There were small puffs of wind in the bay on Friday morning, but in the lulls, there wasn’t enough to even get the kite in the sky. We took this opportunity to practice kite launch and rescue with Jeremy. He’s kited before, but picking up kites from the rib is Read more…
We left Ramsgate for the third and final time this morning, motoring to our start point approximately 8miles into the Thames Estuary. Our friend Julia who has waved us on each time we’ve passed was excited to finally see us leave. (Although sad at the same time, as it was Read more…
Ramsgate is a giant enclosed marina built out of stone. When you’re walking along the outer edge of it, it feels as if you’re inside the moat of a giant castle, with the world outside of you completely blocked from view. Even despite this protective surrounding, when we woke this Read more…
Only 6 Miles to go to turn the corner on the East coast and start the South Coast, but it was proving a difficult distance to knock off. Today the forecast was for good winds from the NE. However, nestled in our protective harbour at Ramsgate, it was impossible to Read more…
This morning’s aim was to go from Harwich, across the Thames Estuary, to Ramsgate. A distance of about 45 nautical miles. To put this distance into perspective, the English Channel is only 20 miles across to France. Needless to say we were gearing up for a big day! As we Read more…
Just approaching Lowestoft harbour there was a large boat manoeuvring. Joe was carefully directing us first inside as it looked to be heading out, then possibly outsides as it changed direction. In the midst of this serious conversation, I suddenly exploded with excitement. Just in front of me was first Read more…
We were rigged and ready for 09:00 this morning, a miracle given Stew is not a morning person. Think he forgot almost every piece of kit, circling back about 5 times to get his radio, or camera, or whatever. Despite our best efforts however there was not enough wind to Read more…
A rolly night at anchor off Holme, so we took it in turns to check the anchor every hour. By 4am it was low water and we were sheltered behind sand bars and could get some sleep. At 11:00 the wind started to fill in, light at first but growing Read more…
The forecast was for light winds, and that’s exactly what we got. Alarms went off at 06:00, which felt early given the late night before – when we’d only gotten off the water at 20:00. We tried first thing but there wasn’t enough. Given we were already in our gear, Read more…
Gale warnings on the shipping forecast and strong winds in the harbour wouldn’t have been our first choice of weather to begin our journey, but we were all itching to get started. So on the tide at 08:30 we left Grimbsy for Cleethorpse, anchoring in the lee of Haile Sand Read more…