22nd July - Dover/Ramsgate 51:07.061N 001:18.602E 51:19.41N 001:25.15E
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Mon 22 Jul 2013 21:14
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"21st July - Dover Passage"
Knowing that our passage from Eastbourne to
Dover would be a long day we left at 8am, little did we know just how long
a day it would turn out to be. The wind was forecast as Easterly or
Northeasterly force 3-4. We started off motor sailing with both the Genoa
and the main up, the gentle head wind over the tide caused short choppy waves,
which stopped Whisper in her tracks. As the tide slackened we made
progress under sail alone. It was a beautiful sunny day and as sailing is
what we enjoy, we happily tacked upwind!
The excitement of the day came when our peace was
shattered by a loud engine, we turned around to find a large black rib hurtling
towards our stern. Three policemen clad in black dry suits came
alongside. They didn't want to come on board, but questioned us from a
distance as to where we were going and where we had come from. This was
not easy, as it is a fact that two vessels moving side by side in a choppy sea
causes a lot of water to spray up in the gap between them. Noel did not
have a jacket on but by ducking and jumping back managed to avoid
the deluge of water - but not so the policemen, they got
soaked! I am afraid I laughed, but they took it all in good spirit and
soon went on their way .
Eventually the wind died and we started the iron
horse again, the tide had turned, so a few more revs were necessary, these
were not kept up for long as the temperature gauge started to rise too!
With lower revs the engine cooled down but we were only able to make very slow
progress of 2-3 knots. Approaching Dover in the
dark we were amused as the police rib once more came past us, slowing
down to call out "You are nearly there!", and waving cheerily as they
rushed off into the dark. What they didn't know was that I had spotted
them in our night vision binoculars earlier and had been watching them! We
finally berthed at 11pm, it had been a LONG day.
"22nd July - Ramsgate"
This morning we checked the engine cooling water
intake filter and cleaned it out. We then checked the impeller which was
fine, but the housing it sits in had some hard sediment on one side, this was
cleaned out. As we motored out of Dover all seems to be okay.
It is a fact that we have been away for over 12
months now and things like the engine, which has served us well, now needs
a full service. Even Noels spectacles gave up the ghost and broke in
two yesterday, then today a lens fell out of mine! The long range weather
forecast, shows that the glorious weather we have enjoyed since leaving
Falmouth is about to end. It really looks as if now is the time to
get home and give Whisper the care and attention that she
deserves. Tonight, it is the best Fish 'n Chips in town for
dinner. We sampled them here last year when we were starting out
on our adventure, our friend Mick
had recommended Peter's Fish Factory to us. Tomorrow, we
will leave early for our last leg home across the Thames Estuary to
Brightlingsea. I hope that the shipping channels won't be too
busy! |