into the jaws of the Thames to explore the ghostly remains of the World War II Maunsell Forts.

(Some of the images in this feature are unseen from the story that originally appeared in the January/February 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)

BACKGROUND

Back in 2010 on a wave sailing trip to Margate on the Kent Coast with John Skye, Nayra Alonso, Robby Swift and Timo Mullen we stopped off on the way home at Whitstable for a quick snack. While we were feasting on delicious Cod and Chips on the sea wall, out on the horizon, beyond the huge offshore wind farm, we could just about make out two rectangular lumps on the horizon.

I could tell there were some unusual structures out there, but by the time I reached home I had forgotten to research them any further. A few weeks later UK North/Fanatic Team Rider Mat Pearch sent me some images of possible locations for our COAST series to explore and right there amongst his findings I recognised a shot of the mystery objects solving the puzzle.

Rising from the water, like the set of the movie ‘Waterworld’, the rusting turrets, which are located nine miles offshore in the Thames Estuary, are decaying reminders of the darkest days of World War II. While they may look like something out of a science fiction movie, the forts form a crucial part of British military history.

Originally built as anti-aircraft towers back in 1942, the Maunsell Fortifications were decommissioned in the 1950s and mostly left abandoned to the waves until they were famously taken over as pirate radio stations in the 60s and 70s. To me these seemed like the perfect background for an amazing windsurfing photograph so, for the next two summers, a trip to sail around these unique battlements was on my hit-list, but finding a boat, the right day and somebody who wanted to join me proved way harder than expected.

MISSION ON
Summer of 2012 was equally fruitless with too many trips away and bad forecasts. Finally, after almost three years, an opportunity materialised and at the beginning of September we sourced a boat driver mad enough to agree to take us. With winter looming, plus upcoming commitments with PWA events in Denmark, Germany and the Red Bull Storm Chase, it was now or never! We needed wind from the south west below 20 knots, otherwise it would be much too rough for a small boat, plus hopefully some sunshine and a whole load of luck to pull this mad mission off. My partners in crime for the day were Nik Baker and his right-hand man [paddleboarder] Jay ‘JSUP’ Manning, plus our trusty boat driver ‘Kev’ – a local fisherman from the Isle of Sheppey.

In order to score the tides for this covert operation, Kev instructed us to rendezvous on the waterfront in Sheppey at 8 a.m. so we could check the weather for the green light to go. For me this meant a covert mission off the Isle of Wight and a train down to Nik’s house in Shoreham so we could be ready for a 5.30 a.m. departure on our own personal D-day. En-route, after a mandatory stop off in McDonalds for Double Egg McMuffins and coffee, the forecast had dipped right down to 6-10 knots and I was starting to wonder if this mad idea had been doomed right from the start. Was there some kind of strange curse coming from those huge metal monsters out to sea?

After a three hour drive from Shoreham we met up with Kev at the boat. He seemed optimistic. The weather was actually perfect for his boat and we were good to go! Looking at the water, I was still dubious. It was mirror-smooth close to the shoreline, with barely a breath of wind. But there was no way we could turn back having come this far, so we loaded-up and headed out into the murky waters of the Thames Estuary, way past the point-of-no-return. Now, I’m not really sure at this stage if our driver was thinking that we were totally insane, but this must have been one of his most unusual expeditions of his seafaring career. One demented photographer, an ex-champion windsurfer and a Stand Up Paddler all crammed into a tiny boat with a shed load of gear under the guidance of a Skipper who would much rather be out on a fishing day trip with his mates – what could possibly go wrong?

On the way out, Kev recited various salty tales about the bizarre history of the forts, the treacherous currents in the channel and even the mysterious disappearance of a local drug smuggler, whose body is rumoured to have been dumped by locals near their footings. After motoring for the best part of an hour, we finally stopped about half a mile before the Red Sands forts where Kev suggested that Nik should rig up since the boat would drift closer with the wind. The breeze was still looking kind of light but, with an 8.4 and a large Freeride board, there was probably just enough for Nik to blast around. We were on! Five minutes later he was rigged and ready to go and gunning up towards the towers looking well-powered. Up close, the circle of turrets out in the middle of the Thames were way more surreal than looking at the pictures on a computer back at home. Spooky, majestic and astonishingly still there after all these years. For the next hour Nik blasted around, in front and through the pillars of the towers while the wind gradually built to a solid twenty knots. Even at just a force 4-5, the choppy conditions were pretty much on the edge of Kev’s boat’s capabilities and we rocked around in the short and bumpy swell. I really wanted to try and climb aboard one of the Forts and shoot from above, but the water was churning up too much for us to get close enough for a safe landing.

