Ramsgate Part 2

It must be said the all the staff we met at Ramsgate Marina could not have been more helpful and friendly. They were absolutely brilliant which is more than can be said for the weather, which on day one was dreadful. I took the opportunity to do some laundry, the cost of which took my breathe away. £5 for a wash and £3 for a dry. However in the laundry I did meet Joyce from Emma Lucie, we went round for a drink, they were supposed to be leaving for Dunkirk the next day, however it was far to windy so they stayed an extra night and they popped over to us. It is always so sociable on a marina. We also found out from them that we were wise to have left Harwich a day later than planned as they had travelled on our original date, thick fog! Glad we didn't have to contend with that.

The second day the weather was slightly better rain wise but very windy. We went round Ramsgate and found the Waitrose, which was the only supermarket in walking distance. Sadly we didn't get to the Ramsgate Tunnels as they shut at 2 pm, by the time we'd realised that it was already oneish, so we will save the tunnels for the return leg.

We did have a walk round the piers. It should be noted that the harbour was built by John Smeaton, who is from Leeds and as a Leeds girl myself I feel it is an important fact to note. In fact there is a secondary school named after him in East Leeds, which opened in 1969.

Entrance to Ramsgate Harbour

Whilst walking round the East Pier, we did what all Yachtsmen do and watched other boats come in, we both agreed we wouldn't have wanted to come in today as it was blowing a hooley. However we saw a Belgian Yacht run aground as they ignored the fact there is a dirty great sandbank in the inner harbour and were circling round putting their fenders out. Then another Belgium boat had a heck of a job berthing as he got caught by the wind going into his berth, after that it went from bad to worse and went backwards nearly hitting another boat (Also Belgium), then he was totally across the gap between pontoons, at this stage he went sideways, again towards yet another Belgium boat and eventually managed to go in reverse and tuck in behind him. We were just glad that the wind was due to drop over night.

As the wind was so bad Doug and Joyce on Emma Lucie stayed an extra night and they popped over to us. It is always so sociable on a marina.


As we were wandering round the Marina, we noticed 'Princess Matilda', which for those of you who have followed  his TV programme will know that this is Timothy Spall's barge.

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Views of the marina, spot the Yorkshire Rose and that is Rascal.

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Princess Matilda

Spot the wild life, it's beak was full of grubs.

An eventful journey to Ramsgate - 17th May 2017

As always we checked out weather before setting off and it looked a very calm day, good visibility but with little chance of sailing.

Finally we were off for a summer of sailing. At first everything went smoothly, the navigation was spot on and we were making excellent time - the tide was giving us a good push along. As forecast there was not a lot of wind so we motor sailed.

Although it was a bright day, it was cold. John wrapped up warm. 

Just as we were leaving Fishermans Gat the wind began to pick up slightly so we felt we would put the sails up and sail.Life was good and we were only about 14 miles from the entrance to Ramsgate Harbour. Before we did this the sound of the engine changed dramatically and it was not happy. We knew something was amiss but not what. As a precaution we contacted the Coastguard to make them aware of the situation. We didn't require assistance but they radioed through every 30 minutes to make sure we were okay. The sails were up and we continued to make good time towards Ramsgate as we were doing 5.7 knots SOG (Speed over ground). On our next welfare call from the coastguard I informed them that we were happy not to have any more welfare calls but we would call back if the situation changed.

John did the sailing as he is the better sailor than me and we were lucky that the wind was in the right direction and we could keep to the course we had planned. However as we passed round North Foreland every thing changed  - the wind not only dropped but also changed direction and the tide turned. So now we were making only 2 knots - very slow.

North Foreland

About this time we could hear a very loud throbbing engine - it was the boarder patrol. They came behind us and hailed us on the tannoy to contact them on a specific channel. This we duly did and we answered all their questions. They obviously liked all my answers as we weren't boarded. Not that I would have had a problem if they did as they are doing a good job protecting our shores. They were very polite and professional and wished us a good sail and departed.

By now the tide was stronger and wind none existent and we were only making 0.5 knots. Although we could see the entrance to Ramsgate Harbour it would literally take hours to get there. We tried the engine again and we felt it might not get us into harbour so once again I called the Coastguard requesting assistance.

