Sailing to the Unexploded Bombs of the SS Richard Montgomery | Ep. 3.

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Welcome back to the weekend skipper series. This series is dedicated to practical hands-on coastal cruising, providing a distinct change of pace from the heavy displacement yacht tours that are published on my channel every Friday. In episode two, we navigated out to the Red Sands Mansaw forts.

[00:00:20]Constructed in 1943, these isolated anti-aircraft towers served as London's very first line of defense against incoming bombing raids.

[00:00:31]For those who have not yet watched that video, the link is available down in the video description. If you'd like to know more about how I got this boat, how long I've got the vessel for, and how the deal came about, you can read it all on my Substack. I'll leave a link pinned in the comments or you can scan the QR code on your screen. Now, today we are continuing our historical itinerary. We will be investigating the prohibited exclusion zone of the SS Richard Montgomery, an ammunition ship presenting a high explosive risk since she sank during the Second World War. We will also be exploring the remnants of a Malbury Harbor, a prototype that became an integral part of the D-Day logistics.

[00:01:30]Those rusting masts just breaking the surface. That is the SS Richard Montgomery and she is one of the most extraordinary and genuinely unsettling sights on the entire passage. She was an American Liberty ship. In August 1944, she arrived here fully loaded with munitions bound for the Allied advance in France. While she was sat at anchor off sheess, she dragged in the shallows, grounded hard on a sandbank and the hole cracked under the tidal strain before the salvage crews could get her cargo off. She went down with most of it still on board. And that cargo is what makes the SS Richard Montgomery unlike any other wreck in British waters. She's still sitting on an estimated 1,400 tons of unexloded munitions. After decades underwater, that load is considered volatile enough that the authorities run a 24-hour radar watch on the site, actively monitoring it to keep vessels well clear. This means there is a permanently enforced exclusion zone around her. You cannot take a boat inside the perimeter. full stop. It is one of those navigational hazards where you have to be completely switched on, paying close attention to your charts well in advance, planning your heading early and giving her a wide birth without question. It is genuinely humbling sitting at the helm passing this spot. On a calm day, the Estri feels so peaceful. flat water, the Kent coast of the South. And then those masks are just there above the surface rusting away. A piece of Second World War sitting right on our Essex doorstep, less than a mile from the Shioness seafront. A piece of living history that still dictates how we navigate today.

[00:03:33]The passage planning around the Montgomery is not academic. It is a real active consideration. every skipper on this stretch accounts for on every trip.

[00:03:47]We've h just finished having a look around the SS Montgomery and now we are heading over to the Malbury Harbor. So, we've been out now for about you re Tom about 2 hours 3 hours I think we set off.

[00:04:01]>> Yeah, 3 hours.

[00:04:02]>> So, we've been out for 3 hours. It'll be really interesting actually to see what the fuel burn uh has been like for this trip because it's the first medium distance trip uh that we've done since the delivery. If I spin the camera around, you see the conditions out here are very nice. Clear blue skies.

[00:04:22]>> There's one bit of chop you're about to hit.

[00:04:26]>> Where' that come from? Is that from a I didn't see a boat passing here.

[00:04:30]>> Yeah.

[00:04:30]>> Oh, there we go. A little bit of chop.

[00:04:32]Um, but yeah, no, it's been it's been a really nice cruise. Obviously, the Mercury engine just humming away there effortlessly pushing us along at around 22 knots, which has been our um kind of cruising speed really. You can see on there we're just crossing the channel at the moment, the Yaten channel over towards where the Malbury is. So, we passed through the shipping lane, a very, very busy shipping lane.

[00:05:00]Coming out here again actually reminds me of uh the little stint that I did at South End. Darren and I would come out here and do a lot of uh training exercises. So, it's great to be back here after a couple of years.

[00:05:14]Off the bow there, you can see South End seafront. So, over to the right is Shubiness. Then, we got Thor Bay right on the nose on the bow. And over to the left is where we have sunny sunny South End. And you can probably just about see South Mier over there.

[00:05:32]Right on the nose. Now we got the Malbury Harbor. So we're going to go and have a closer look at that in just a second. In terms of tide times, going to be high tide in what? About half an hour.

[00:05:44]>> Um, no, about 3 hours till high tide.

[00:05:49]>> Right. Okay. About 3 hours.

[00:05:50]>> Sorry, mate. I know it's your video. I don't want to mug you off.

[00:05:54]>> I'll do that myself. That's fine. But no, it's been a good trip. Tom, what do you think of it so far?

[00:05:59]>> Yeah, I've really enjoyed it. It's been um obviously it's been really nice from a personal perspective, really nice day out, spent time out on the water, >> but it's been really important from product perspective and work perspective actually spending time on one of these boats and doing what it should be doing and how easy it's been.

