In all the time we have been sailing our own boats we have never sailed the South Coast of England. We generally get to Ramsgate and go to France. Why wouldn't you? I think we last went to Dover in 2005 when the Channel was unattractively bumpy...
So this trip is breaking new ground for us. Dover is only a short hop from Ramsgate and with not much wind around, the main excitement was the discussions with Dover Port Control about when and where you can enter. With a ferry, even in these Covid times, leaving every few minutes you can never assume there is going to be a gap. Theoretically a new marina should have opened two years ago, it's all there and new and shiny, but it is being badly affected by wave surge and now won't open until 2022 at the earliest. So we were in the Granville dock, accessible three or four hours each side of HW. It's close to the A20 but otherwise relatively secluded.
 |
| New harbour, not in use. Such a waste... |
 |
| Old marina office by Granville dock, also not in use. |
 |
| View from the Western Heights |
 |
| Dover looking posh |
The building conspicuously labelled "Marina Office" is no longer the marina office because the staff moved to the new office last week so that they could operate the new lock into the Wellington Dock. The result is very confusing. For example, there is an accessible shower in the Granville Portakabins, but the ramp is at the far end where you can get out, but not in, through the security gate. In the end a marina employee had to come around and let us in so that Sam could get a welcome but rather dribbly shower.
Dover has come up in the world since 2005 but the town centre is still a bit full of fast food outlets and charity shops. I had a nice walk to the Western Heights on the Monday evening and a run to the White Cliffs on the eastern side (walking up the hilliest bits) on Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment