Home!

We had agreed the previous night, that given the tidal times, and the fact that we'd not be leaving Ramsgate if we stopped there until midday the next day, hence a really late finish after collecting cars etc etc, that we'd miss the Ramsgate stop, and head straight from Eastbourne to Shotley.... a 100nm leg....
A positively lovely 08h00 start, a full fried breakfast, and everything was set up for a great day... the sun was shining, a lot warmer than yesterday, much like Friday....
At 09h40, we called the lock for permission to lock out..... "this ones full.... next one at 10h30..."
So we turned off the engine, and put the kettle back on...
Eventually, we slipped out, in a busy lock out.... and set off out to sea..... remarkably, with an east going tide, we were the only boat to set off that way, with all the other boats heading West.....
So we set course to for the long haul to Dungeness, and after one incident of raised expectations, when the sighting of the headland off Hastings mislead the crew into thinking that Dungeness had miraculosuly appeared 2 hours early, we eventually reached the famous headland.... with no wind it was totally benign, and we rounded quite close in, and pointed towards SW Goodwin to pass a mile or so off Dover.... and again motored along..... it was incerdibly warm, and at one point I was in the cockpit in a tee shirt.... amazing for early April....
The usual traffic plying its was in and out of Dover caused the usual headaches.... we cleared safely behind one inbound ferry only to see another leaving, and set course directly at us.... a short burst of throttle to state our intentions, and to reinforce the fact that we were stand on vessel, and he dropped off to starboard to clear behind us....
Soon enough we reached the Goodwind sands, and took the inside track...through the Gull channel..... given the state of the tide we were able to turn back onto the correct course quite early, crossing the end of the sands, and by 18h00 had reached North Foreland....
It seemed a little strange to be carrying on straight past Ramsgate, but it made the most sense, so with the certainty of no more than a couple of hours of good light, we set off into the Thames Estuary.... nice to be nearly home, but always one to keep you awake in the dark.... navigation needs to be spot on....
Rather than pass through Foulgers Gat on an already low, and still falling tide we elected to go down Knock Deep, round Long Sand Head and into Harwich from there..... as it happens a sensible decision, as an hour later, a Thames Coastguard Navigation warning reported the mark showing the entrance to Foulgers Gat, Long Sands Outer, being out of position...
Away off to the South, a large fog bank was clearly visible on the horizon, and this kept my attention.... it would have been some first sail of the season.... across the Thames estuary, in an unknown boat, in the dark, and in fog!... but thankfully it kept its distance...
By the time we were half way down Knock Deep, it was dark... the nav lights having been on for some time.... but hardly any battery worries after hours and hours of motoring.....
By 21h00, we rounded up past Long Sand Head, and started the haul into Harwich.... still some 17nm away, but quite obvious where, from the bright Orange glow on the horizon....
At this point, the wind suggested it might huild a bit... but still largely dead on the stern....
Round NE Gunfleet, towards Medusa, and suddenly Harwich was even more obvious..... it is however, incredibly difficult to pick out nav marks in the background light, so even though the wid came up to 21 kts, across the beam, I elected to continue motoring the last 5 or so nm.... with a tired crew and difficult navigation, it was the sensible option.....
Despite the challenges, we spotted the appropriate buoys, found our way in, and by 00h45, entered the Harwich harbour.... soon we had the entrance to Shotley in our sights, and locked in without any drama.... there was however a very strong cross current in the causeway into the lock.... which made driving difficult....
In no time, we were through, on the new berth, and tied up with the engine off by 01h30.
Naturally, rather than be sensible and go to bed... we sat and chatted..... Windrush John was 'wired' after his first night passage across the Estuary, and I was, I have to admit, pretty excited to be back.... 3 more bottles of red wine, and we were finally in bed at 03h30....
SWMBO arrived the next morning at 11h00 to start the process of getting people home, and I took Full Circle, his SWMBO and John back to their respective cars, and railway stations... back at the boat by about 15h30, and sat and chilled out for a couple of house before setting off home.... and arrived home at 20h15
So.... whats the score?
I am throughly delighted..... Morgana handled like a dream... she motored over 170nm without missing a beat.... no major problems found....
I have a very very large grin, and still can't quite believe she's mine..... looking forward to next weekend already.. perhaps Stone Point?.. perhaps the Deben?... the season has begun with a bang!

Miles logged 99nm
Miles this trip 176nm
Miles this season 176nm
Miles since this blog started 1,970nm