[00:06:17]>> It has been effortless. It really has.

[00:06:19]It's been uh yeah, just smooth. I mean, I know it's calm out there, but it's just been it hasn't felt like the boat's been working hard to get us out where we are at the speed that we've been doing.

[00:06:31]>> No, I agree. Entirely I agree. And she has just done it easily, hasn't she? I mean, we've covered some miles pretty quickly.

[00:06:38]>> Yeah, we have. Yeah, >> we have. We've done probably what about 30 nautical miles we've done so far.

[00:06:43]>> Roundabout. Yeah.

[00:06:45]>> And then once we finished uh filming the Malbury over there, we'll be heading back towards Burnham. So, I want to get the camera ready and show you the Malbury up close.

[00:06:58]We couldn't get too close because of the ties, but what you can see here is a Malbury Harbor, one of the massive concrete structures built to form the artificial harbors that made the Norbundee landings possible. Without them, there was simply no way to land the scale of men and equipment needed to sustain the Allied advance inland from the beaches. One of the things that you can't actually see from here because of the tide is coming in, but when the tide is actually out, you can walk all the way up to the Malbury Harbor from the beach. Probably only about a 15 20 minute walk. But the problem is a lot of people, especially people that come and visit South End from London because we are only 45 minutes on a train from London here. Uh they will come down, walk out to the Malbury Harbor. You can climb on it. You're not allowed to, but some people do, jump off of it, which is again not advised, but there's been quite a few incidents where people have come out, had a look at the Mulby Harour, and then the tide comes in.

[00:08:02]because of the way the tides work around here, you'll get cut off. So, there's a channel on the other side of the Malbury. Uh, and when that tide comes in running in at sort of four or five knots, it's very easy to get cut off.

[00:08:16]And there's been quite a few times when South End RN and II have launched their hovercraft to go and rescue uh not just a couple of people, we're talking about tens of people off of that. But you can't really sort of see that aspect of the Malbury Harbor at the moment because the tide uh is on its way in.

[00:08:35]I'm pretty sure that most people that have lived in and around South End, Shubry and Thor Bay at some point have probably walked out to that Malbury Harbor over the years. It's always nice to come and look at it from this perspective, few hundred yards off of it on a boat. And that's one of the many great things about boating. Just coming out here, just scanning the coastline, enjoying the sun, enjoying the hum of that beautiful Mercury engine as well.

[00:09:06]Absolutely fantastic.

[00:09:10]So, you probably just about make out through the Hayes South Mier. So, the longest pleasure pier in the world.

[00:09:17]Still has that title. You can get the train that runs on the pier all the way out to the pier head. And yeah, I think they still got some shops out there.

[00:09:26]It's been a while since I've been out there, but yeah, the longest pleasure pier in the world that you can just about see over there. And that is also one of the homes, the South End Life Boat. So the Atlantic 85 and an inshore lifeboat. So the Atlantic 85 is kept there in the boat house and then at the end of the pier on the shore side you've got the ILB and the hovercraft.

[00:09:50]That's it for this episode. In episode 4, we'll be taking a closer look at South Pier and obviously returning back to Burnham. Next up, I'm going to share a conversation with you that I had with Tom from Clark and Carter Yacht Brokers and also with Scott from Quicksilver Boats. The first part will be in this episode. And for the second part of that sitdown chat, tune in to episode four of the weekend skipper.

[00:10:20]Right guys, welcome back to the channel.

[00:10:24]You join me on board the Quicksilver 755 weekend. Now, if you've been following my channel for any length of time, you know that recently I managed to get my hands on this boat uh to do some filming near to where I live uh just around the temps. And if you've watched episode one, don't forget to let me know what you think of that. If you haven't yet, go back through my playlist. You'll find the weekend skipper series is there.

[00:10:48]What I thought I'd do today is come back on board on what is a very windy and wet day with Tom from Clark and Carter Yacht Brokers and we've got Scott over there from Quicks as well. So, what we're going to do is just talk about the boat.

[00:11:02]Really just have an informal chat. I've got some questions here that some of my subscribers have asked me to ask. So, I'll go through them today. Uh but Tom, let's start with you if you'd like to introduce yourself to uh the tribe.

[00:11:14]>> Hi guys. I'm dressed a bit more smartly this time now being on this boat. We had a fun trip from uh from Suffuk to here.

[00:11:21]>> Yeah. In case you don't know, so Tom joined me on the delivery trip uh from Suffuk down to Burnham and he made his uh cameo appearance in episode number one. But yeah, so Tom, you work with Clark and Carter Yacht Brokers, right?

