A change in the wind direction on Friday meant that we could finally depart Dover Marina and head for Ramsgate, our penultimate stop. Procedures for departure were made and we headed out of Granville dock just after lunchtime in order to carry the ebb tide out of the harbour then along St Margaret’s Cliff and ‘round the corner’ towards Deal.
Last legs
Once again strict protocol had to be followed in order to avoid the seemingly never ending stream of ferries arriving and departing through the narrow eastern harbour entrance. We were directed to ‘The Knuckle’ lighthouse, a temporary safe refuge tucked just inside the outer harbour walls close to the eastern entrance.
The Knuckle - Eastern harbour entrance/exit
Here we awaited the ‘all clear’ which we duly received in the form of a brief radio communication from Dover Port Control and a bank of green lights. “Distant Drummer you are clear to depart, head due north out of the eastern entrance and don't stop” came a calm but authoritative female voice. It felt a little bit like the start of a formula one Grand Prix.
Waiting for the green light
Nicola eased the throttle forward and Distant Drummer made headway through the turbulent choppy waters of the harbour entrance.
Departing Dover!
As we cleared the harbour wall perimeter we could see three ferries all headed in line for the same 600 foot narrow gap through which we had just exited! Thankfully, in a few minutes we were clear and could relax a bit as we made rapid progress along the chalky coastline leaving the frenetic ferry activity behind.
South Foreland lighthouse
This passage was to be one of our shortest both in terms of time and nautical miles covered. With Deal pier in sight the wind dropped and the sea state became much calmer.
We chose the inshore route to Ramsgate avoiding the sandbanks on the edge of Sandwich Bay. It was a really pleasant sail and quite a novelty to hug the coast at such close proximity often no more than a few hundred yards off. We had followed another yacht out of Dover but it was clear to us that its skipper dared not risk the shallows as he headed out to sea following an alternative offshore route north.
We met up that evening in Ramsgate marina. The skipper of the other yacht admitted that he and and his crew had discussed the matter at length and in the end plumped for the security of the greater depth offshore despite being tempted to sneak inshore as we had done.
We had a brief sortie ashore in Ramsgate enjoying a celebratory beer in the pub as the realisation of the near ending of our voyage sank in. Just one more passage across the Thames Estuary and Distant Drummer would be ensconced in her final berth at Tollesbury marina.
One sail to go
