There are many options when it comes to Crossing the Thames Estuary due to the significant sandbanks, wind farms and popular commercial traffic routes. A few of the routes go by the names of E. Swale to Wallet, North Foreland to W Swin and Fisherman's Gat which will all suit different end destinations. There is no "one route fits all" on this journey and you are left to make the decision so that you can plan the best route to suit your intentions.
Our destination was the River Orwell which sits up on the northerly side of the Thames Estuary. The route we opted for took us all around the outside of the sand banks and wind farms and is aptly known as the "Outside Route". In hindsight we would have probably chosen a different route as although we avoided a lot of the hazards there was in fact plenty of deep water. We could have saved ourselves a lot of time by going through Fisherman Gat instead. Our trip took us much longer than we anticipated (around 13 hours) and we arrived in the Orwell in the pitch black - at around 00:00. Not ideal coming into a place we had never seen before and having to look for a mooring buoy. One hand with the torch light and the other with the boat hook - no ones idea of fun!
The journey all started in Ramsgate as we walked Freddy around the marina as we looked down onto the boat, contemplating how hell we were going to leave the berth. We we were a little too big for the spot we were in which meant that we had a lot less space to manoeuvre and the marina had certainly filled up by this point. Once we had settled the nerves and made a plan, it was time for us to stop thinking about potential scenarios and give it our best shot.
Fortunately, it all went well and with permission to leave the harbour from Ramsgate Port Control we were on our way. There wasn't much wind and what small amount there was came right on the nose. We had to catch the ride tide so we were forced to motor straight into it. It's true that there may have been enough for us tack our way across like "proper sailors" but we were constrained by time and wanted to get ourselves tucked into the river as soon as we could.
The wind was around 6/8 knots but motoring into that at 5knts meant that the apparent wind reached 12knts+ occasionally up to 14knts. Unfortunately this slowed us down quite a lot and with both a northbound tide and winds coming from the north it meant that sea conditions were far from enjoyable. We described it at the time as a "short chop" which was a constant jarring forward sensation on the boat. This carried on for around six hours we followed along the Outside Route and passed parallel to the edge of a Traffic Separation Zone (TSS) zone. This is basically a motorway for container ships and a place that it's best if you can stay out. The constant bashing and up and down motion took it's toll on the crew as seasickness made an appearance. This was a shame as we had another hour until we could turn west and head into the River Orwell entrance meaning we would be on a beam reach and hoped to see more comfortable conditions. We kept the engine on at this point so that we could motor sail as it was 21:00 at this point and we still had 18 NM to go.
As the sun dropped along with the temperature it became clear that we still had a way to go which meant we were going to be arriving in the dark. On the plus, the tide had turned back again in our favour and we had picked up speed to 7.5knts.
"All I can say is thank the gods for electric chart plotters and GPS and I don't know how we didn't get caught up in a lobster pot rope. That would have been the final straw on the day and I would of jumped over board and called it a day!" - Adam
The entrance to the river Orwell is quite commercial and therefore does light up with navigational lights and shore lights form the working dockyard. However, it was pitch black by this point and these felt really disorientating and made it difficult to determine where the entrance into the River Orwell was hidden. We were heavily reliant on the twinkling of the navigational buoys and our chart plotter.
Once we quietly crept along the river and approached our destination of Pin Mill we grabbed the search light so that we could pick the right spot to stay for the night. Pin Mill is an area that has a mixture of private and designated visitors mooring buoys available. It was really difficult to spot in the dark and we were very conscious of being both loud and shining the light into peoples cabins. It took us a few laps up and down the river to get our bearings and we finally spotted a buoy that looked suitable. We decided to go for it so that we could get some sleep and were prepared to move in the morning if we had to. There was only 5 hours until dawn at this point. As soon as we had the mooring buoy secured to the boat there was an instant sense of relief. The plan was for a celebratory cup of tea, a quick tidy up and then straight to bed. We let the excitement of arriving calm down and we eventually hit the hay at around 01:00.
We were greeted the next morning with glorious sunshine and a chorus of bird song. We spoke to a neighbouring boat who confirmed that we would be fine as visitors on that particular morning - so we stayed for ten days!
Although all didn't go to plan, I guess that is sailing for you. All of these times give us more experience as we build our confidence and team work skills which we will use in the future. Thank you the Thames Estuary for challenging us and pushing us outside of our comfort zone so that we can grow. That's easy for me to say now a month on as I am sat in the sun in Amble Northumberland. I'm not so sure I would have had the same gratitude if you had asked me after arriving in the Orwell. However, the time we spent there peacefully floating on the mooring has been one of the highlights of the trip so far so was absolutely worth it.
Adam
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