[00:11:33]>> Yeah, I'm one of the brokers at Clark and Carter. Um we're also new boat dealers. We work with manufactured Quicksilver. So this is this is a new boat you can buy from us. Um, we've got a good history with Quicksilver. Um, it's been really nice working with them over the last couple of years.

[00:11:51]>> And, uh, Scott, if you'd like to introduce yourself.

[00:11:53]>> Yeah. Yeah. Good afternoon, Tribe. My name is Scott. I've worked for Quicksilver for just over four years now.

[00:11:59]>> Yeah. And, uh, cover the UK and a few other markets around Europe as well.

[00:12:03]>> I mean, this this is the first time I've been on a Quicksilver, actually. And obviously, I've kind of clocked up a couple of hours on it. And uh I said to you when we met a short while ago that how impressed I am with the layout of the boat, how functional it is. I mean for my viewers um you may or may not know I've not had a boat now for about 10 years. So last time I had a boat was 10 years ago. And one of the things that I was a little bit apprehensive about is getting back on a boat having not been boating for a while and just getting used to handling the boat, working the lines. It's such a simple boat to operate. It really is so user friendly.

[00:12:39]It really is. And what do you think it is about the boat that people thinking of getting into boating will find particularly appealing about this maker model?

[00:12:47]>> Well, I think you nailed it. It's it's it's so simple. You know, everything has a function. Everything's adaptable. Um you can make it really work for you.

[00:12:55]>> Yeah.

[00:12:55]>> So, you don't there's no specific consumer that the boat aderes to. It's it's everybody. And and yeah, fine. It takes a little bit of time to start understanding how things work, but you know, you have people like the manufacturer, you have the the dealers, uh, and just an array of knowledge around you that you can tap into.

[00:13:11]>> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I' I've got a wife and two young kids. Um, on Saturday, went out for the first time actually with my son and my daughter and they absolutely loved it. One of them was sat up there, the other one was down in the cabin. I was obviously at the helm. The wife was out there taking selfies. It's just such a familyfriendly boat. I mean, I absolutely love it. I'm looking forward to filming episode number two as well. So, if episode number two hasn't come out already, uh that'll be us taking the boat over to the Red Sands Tower. So, make sure you tune in for that one. And and Tom, from a dealer's perspective, um what kind of clientele do you think resonates best with this particular make a model of boat?

[00:13:51]>> I think this model appeals quite broadly actually. I think it could quite easily be a starter boat for someone. Um, price point is obviously a factor. I think they're really well priced, especially for the quality that you get. Um, size.

[00:14:07]I'm really impressed with the actual boat design. Um, they've carried a lot of the beam forward.

[00:14:12]>> So, she's not as pointy as competitors, >> but as you've seen and as you've experienced, >> it's wide in here. It's wide in the cabin. You've got a nice bed forward.

[00:14:23]And in this size of boat, that's really important.

[00:14:25]>> There's a lot of beam forward. And that I think when I came up to Suffukk and and saw it for the first time, I said to you, "Wow, they've made full use of the beam up there. I didn't expect to see a double birth that big in the bow."

[00:14:37]>> Yeah, it's nice. It's really good to see. It's a manufacturer thinking about, you know, what do people actually want at this price point? And if you want a nice easy to use weekender that you and the family can take away for a few days, there is enough room in there for two adults, two kids, and your provisions for three or four days away. And what kind of options? So obviously not not many people have got 100 grand sat in the bank for someone who's thinking about getting into boating and wants to go down the financing route. How does that work compared to for example you know people are used to getting cars on finance but how does it differ in terms of getting a boat on finance and how how much do you have to technically kind of be earning would you say what's that point of your income that you can finance a boat like this and still you know not have to worry about all of your other bills and also run the boat as well. So depending on what sort of price point you're looking at for a boat, because obviously they are luxury asset, they are expensive, you could compare it to car finance, if you want to go out and buy a new expensive Porsche. There are Porsches available that are a similar price to this, but >> finance payments will be similar. The decisions will be made similarly. Um the risks I >> I mean we we work quite closely with some finance providers and we can always help with this kind of thing. Obviously the risks on the assets will be carried out in a different way from their perspective but the the sums are the same.

