According to their websites the PLA have restricted areas … seem to be around commercial docks and wharves. Also a prohibition on jetskis above a certain point -definitely not allowed in the City.
Above Teddington is non tidal anyway so a regular inland waterways license suffices.
I see some guys on wave skis are surfing tour boat wakes. Long distance events routinely start at Tower Bridge.
There was a chart showing from right out in the Thames estuary up to the docks.
Sure there is plenty of recreation above the Thames barrier
I think it’s time for a pop quiz. You’re preparing to moor your harbor assist tractor tug when at your intended berth you see this:
Given what we’ve learned in this thread, how do you proceed? Creative answers only.
Line crew up at the rail, give a round of applause, and then suggest moving out of the way would be quite beneficial to the health of the canoe.
If that fails, call the water cops and ask for the drunk paddler to be removed 
I would suggest you not visit Virginia Beach. Walking drunk is called public intoxication, and they will arrest you for it…especially if you are a sailor.
Offer him tickets to the opera if he leaves immediately. If he refuses, activate the fire main, fill the canoe with water until it sinks and proceed to destination.
I wonder if the public waterway is the same patch of ground as the Harbour.
Port Authorities and Boards of Harbour Commissioners often have the legal power (under the Statutes which established them) to define exclusion zones or ban certain types of activity.
It is perfectly legal to kayak from the open sea into the Thames in England but one’s route must comply with whatever demands the Port of London Authority may ordain. It is not allowed to enter specified dockland areas as per the maps publicly available on PLA websites.
The International Regulations apply as much to kayaks as anything else.
Problem is usually kayakers (whilst excellent at performing circus tricks) are not aware that any Rules exist at all.
‘Steam gives way to Sail’ is about the sum of it.
Kayaks are definitely not welcome inside my local harbour.
The ‘captain’ of our capital city kayak club recently posted on their forum, “Coastal freighters entering the estuary bound for the inland wharves are failing to keep out of the way of our kayaking groups” The estuary is large but very shallow. Kayaks can operate up to the margins in safety.
The commercial traffic has the use of a defined narrow channel dredged for their use. All is clearly charted.
No wonder small boats loitering or playing in restricted areas are increasingly unpopular.
I’m guessing most of us have had a heart stopping encounter with a clueless kayaker. Mine was coming in to a narrow inlet at night and I didn’t see him until I was nearly on top of him. Dark kayak, dark clothes, middle of the fairway and no lights. Bordering on the suicidal but I still would have felt bad if I had run him over.
I think I went sailing with my father twice after conning a CVN. He drove me batty. His boat was on the southwest part of Lake Erie, by the coal pier outside of Sandusky. God bless the skippers of those coal boats because most of the boaters in the area had never apparently heard of the Law of Gross Tonnage, much less the Rules of the Road.