It was an early start, leaving the marina at 02h00, but this was the only chance we had of getting the tides right, and still arriving at a sensible time in Boulogne.
So we set out into a windless night motoring out of Harwich. As we exited Harwich, the wind increased (or more correctly - started) up to about 7 or 8 kts, but bang on the nose. Not only insufficient to sail realistically, but the wrong direction.... it was a southerly/south westerly, so not auspicious for the rest of the trip.
By the time we'd rounded Sunk Head cardinal, and entered Black Deep, the long channel across the Thames Estuary that marks the real start of the Thames, and hence can occasionally see some heavier traffic, it had started to get light, so things were getting easier. It was still motoring given the direction, although the wind had picked up to 12kts, enough to sail comfortably at an appropriate speed, but would have been a beat, which wouldn't have allowed us to make enough progress towards France.
Foulgers Gat, which is a very narrow channel across one of the larger sandbanks was the next challenge, made more difficult by two things. Firstly, the channel is marked by a safe water mark either end. These are 2.8nm part, and the half light didn't allow the far end to be seen, so it was a bit of a careful plod to start with... the plotter makes this a lot easier, but unlike many sailing areas, these sands are very mobile, and it isn't safe to trust the charts, so watching the sounder is the order of the day... secondly, the swell was rather on the quarter, so it was a bit rolly.. or rather bouncy, as there wasn't a ground swell, rather a wind blown chop.
As we exited Foulgers Gat and pointed the bows towards North Foreland, I was looking forward to getting the sails up.... but alas, the wind had a laugh at us by swinging Southerly (probably assisted by North Foreland), soi we continued motoring.... the wind had started to build, now reaching 20kts, and it looked like the forecasted gales were well on there way.... so we decided to shorten, and drop into Ramsgate... with a further 40nm to go, it was a bit risky to continue on especially given that we were going to be crossing one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, the Dover Straits.
So we radioed into Ramsgate and pottered in. A quick check with port control saw us cleared to enter, but the marina proved more troublesome. It is Ramsgate week, one of the East Coast's big race events of the year, and the marina was heaving... so we were allocated a berth in the eastern marina, the home of the fishing fleet.
This wasn't ideal. It has no shore power (which we could live with) and no water (less appealing), and is also somewhat morfe exposed to any swell coming in.
The wind had increased by now to 30kts, and as a south westerly, the swell was most definitely coming in. We managed to find a long lateral pontoon and a downwind side of it, so at least we were being held off, but the boat was bouncing around like a wild thing!
Within an hour, the pontoon was full, and the raft was 2 deep. Masts started clashing, boats on the windward side started popping fenders, and the final straw for some was when a boat had its fairlead ripped off with a bang, and it shot across the pontoon and pinged off another boat. The cill to the inner marina opened up, and boats fought to be off and get into its shelter. With less boats about, and the addition of mooring compensators onto our lines we were sitting ok, so decided to stay put. Not one of my better decisions.
A less than satisfactory nights sleep followed, with the boat banging around all night... no risk or worries about damage, but quite an unpleasant motion. Ah well.
So here we are Sunday morning.... the wind has eased only very slightly, but the wind has swung a bit towards the west, and the swell isn't coming in half as much, so a lot more settled. The forecast suggest it'll stay windy throughout the day today, and then moderate overnight with much lighter conditions tomorrow, so we'll head towards Bolougne, or perhaps even Dieppe then. We need to choose which carefully, as it looks like wherever we choose, we'll be there for a few days... the forecast for Wed/Thurs is dire.... 35kts plus!
August in the UK... what a delight.
Miles logged 43nm
Miles this season 436nm
Miles this trip 43nm
Miles since this blog started 3,373nm |