[00:16:02]>> Are you finding now as well that more families are interested in getting into boating who perhaps haven't been into boating before? They kind of see lifestyle videos and they think I want to do that you know I don't have a lot of experience but I can learn maybe get you know powerboat level two. Um, do you find that you get quite a few inquiries from that particular sector of the market now? Young families that kids are a little bit older, they don't have to worry about the kids jumping off the back. Um, you know, they've got that kind of sense of self-preservation. Do you get more inquiries from those kind of family units? Now, >> I feel like this is there's sort of two answers to this. Um, because it if it if it came down to sort of the economics of it, then no. But if it came down to awareness and desire, then yes. I feel like people at the the age of people getting into boating is across the board getting slightly older >> because I feel like >> the comparison between someone in their 30s or 40s now versus someone in their 30s or 40s 20 years ago, the amount of available free cash is slightly less.

[00:17:12]>> Yeah. But manufacturers, dealers are doing what they can to make it more accessible to people and people like yourself go on YouTube. The amount of lifestyle content that's out there, people are more aware.

[00:17:28]>> Yeah.

[00:17:29]>> Is nice to see.

[00:17:30]>> I think I think that's the if I can just jump in. I think that's the biggest thing, isn't it? Is awareness. So the the the >> the boat market in the UK is I say the boat market, the network itself is very small. everyone knows everybody. So, actually, if you just took your first step into the boat industry, um your first step into boat ownership, then you'll actually start to see that there's help at every angle.

[00:17:53]>> Everyone knows something about someone.

[00:17:55]If you want finance, someone knows someone. There is always an opportunity.

[00:17:59]And it depends on your situation of course in life and we touched earlier on you have a you have a family and you took them out on this and and you were surprised of how much space is on the book. When you take that into account, a lot of people are concerned about, okay, I'm going to have quite a few kids on the boat. I've got a family and do I want to just go out and have time on my own? When the reality of it is you can have your partner on the back of the boat, you can have your children playing around the boat. And actually, yeah, you can sit at the helm and you can enjoy your boat with your family around you and they can be as involved or not as involved as you want them to be.

[00:18:31]>> Yeah. And then when it gets to the and touching on the conversation we had regarding the financing and and uh the pricing and so on, there are so many ways to own a boat nowadays. Yeah.

[00:18:41]>> Um but there's also so many different situations that a consumer can find themselves in whether it's inheritance money or you know someone's won the lottery or you know they got a work bonus or something. So when you start talking about you know the pricing per month and how accessible it is, it is very accessible to the right situation.

[00:19:00]>> Yeah. But there's also plenty of option on the market, especially within the Quicksilver range for everybody. Yeah.

[00:19:06]>> You know, we have entry- level boats. We have boats for the more experienced Boers.

[00:19:10]>> And what's the entry level um boat for this particular range?

[00:19:13]>> So, for this one, the this goes down to a 75 weekend. So, there's one step down from this if you wanted a weekend. Uh if you wanted a cabin still, but something a little bit smaller, we do a 5 m cabin as well.

[00:19:25]>> Nice. Yeah.

[00:19:25]>> And how much is 705?

[00:19:27]>> 705? I don't know.

[00:19:32]We we have the thing is that we have so many amazing quality products. I just can't remember the price.

[00:19:38]>> One of the uh one of the questions that one of my followers said or submitted is um when buyers do a quick walk around of the 755 for example a boat show uh they easily spot the large sun pad and the bright cabin. But >> Scott, what is a hidden detail or a piece of engineering on this particular boat >> that you are particularly proud of which owners usually only appreciate once they're actually out on the water?

[00:20:05]>> I would say what we're experiencing right now.

[00:20:07]>> Yeah.

[00:20:08]>> Super quiet cabin.

[00:20:09]>> Mhm.

[00:20:10]>> Definitely.

[00:20:10]>> There's no noise in here and and it's, you know, for the viewers, it's really windy out there.

[00:20:14]>> It was really windy.

[00:20:16]>> 40 knots earlier.

[00:20:17]>> It was awful. And we are able to sit in here and have a nice conversation. Um, and that is it's it's such an amazing amazing feature and you don't get to experience that at a boat show. You know, you can go to a boat show, it's usually in a nice hall. Uh, if it's if you're lucky enough to be inside, um, or if it's on a hard standing on land, it's just not something you get to experience. So, once you're out there, that's when you experience it.

[00:20:38]>> That's very true, actually, cuz we only got one mic, as you might be able to see on the table there, one DJI mic. And one of the things I was worried about was the background noise cuz it is howling out there. And as soon as those doors were shut, there is none. Yeah. That's it. There isn't. It's like a little oasis. So, no, I think that's really interesting because, yeah, like you say, you can go to the boat show, you can look around the boat. Um, but you don't really get a sense of a boat until it's actually on the water. You know, we're on the water now. It's windy out there.

