July 8 – Woolverstone to Ramsgate
By Joe Barrett | July 8, 2012
Another early start to catch the tide for the 55nm trip across the Thames estuary to Ramsgate. The rain lashed down as we left at 06:00 and we thought we would be on deck in pouring rain all day. Things brightened up quickly however, as we rode the tide down River Orwell to Harwich. Not a breath of wind was to be had so it was motoring yet again.
The route across the top of the sandbanks, which lies NE to SW all the way across the Thames estuary, is straightforward if you keep outside of them all. The interesting part of the journey is keeping away from large shipping. At one point we had a huge (600 ft) ship bearing down on us. We were also hemmed in by another ship coming across both of our tracks. It was time to do something about it. Slowing down a few knots and a 10 deg course change solved the problem.
It is interesting to note that even though we had an AIS (Automatic Identification System) receiver, which identifies ships course and speed, on board, we were still just as stressed as without it. AIS just allows the stress to start 10 minutes earlier.
We passed wind farm after wind farm! The amount of construction taking place is incredible. There must have been 50 boats on the Kentish Knock wind farm construction area. Lots of work for the contractors as well as some work for the local Ramsgate community. You wonder what will happen once the wind farm projects have been completed.
North Foreland, Kent
North Forland loomed up in very wet and stormy weather, although the entry into Ramsgate harbour was easy enough. The only complication would be the ferry – which was not there – and the strong tidal set across the entrance.
Ramsgate harbour
We met up with Brian, a friend of Joe's who lives close by, who took us out for an excellent Italian meal on the seafront. This followed by a pint in the Royal Temple Yacht club rounded the evening off nicley.
We are now on a visitors berth in the West Marina. Looks like we will be here until at least Tueday 10th July as windy weather is forecasted. Time to explore and do some washing!
Passage Statistics
- Woolverstone to Ramsgate: 55nm / 9 hrs
- Sailed 0 hrs / Motorsailed 9 hrs
- Distance from start: 1659 nm
- Distance left to go back to Dartmouth: 260 nm
See a map of the whole journey plus a spreadsheet of the daily passage stats
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