Wednesday 30 April
Thursday 1 May
Friday 2 May
Saturday 3 May
Sunday 4 May
Monday 5 May
Tuesday 6 May
Limehouse Marina
Limehouse Marina to Chatham
Chatham to Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate to Nieuwpoort (Belgium)
Nieuwpoort to Middelburg (The Netherlands)
Middelburg
returns to top of this page
The weather is still wet and windy. Mike made a quick visit to Ultra Smiles dental surgery and had his tooth patched up. Very efficient, and what seems like an excellent job. And it didn’t break the bank either. After lunch we made a visit to the British Museum. The lock is booked for 09:50 which will give us a 10:00 departure from Limehouse reach. This is not quite at high water so we will be punching the tide to start with but will get the full benefit of the next rising tide up the Medway to Chatham.
We escaped the London Mayoral election day frenzy promptly at 10:00 and headed out down the Thames with much less wind but some very dark patches of sky which we evaded for some time. We paused near East Higham to swing the fluxgate compass; we needed to do this because we had the autopilot course computer borrowed from Raymarine installed for testing. This involves motoring slowly in circles and requires plenty of room – this wide part of the estuary was free of shipping and very calm so we took the opportunity to get the job done. After that, the big back clouds caught up with us and we had to duck inside for cover. We spent the rest of the journey swapping between inside and outside as each rain cloud came over. We arrived at Chatham at 16:30 and were quickly locked through. (Un)fortunately there were only 60 minutes of retail therapy time left at the nearby outlet centre, and not enough time to get there. The borrowed course computer seems to be behaving impeccably so fingers are pointing at ours – the one that Raymarine can find nothing wrong with. Further time will tell.
Medway industry - a shot for the sky!
Our 10:30 locking saw us out into the Medway and heading for Sheerness. The water was very calm and there was not much wind with blue sky and clouds. But in the distance we could see some monster black clouds clearly dumping rain so we would be lucky if we stayed dry for the whole journey. Eventually our path crossed one of these rain clouds off Reculver Towers and we had to duck for cover for about an hour. After that it we stayed dry and then the sun came out. We made good time and were entering Ramsgate Harbour by 16:15.
We went straight to the fuel pontoon for a final top up with duty free diesel. Here we were told that there were over thirty Belgian and Dutch yachts coming in. We could see the berths all filling up. The harbour staff had lost control of the situation and told us to moor anywhere we could find. There was an empty space opposite the fuel pontoon and we were directed in there. When we came back from our fish and chip supper an irate boater told us that we were parked in his permanent mooring. When we said we had been told to berth there by the marina staff he became really annoyed! (with them) We couldn’t move Starry Night because Mike had removed the alternator, which had been acting up. It’s going to be checked out tomorrow. The marina staff then showed up in a small boat wanting to tow starry night to another mooring. When Mike asked how they were going to do this and was their insurance covering this move, they got the huff and immediately retreated! So we are staying put till the alternator is re-instated.
Grain Edge fort at the entrance to the Medway
One dead alternator!
It took the local marine engineers thirty minutes to take the suspect alternator to a local specialist, have it pronounced unfit and return with one that is an exact replacement but much newer, and which is now installed and working nicely. The Sterling Alternator Booster, which they say was the root cause of its demise, is no longer connected. Apparently these booster regulators over cook the alternators and account for lots of burnouts. The down side is less than perfect battery charging due to the voltage drop across the splitter diodes that keep the domestic battery and the engine starting battery separate. Here is a project for the future – to sort out this conundrum. We have now moved to a new berth. The Belgian yachts have all left for Boulogne and we are surrounded by another mass of yachts from closer to home. Forecast for tomorrow looks ever so good. Keeping our fingers crossed.
Starry Night in a thicket of sailing boats at Ramsgate - after fixing alternator
We were up bright and early and ready to set off promptly at 07:15. We checked with Port Control and were told that if were ready to leave immediately we could go, as a ferry was due in fifteen minutes. So we cast off and were away. The first part of the passage was to head South towards Dover inside the Goodwin Sands which sheltered us from the Easterly wind. The sea was smooth and a delight. It was very hazy and visibility was only a few miles. Just off the white cliffs of Dover (clearly visible in the distance) we turned on the obligatory heading to cross the Channel traffic lanes. Within less than two hours we were across both lanes and turning North East for our trip along the French and Belgian Coast. We saw very little traffic, perhaps five or six large vessels within a couple of miles of us besides a half dozen or so ferries.