[00:21:03]You know, there's three burly BS on board. There's really not that much movement of the boat even though that we're on it. And I think, yeah, you just get a sense of it. I mean, I >> when we made that trip from Suffukk um down to here, where we are now, Burnham, >> it got a little bit choppy out there. It wasn't rough, but it was certainly choppy.

[00:21:21]>> Yeah, >> the boat just handled it so well. It really did. Just kind of skipped over the waves with the trim set up. And I said to you on the way down, you know, I >> when I'm navigating, I don't really want to be worrying about the trim. It's one of the things that, you know, there's so much to look out, especially out here where the water's quite narrow until you get out onto the uh the main estry there. Even little things like turning on the auto trim and that's it. You don't have to worry about it. I don't want to be knowing what angle it is and do I have to lower the the port bow, the starboard bow.

[00:21:53]>> Um, so yeah, that's something that I think you only get to experience a when you're on the boat sitting on it talking like we are now or if you're actually going out and having a bit of a bit of a potter around.

[00:22:04]>> Another question that we had, this one's for you Tom. Um, for someone watching the series, so the weekend skipper series with the quicks in it. Yeah. who is perhaps thinking of stepping up from a small open dayboat to a closed cabin weekender like this. What is the single most important piece of advice you could give them during the handover?

[00:22:27]>> That's a great question.

[00:22:28]>> It's a very good question that's going to take a while to think about.

[00:22:32]>> The most important thing from going open to an enclosed wheelhouse boat. While you're thinking that, one of the things that you know, because you see other boers out there with an open cabin. Now, I'm very much of the opinion that if you've got a boat, you should use it all throughout the year, the winter months, you know, the spring month when it's cold.

[00:22:54]>> And that's one of the reasons why for me it was really important having an enclosed helm like this. I don't want to have to worry about taking off all the canvas when I'm heading out there and then it gets a bit gnarly and I have to put the canvas back on when it's blowing, you know, like a six out there.

[00:23:09]For me, coming from some of my my old boat that I had 10 years ago that was all open, it was a pain in the backside.

[00:23:16]>> Yeah.

[00:23:16]>> I think there's some people that there's some people that love that.

[00:23:19]>> Yeah.

[00:23:19]>> You know, my my dad, for example, you know, he he loves doing work on his boat. He loves these these little things of, oh, the weather's bad now, great, I get to put the canopy out, you know.

[00:23:28]There's people out there that love that.

[00:23:30]And then there's some people that just like, you know, I'm the same as you. I just want simple boating.

[00:23:35]>> Use my boat.

[00:23:36]>> Hasslefree. Yeah.

[00:23:37]>> You know, a finite amount of your time every month is spent on your boat.

[00:23:41]>> Yeah.

[00:23:41]>> Go and spend it on your boat. Don't spend it dealing with canvas.

[00:23:45]>> Yeah. And Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:23:47]>> I think my advice, there's a couple of ways to look at it.

[00:23:51]I think an important thing to factor in is from a safety perspective, if you're used to having an open helm, make sure the boat you're buying, you know where your blind spots are.

[00:24:02]>> Yeah.

[00:24:02]>> Cuz you've got a structure around you.

[00:24:04]>> This does really well. The view out of here >> is great.

[00:24:09]>> I mean, that window there, the fact there's no stansions on it and it is so big. I mean, it is literally >> it's like a full 360 view.

[00:24:17]>> It is. It's like the ultimate panoramic view when you're actually at the helm of the boat. You can just literally see everything.

[00:24:24]>> We just need a glass floor now.

[00:24:28]>> Escape hatch.

[00:24:28]>> Yeah.

[00:24:29]>> Is not going to help you at 30 knots, isn't it?

[00:24:32]>> Oh, I've gone a ground.

[00:24:34]>> I mean, if you stood up now, you could even with the back cover on, >> you could happily reverse this boat into a moing.

[00:24:44]>> Yeah.

[00:24:45]>> And know where you are and what you're doing.

[00:24:46]>> Absolutely. which I think is is an an important thing to look at if you're making the move from fully open to enclosed wheelhouse is what's my visibility like?

[00:24:55]>> Yeah.

[00:24:55]>> Because we all know the benefits of this all year round usage. It's got a diesel heater. Yeah. Great. You know, >> do your couple of weeks of antifouling and hard standing middle of winter, but realistically you can use it all year round.

[00:25:08]>> Yeah.

[00:25:09]>> And all right, categories aside, >> it's it's a lumber five glass. It will float. It will look after you. Go out and enjoy your bait.

[00:25:17]>> That's it for this episode. Make sure you stay tuned for episode number four.

[00:25:22]If you haven't already, give the video a like and also don't forget to subscribe to the channel.

[00:25:27]>> Right, lower and fire it up, brother.