Old haunts
27 April 2011 | Ramsgate
Worst fears sometimes do come true. I slept badly, the wind howling through the rigging did not bode well for the morning. Woke at six, and got ready for sea. Quickly, a ferry had announced it's imminent arrival and Port Control has the nasty habit of restricting exit once a ferry's due to arrive or leave.
One reef in the main for sure, maybe more later. Swung around in the harbour and quicly hoisted. Out just in time. Once clear of the breakwater, the conditions were truly horrid. The short, steep seas of yesterday were still there – with a vengeance. The wind gusting up to 25kts and to high to be able to sail home. Speed over the ground a very disappointing 4kts. Twenty-two hours of this? I don't think so. Left hand down a bit – beam reaching for Ramsgate.
The reef in the main and a couple of turns on the genoa should do very nicely.
Not the most comfortable of rides, but it was fast, very fast. Only one fishing vessel and two cargoes to dodge in the TSS, but otherwise an uneventful crossing. Decks awash a couple of times near the sandbanks, but otherwise nothing to report apart from one lost fender.
It did, however, get interesting towards the end. Fatigue had well and truly set in by then and the echosounder did nothing for my peace of mind. Where exactly are those channel markers, where are the Goodwins, ... ? Questions, questions ... Called Evita on deck so I could take a closer look at the plotter. Only ever so slightly off track – panic over.
Channel markers sighted, course set, speed over 8kts, not long now. Or it shouldn't have been had it not been for Ramsgate Port Control. Called them up when we passed Nr 4 buoy and requested permission to enter the outer harbour under sail and recover sails there. Permission was denied as there was a ferry sailing in 20 minutes. What are they thinking? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that we would have been tucked up alongside in the marina in 5 minutes – give or take. As it was, we spent another horrible half hour being bashed about outside – recovering sails – waiting for a ferry to sail. Some empathy training would not go amiss. Tied up alongside just over seven hours after we sailed – nothing broken along the way.
Checked in at the marina office – one night please. I hoped against hope that we would be able to sail the next day.
Traditional first night meal in Ramsgate: Pizza Express. Back to the boat for some drinks, a movie and yet another early night. If conditions improved we would sail on the tide first thing in the morning.
Alas, it was not to be. I had taken the TacTick windex to bed with me and the readings throughout the night never dropped below 20kts. Slept in.
Another day to enjoy the delights of Ramsgate. There a worse places to be stuck and Ramsgate can be quite bearable provided you're not stuck there for long. A day spent shopping for food, drinking and checking every possible weather forecast. The trouble with that is: a man with a watch knows the time, a man with two watches is never sure. Still, they all agreed that the wind would drop somewhat overnight till Friday mid-afternoon.
It wasn't much, but it would have to be good enough.