First Leg- Levington to Ramsgate

Synergy leaving Suffolk Yacht Harbour

Accompanied by our friends Peter Sadler and Ali Sanger who were to be with us for a couple of weeks, we left the River Orwell in nice weather and light winds and followed the Medusa Channel (named after one of Nelson’s ships) heading southeast across the Thames estuary. The numerous sandbanks are a hazard, but all are well marked with buoys. A fairly gentle run to start with enough wind to get the sails up, but then we had to change course into wind, so down came the sails and on came the engine. Had lunch as we passed one of the huge wind farms, but Jac became seasick and was quite unwell for while. Passing out of Fisherman’s Ghat, a gap in one of the sandbanks, the wind picked up and left us rolling and pitching badly so it was a relief to reach the shelter of Ramsgate Harbour. While looking for a berth we managed to get stuck on the mud; the harbour was supposed to be dredged to at least 2 metres, our draught, but we had found a shallower bit. (And I was congratulating myself on my ability to keep the boat steady in one place!) Ramsgate was very pretty but most of the restaurants were shut as it was a Monday. We did however find a good Italian called La Magnolia and had a lovely meal.