After being locked away in Eastbourne Marina waiting for strong winds to subside, we took the first opportunity to continue making progress East and we left for Ramsgate. Unfortunately, this meant a low wind day for us and having to put the motor on for the entire journey.
Thanks to a careful bit of passage planning we aimed to pass Dungeness at around HW - 1 hour Dover which will give you tide all of the way. By calculating this part of the sail we were make use of the tide swinging when we reached Dungeness meaning we would then continue to have favourable tide for the entire trip to Ramsgate.
We kept our eyes peeled for lobster pots and fishing nets as we were advised by fellow cruisers that this was an issue for them in this area. We didn't spot too many but those that we did we avoided with plenty of warning.
We arrived at Dungeness at the correct time to make use of the tide and spotted 2 x decommissioned nuclear power plants amongst the otherwise baron landscape and a nature reserve.
Continuing our journey along the coast, we reached the Port of Dover. Around 1 mile away we contacted the Port of Dover VTS as a courtesy call to let them know of our intentions to pass through the port. We contacted them using the VHF on channel 74 and they advised us that nothing was either inbound/outbound and we were cleared to continue on our track.
We arrived at Dungeness at the correct time to make use of the tide and spotted 2 x decommissioned nuclear power plants amongst the otherwise baron landscape and a nature reserve.
Continuing our journey along the coast, we reached the Port of Dover. Around 1 mile away we contacted the Port of Dover VTS as a courtesy call to let them know of our intentions to pass through the port. We contacted them using the VHF on channel 74 and they advised us that nothing was either inbound/outbound and we were cleared to continue on our track.
This trip had great significance for us as it was the first time that we changed course to face north. Just after St Margaret's at Cliffe our compass direction changed and we started heading up the east coast.
Approaching Ramsgate means being aware of the Goodwin Sands - this is a 10 mile long sandbank lying 6 miles offshore. This requires paying close attention to the charts and tide as a few boats are reported to get pushed onto the sands every year.
In order to enter Ramsgate you are again required to call Port Control VHF channel 14 before making your approach as there are a lot of commercial boats using the harbour - fishing, wind farm maintenance and life boats. There is buoyed channel and also a recommended yacht track which runs parallel to the port hand markers. Be aware of cross tide at this point.
The visitors moorings are to the west side of the marina - the other side is for commercial vessels and also dries out a lot with the tide as you can see below.
The visitors moorings are to the west side of the marina - the other side is for commercial vessels and also dries out a lot with the tide as you can see below.
The marina didn't take bookings and it was a first come first serve allocation. Just be aware that the pontoons are short and the berths are narrow. We have to be careful as we have a 4m (13ft) beam.
The next day we took a walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs along the cliff (above and below as the route is tidal). We would recommend doing the "Sea It All" walk and you can find the details for it here. We stopped for a refreshing pint and chips on the shore overlooking Viking Bay.
We stayed in Ramsgate for 2 night before moving onto the next part of exploring the East Coast and crossing the Thames Estuary.
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