The six-hour trip up the coast to Nieuwpoort was ahead of us, but conditions were perfect. The wind was on our bow so we had a perfect sea for steering into and the autopilot was as happy as can be. The only significant waves were from the occasional wake from a large boat. Dunquerque with all its horrible industry and docks eventually faded away and it was time to hoist the Belgian courtesy flag. Finally at about 15:30 we could see the harbour entrance for Nieuwpoort in the distance.
As we got nearer we could see in the distance lots off sailing boats milling about in the sea outside Nieuwpoort. As if on cue, about five minutes ahead of us they all decided to head for the harbour entrance and we got involved in a huge traffic jam of yachts all going at different speeds all heading down the harbour channel! The temperature at sea had been chilly with a cool East wind. As we got only a short distance inland the temperature soared and we had to peel off the layers quickly to avoid overheating.
By 17:00 the harbour master at the VVW marina had assigned us our berth. By 17:10 the local customs and excise police were on board giving us the third degree and filling in forms - very politely, and in excellent English. They were quite uninterested in our Schengen forms, which had to be posted in a letterbox for the purpose for the attention of the Federal Police. The officer thought we were brother and sister because we had the same family name: in Belgium a wife retains her family surname apparently. We all had a good laugh at this misunderstanding. Finally they went to the next door yacht where they thought they had escaped attention, and we could relax. Mike went to the marina office to pay and to check if the Belgium Army was doing any live firing on the sea range which lies between Nieuwpoort and Oostende. The staff looked at the information on the firing range web site but it was out of date! They thought it would be fine if we left before 08:00 as it always takes the army ages to get ready. So we decided to leave at 07:45.
The white cliffs of Dover
Coming up fast from behind!
As we headed down the channel out to sea we were overtaken by a small work boat. The chap in the camouflage jacket gave us a cheery wave. They headed out to sea and stopped about a quarter of a mile off shore, we assumed to do some fishing. As we emerged from the harbour entrance and turned North East to continue up the coast the little work boat raced towards us and the chap in the camouflage jacket leapt up and waved at us to stop, which we did along side his boat. By now we reckoned that this camouflage jacket was Belgium Army issue and not from Millets! "You are in Danger, you are in Danger" he said, obviously having clocked the red ensign. "The army are firing live rounds. You must make a heading of 300 degrees (not up the coast, but directly out to sea at an angle and in the opposite direction for Vlissingen) and stay off shore two miles!"
We knew from the charts where the two-mile exclusion zone was located, and we could see it on our plotter, so we could keep well away. A trawler was lurking on the perimeter as confirmation. We were thankful that it was not the five-mile or worse still the ten-mile exclusion zone in force that day. This added an extra 30 minutes to our passage at the most, so it was not too bad. It could have been much more inconvenient. We had not encountered this before on our previous visit. The rest of the passage was uneventful.
Three and a half hours on the same heading up the Belgium coast till we passed Zeebrugge and then we started to bear round the coastline to Breskens where we crossed the Westerschelde to the Vlissingen side and entered the harbour where the sea lock is located. The tidal stream was running at three knots across the harbour entrance and the turbulence was incredible.
We slowed down and stopped in the waiting area for the lock to put out our fenders in the company of several sailing boats. Almost immediately the lock gates opened and the traffic signals changed to green for us. We went straight in without any waiting - perfect timing. We were then in a convoy for the four-mile trip up the Kanaal door Walcheren with its five opening bridges. This took over 90 minutes due to all the waiting at each bridge! Finally we turned into the side canal leading to the town harbour of Middelburg. With no sign of the harbour master we dropped the mast and squeezed under the lift bridge to take a mooring alongside the main pontoon.
The harbour master showed up a few minutes later and OK'd our spot. We are here!!! No barrel organ welcome this time - what a shame!
Morning departure from Nieuwpoort - low water
Swapping over courtesy flags on the Belgium Netherlands border!
Waiting for the Keersluisbrug to open at the start of our trip up the Kanaal door Walcheren
Middelburg harbour - Starry Night in far distance
A relaxing start to the day with a lie-in and no hurry to go anywhere. In the morning we strolled round the ramparts and did a bit of shopping. Then we went back into town for lunch, visited the museum and then went to the supermarket. We have noticed that chip and pin is coming in here and have hopes that British credit cards may be more widely accepted this time. We will have to see.
Middelburg harbour as seen from Starry Night
Copyright © 2008-2009 Mike Hawkridge