Dover - 21st May 2017

A check on the weather and a check on the tides and yet another check on the passage plan and we were ready to leave Ramsgate. This would be quite a short journey today, only 15 or so miles, however I was a bit worried about going into Dover itself as the pilot book gives lots of instructions. First and foremost it is a busy ferry port and they are in and out frequently and quickly. once in you have to get round to where the marina is.

We had a good journey a mixture of sailing and motor sailing. once the wind dropped we did revert to motor sailing as we were anxious to arrive and be moored up.

The white cliffs of Dover are truly spectacular. As we neared Dover we contacted the port as requested from two miles out, we were then asked to radio in again at 200 metres. this was the cause of a great deal of conversation along the lines of me asking repeatedly "Do you think we are at 200 metres yet?" I was trying to visualise four Olympic size pools, but wasn't very good with my estimates. We were lucky with our timings as when we radioed in, there was no ferries coming in or going out. So we came in the Eastern side as directed over to the west and round the corner to the marina. As we were to be put in Granvile Dock we had to tie up and wait for the lock gates to open in about an hours time. Once inside we quickly moored up and had tea ready.

There is an awful lot of work going on in the dock and marina area, partially funded by the EU, so I hope it gets finished before we leave! This meant that the showers and toilets were in portacabins, but we were very impressed by them.

We spent virtually a full day at Dover Castle, it is really impressive and well worth a visit. As English Heritage members we got in free. I could go back as we didn't manage everything did visit the WW11 tunnel where they planned Dynamo, but not the hospital tunnel. There was a 30 minute wait and we could be bothered to sit in the hot sun. This was at the end of the visit and wed been up to the original castle - there are loads of steps inside and the church and roman light house.

Also in Brighton was the new Banksy, I have never seen on in the flesh so to speak. Id seen pictures of this one in the papers and we spotted it from the marina. It was even more impressive in real life, there are details that even our camera didn't catch. So pleased I saw it.

We decided that there wasn't a lot more of Dover we wanted to see, so decided to move on the next day.

My more eagled eyed friends will notice there are not a lot of pictures of Mr Gee. All I can say is try getting him on a photo! I have to do sneak photos, he claims he already knows what he looks like!! I try to tell him people make things more interesting.

Sailing information
We had a voucher for two nights for the price of one so it only cost us £25.20.
Facilities good though I forget how much the laundry was.
We didn't need the shops so didn't hunt for any and we didn't eat out.
Distance from Ramsgate to Dover  16.8 nautical miles.  3 hours on the nose.