Stephen Turner

Detainee Deflation Arrivals Lounge Returned

The Blue Mermaid had just headed up river as we began to carefully stow all our kit into Magwitch, examining every item for the unwelcome brown tailed moth caterpillars encountered in huge numbers on Darnet. My arms, neck and legs were already beginning to show signs of the skin irritation caused by their toxic hairs, as Carol and I vigorously shook our tents and quickly packed them - to prevent any re-infestation near ‘emigration control’ on the narrow strip of shingle where

V for victory 1945 Darnet Fort is on the edge of the deep water channel used by all the boats and ships using the docks, moorings and marinas of the Medway and I enjoy watching them pass, whilst gazing out through a casement window of 10 inch thick steel daubed with a dot, dot, dot, dash and V for victory. The morse code reference probably dates it as a leaving present from the Observation Corps stationed here in WW2 when they left their isolated outpost for a final time afte

I was awake all night, first following the Moon (see the instagram feed), before transferring allegiance to the sun, which finally showed above the horizon at around 5am and threw its pink glow onto the grey granite interior of the fort. Bird song from the marsh without, had its counterpoint of blackbird and pigeon calls from within, with no breath of wind to interrupt or distort. I have hours 'in the can' to play with :-) Red Dawn outside Darnet Fort, Friday 28 May 5am Red D

I came close to crushing a clutch of herring gull eggs for the second time in eight years today, while Carol and I were exploring the perimeter of the fort on Darnet Island (The first time was on the Beaulieu River in 2013 when I was planning the live-work with nature project that became the Exbury Egg - www.exburyegg.me). I managed (both times) to step away, but I now can’t stop thinking again about the fragility of both these nesting sites and of nature in general, as we b

I couldn't sleep more that a few winks last night as I was in thrall to the full moon once more; from its rising (a little blurry, unfocused and orange) to a shining 'star' brightening the heavens and touching the land and river with cool, clear light as it drew the tide in. With tide, the ships came as they always have. I remembered a drawing made on this very spot, of another full moon one cold December in 1997, when a coaster passed by with a festive tree attached to the f

Day 3 10am May 26 The pigeons turn calm appraising eyes our way from roosts in different holes and gutters along the fort's inner rim and I'm reminded of early scenes from Hitchcock's The Birds - sometime before the gulls arrive to seriously revolt against the good folks of Bodega Bay, California and, I guess, all humanity in general. (Tippi Hedron should never have taken that pair of caged lovebirds there - it was a distinct provocation). Meanwhile here in our fort just acr

Day 2 May 25 around 1pm We have just arrived here on Darnet Island after being chased all the way from Hoo by a sudden squall that seemed to to change direction simply to pursue poor Magwitch across the water. We arrived wet and shivering and shivered more at the thought of having to collect dry kindling to start a fire. It was therefore with great gratitude to previous unknown explorers, that we dicovered that the job had been done for us. We simply needed a match. When we

Carol's Clay Pipe Small circular items of plastic from Darnet Island Carol was thrilled to find an almost complete clay pipe as we slowly combed the salt marsh, tuning in to the colours and shapes of the ground below our feet to identify anything out of the ordinary. I got a distinct second prize with a 19th century glass bottle stopper, but contented myself in the end, with a colourful collection of plastic rings - including bottle tops, ring pulls, pipes, washers, a pen and

After leaving the Dockyard from No.8 Slip, a gusting south westerly comfortably drove us along, until the river curled south and east toward Gillingham Reach and we were hit broadside on by three foot waves. The Army could easily cope in their seven metre RIBs and 70hp engines, but a 3.1m Magwitch and a 3.5hp outboard, was at its limit. Laden with fuel, water, food, tents, sleeping bags and toilet bucket it was getting uncomfortable and seeking shelter, I turned the boat abo

Graffiti covered all eleven steel casements inside Fort Hoo when I visited there in 1995, mostly chalked around the gun port windows with their views of the marsh outside. I copied them all into my notebook of the time. It is going to be interesting to revisit the same place tonorrow for the Estuary Festival with Carol Donaldson.

Magwitch has been fully inflated, checked out and is yearning for the water. She is technically Magwitch 2 as Magwitch the 1st (purchased following an auction from the closed RN Dockyard in Chatham in 1984) has been retired for this voyage. She is a 3.1m Zodiak boat with an aluminium floor and an inflatable keel (for more manoeuvrability). We will be using my Yamama 3.5hp outboard engine, recently serviced by Power Products Marine in Strood. Carol and I had a long conversatio

I will soon be returning to some of my favourite places along the length of the Medway Estuary which I first explored in 1994. This time I will be in company with the writer Carol Donaldson as we set off in our small inflatable boat 'Magwitch' to both cover old ground and to explore new places together. I have been looking at some of my older photographs to remind me of different moments during a long association with this special river. It's been such a long and deep engage