DEFEND THE CAPITAL
Back in the war one of the biggest threats to London and the Navy was the aerial threat of German planes using the Thames as a visual landmark to make their way down to London. The Blitz raged and the crucial London docks were being brought to a standstill. As a result the British response during 1941-42 was to use the expertise of Guy Maunsell, an expert on concrete bridges, to design clusters of stilted buildings carrying guns, searchlights and radar. Each edifice was built on land and then transported and sunk into their watery footings. During the war each tower was manned by 120 men and they were able to cross to the other forts using walkways over the water. In all the forts helped bring down 22 aircraft and 32 flying bombs. After the war they were manned for a few years for basic upkeep but then left abandoned in 1956 to the wind, waves and occasional salvage ship!

PIRATES ABOARD
Then in the 1960s the forts sustained a new lease of life as pirate radio stations. The very first Thames radio station was started by none other  than Screaming Lord Such. He set up a radio station intending to compete with, amongst others, Radio Caroline. Later in his career Lord Such was known for his horror-themed stage show before launching the Monster Raving Looney Political Party in 1983.

Then followed a stream of local radio stations based in the forts nine miles out to sea, broadcasting to London and Essex. The Pirate radio era was short-lived however and, after a legal dispute in 1967, all the towers were abandoned and deserted again. Since then they’ve remained a lonely landmark just about visible from the coast at Whitstable.

In 2005 an artist called Steven Turner spent six weeks alone in one of them in an experiment to experience such isolation. This was about the same amount of time an army serviceman would spend aboard one during the war.

HOMEWARD BOUND
It seems these freaky fortresses attract some weird and wonderful characters and now we were the latest on the list. Now, during his illustrious career, Nik has sailed the likes of Jaws, indoor pools in various cities and beaches all over the world, but even he had to admit that sailing around these rusty towers was one of his most surreal windsurfing experiences to-date. After an hour or so of Nik sailing all around the Forts plus Jay attempting to traverse the chop and paddle right up to the pylons on his SUP, even our boat driver Kev was warming up to our mission and perhaps realising that we were not the complete and utter lunatics he had suspected. The only problem now was that Kev was starting to look a little worried as he switched fuel tanks. Unbeknown to us, the heavy load had burned much more diesel than Kev had calculated and now he was scratching around with a nervous look on his face with some dubious looking empty fuel tanks in the back of the boat. The boat eventually spluttered into life and we headed back, cautiously relieved and stoked to hit land an hour or so later. Now that was an adventure!

NIK BAKER: “‘Captain Kev’ was a classic character to say the least, entertaining us with some gems of information on the surrounding area both above and below the water. Once we were within striking distance, I threw my Fanatic Shark 135ltd freeride board and North S-type 8.4 3-cam sail in the sea and rigged-up sitting on my board. Thankfully I use the Power XT extensions that make this sort of thing an easy option. Downhauling a cammed sail 9 miles out in the ocean is not normally that easy! The wind was light at first but I was fully powered after half an hour. I initially sailed upwind of the Forts, which up-close in real life were pretty massive.

It was a bizarre experience to be sailing around these landmarks situated so far out to sea and that hold so many secrets that will never be known.
Once I was comfortable there was nothing lurking in the water I started throwing some small chop-hops and sailing really close to the pillars. I was really hoping to see someone living up in one, maybe a castaway or something! I looked hard but could see nothing. When the clouds came out I laid my rig in the water on the offshore side but then after a few minutes remembered the story our boat captain told us about the burial site from the black plague. I had visions of some rotting corpse launching itself up towards me from the depths of the sea! Luckily this didn’t happen and we carried on our adventures around this seemingly forbidden place.

After my sailing session came to an end we had a pretty bumpy trip back head into the wind and chop for an hour back to the beach with some more Captain’s stories of the underwater world off this amazing coastal location. When we made it back to dry land we headed off for pot of tea at one of JSUP’s local lakes on the Isle of Sheppey and were greeted with friendly faces and some warm food before the drive home”