Ramsgate – Chatham: 50.1 NM Year to Date: 194.4 NM Mouflon to Date: TBC Our final day of the adventure, we took Mouflon from Ramsgate round Margate Sand into the Thames Estuary and her new home, Chatham Maritime Marina.
Having had an early night, we set off early to let us all get home at a reasonable hour. Shortly after 7am, we motored out of Ramsgate with the help of a little tide behind us.
I steered her away from the mouth of the marina and then we got the sails up. However, nothing we could do would get the second reef out. It was jammed solid – will need to get a rigger to look at it later.
In the end, it worked out well. The wind really picked up later and as we were close hauled, it was good we had the reefs in.
For the first part of the day, the tide was against us and we kept fairly close to the shore. Then, as we came around past Margate we went further out into the Thames Estuary. Alex did a fair bit of the helming round this bit.
This month’s Yachting Monthly featured an article on a boat which had been wrecked on New Year’s Eve off Margate Sand. It was very much on my mind. We gave Margate Sand a wide berth.
Just past the windmill farm, there are a couple of trick stretches of sand with a few wrecks thrown in for good measure. I had my iPhone chart plotter running pretty much the whole way as we navigated through the shallowest water.
The Medway River is a fair old stretch and some locals from Legend 36 waved at us as they confidently sped past. The river navigation is extremely well marked, however, and we didn’t have any problems motoring up to Chatham. Alex and Sean even managed to rustle up mugs of hot soup.
Coming into Chatham, I radioed in and was told I could lock in in about 15 mins. We made the call to tie up on the visitors pontoon while we waited. There was a jolly strong current, though, and I came in far too sharp, almost banging the bow as I pulled out astern again. Alex gave me a few pointers. The second attempt, I stuck the nose pretty much straight into the tide and we drifted onto the pontoon.
By the time we’d played with all this, it was soon time to lock in and Harbourmaster Bob (we later found out he’s Bob) called us to let us know. In the lock itself, we pfaffed about a bit before eventually managing to tie on starboard side to.
Tracie, who’d been so helpful earlier, came down to the boat to greet us – I’ve never felt so welcome in any entry to a marina. She actually came on board and stayed with us and talked us through as we motored round to Mouflon’s new berth, even showing us where her amazing boat lives.
There was a bit less space than Chichester and a strong wind was blowing the bow around. My first attempt almost worked, but we drifted sideways up the fairway, too far for our berth.
I motored right out to try again – I’ve long since learned it’s important not to get flustered about an aborted docking attempt. Better to go around a couple of times than plough once into a neighbouring boat.
Tracie offered a few times to give us another berth, but I like where she’s put us. We’re nice and near the shower block – which is great for the kids – and slightly sheltered by the two modern glass towers (which also look really cool).
The second time, I gave it a lot more power astern and that seemed to do the trick. Alex stepped ashore and dragged Mouflon back into her new home. We were all tired and a bit relieved, but it was a truly wonderful trip around.
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