At this time the heavens decided to open with such a speed we didn't have time to get the wet weather gear on as we were heading to wind taking the sails down. We have also discovered a huge design fault in our Bimini, which is there to shade us from the sun on hot days. When it rains heavily it collects water - there are also two holes in it for the back stays to go through. When the boat moves from side to side the water cascades through the holes on to the person on the wheel. For all the world like the Morecambe and Wise sketch singing in the rain. As both John and I were at the wheel for different stints we both got soaked.

Coastguard contacted us back to say the RNLI were on their way and in actual fact I could already see them. They were super and towed us into port. Although you feel a bit silly, they emphasised we had done the right thing and called before we were in an emergency situation. Once in Ramsgate Harbour they dropped the tow and we  berthed up. The marina had chosen a berth that was easy to get to and Alfie from the marina was standing by to take our ropes.

The problem is now solved as the fuel sensor was not working correctly and although we knew how much fuel was in the tank and calculate fuel use whilst out, I had not taken into account the amount we had used in the winter using the heater. Although we were not out of fuel we were low and as the boat heeled this caused air bubbles to enter the fuel system.

I have down loaded a picture of our route from Vessel finder. But this is not strictly accurate as they have us going in a long straight line. The route we followed definitely had some turns in it.

Sailing Information

£33 per night.

Nice clean facilities

Good but expensive laundry

Waitrose is the nearest supermarket

Peter's fish factory just off the marina is brilliant. (As recommended by Alfie)

Friendly and helpful staff
distance travelled from Harwich to Ramsgate 45.4 nautical miles

Ready for the off and Harwich.

We seem to have spent a fourtune on charts ready for the trip this summer. There is a rough plan of where we want to go and when but as you all know in sailing nothing is certain.

Finally we got to the boat on the Saturday and on Sunday were pleased to see our friends Carol and Chris from Seaduction. We went for lunch at Valentinos in Ipswich and would highly recommend it to others. An excellent afternoon was had by all and we wished Carol and Chris farewell as we most probably won't see them again until September. When I am sure more wine will be drunk and more food eaten.

Monday was a day of spending yet more money as our flares were out of date and needed replacing. So we are now okay until Dec 2020. I could get John a new pack of flares for his sixty birthday that month!

Our plan for this week was not to do our normal stop off at Harwich but to sail to Ramsgate in one go. Our day for setting off was the Tuesday. So on Monday the charts were out and the route planned. This was all new sailing ground for us as we have never gone down the South Coast before. The first big decision was whether to go on the inner or our route. We plumped for the inner route, as this takes you through and round sand banks. We woke to torrential rain, which in itself is not a problem but as we checked the weather forecast on Tuesday morning we saw fog patches in the Thames estuary, not what we wanted so a decision was made to stay put. By midday  the weather had improved somewhat and we decided to take Rascal down the river to Harwich.

We shared the lock with Victor, a Thames sailing barge, complete with a motley crew of pirates and a human sized parrot. I think this must have been a bit of a shock to the 'normal' tourists going down the river on the barge.

Why is it when you moor perfectly some where there is not a soul to see you but when you make a total pigs ear of it the world and his wife are there to witness it. This was a day of perfect mooring. When in Harwich you have to eat at the Alma and it doesn't disappoint.



Sailing Information.
The coat of a night at Harwich has gone up, it is now £20 a night. The harbour masters are as helpful as ever and there is a shower.

A day down the River.

May Day Weekend and we had friends Beth, Bob and Julia visiting the boat. A lovely sail down the river to Felixstowe, it was a bit on the breezy side so we didn't go over to Halfpenny Pier as I'd hoped. However we did pick up a mooring buoy and had lunch on the river. No photos as they were all camera shy!

That evening we wandered over to the waterfront for a bite to eat. Suffice to say Grand Central is not to be recommended, they did however only ask us to pay for our drinks.

Sunday was spend at Southwold and Aldeborough both wonderful places and we had a wonderful day out there - by car not boat. It has been great to introduce friends to a part of the country they had not previously visited. in fact they enjoyed it so much, they have rebooked the cottage for June.

John and I then spent the next day or so doing jobs on the boat getting ready for our trip this summer.