SYH to Ramsgate

Arranging crew for this entire trip has been made easier by the fact that the Commodore of the WOA, David Jibb, has been unable to get out to his boat in Calais, so has volunteered to crew for us from Kent to Portland. However, he wasn’t very keen on travelling up to Suffolk in order to sail back to Kent again (he lives in Deal). After several dead ends, our beloved youngest son and favourite crew Ben volunteered to do the Thames estuary crossing. Hooray!

Last weekend we had a delightful evening at Shotley, enjoying a barbecue with the growing Westerly fleet, and this Friday we rose at the crack of dawn in order to set off from SYH to Ramsgate. We had a good fast passage with SW winds until we got to North Foreland, where the wind went due S and the tide turned foul. Then we crawled the last five miles or so at about three knots. The entrance was horribly choppy but we got there in the end. Unfortunately we are on an ordinary finger pontoon which is very wobbly so Sam hasn't been ashore here - a senior bod for the marina did ask late on Saturday if we wanted to move to a sturdier location but it was really not worth it by then.

After lunch on Saturday I walked with Ben to the station and enjoyed a wander through the town on the way back. It's actually quite a long way.

I've been suffering sciatic pain but it's easing off a bit, so on Sunday morning I set off for a run  to Broadstairs at beach level and back along the top of the cliff. It was hot, but good to be exploring new territory. I had lots of pauses to rest my leg, admire the views, and read the information boards. 

 

Our crew, WOA Commodore David Jibb, joined us in the afternoon. We're very glad to have him on board, especially as he arrived with a feast of asparagus with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, followed by scrummy cakes and raspberries! There are quite a few Westerlys here now but they are quite scattered around, so we didn't get together until we had drinks on the seawall at 5pm on Sunday.

Tomorrow we're off to Dover, with a civilised departure around 9am.