The day started out badly with the realisation that some shit had stolen our RIB and outboard in the night
The cost and inconvenience of replacing them is something we could have well done without.
Fortunately, it's most unlikely we'd have wanted to use the outboard on this cruise and we do have the inflatable dinghy on board which can be pressed into service as a temporary tender when we get back
All the hassle of reporting the theft to the police, the harbour authority and our insurance company wasted most of the morning.
Eventually, we got stuck in to getting ready to depart! Happily, the plan for today was always to just drop downriver and anchor overnight in the entrance to the River Roach
We let go about half an hour before high water late afternoon and soon set sail and stopped the engine. The wind was somewhat flaky but we made moderate progress as far as Creeksea
The wind had dropped to next to nothing and the evening was becoming chilly so we fired up the engine and got a move on.
Jane got dinner on the stove under way and we were soon at anchor and ready for a feast of gammon, veg and mash
Then it was time to plan for the morrow. None of us felt wildly enthusiastic about a very long day, perhaps as much as fifteen hours or more, to go straight across the North Sea so we decided unanimously to head for Ramsgate
That calls for an 07:00BST departure and should take nine or ten hours. We'll lose the mobile phone network for a time in the middle of the trip so we'll disappear off Boatbeacon etc for several hours
With the key waypoints dialed in to the chart plotter, we investigated the engine cooling system which we felt wasn't chucking out quite as much water as it should. It seems to be just the cockpit telltale that is a bit drippy, but we'll keep a close eye on things tomorrow
Finally, after checking the tides and depths one last time, I set the anchor alarm and we all headed for our berths
The cost and inconvenience of replacing them is something we could have well done without.
Fortunately, it's most unlikely we'd have wanted to use the outboard on this cruise and we do have the inflatable dinghy on board which can be pressed into service as a temporary tender when we get back
All the hassle of reporting the theft to the police, the harbour authority and our insurance company wasted most of the morning.
Eventually, we got stuck in to getting ready to depart! Happily, the plan for today was always to just drop downriver and anchor overnight in the entrance to the River Roach
We let go about half an hour before high water late afternoon and soon set sail and stopped the engine. The wind was somewhat flaky but we made moderate progress as far as Creeksea
The wind had dropped to next to nothing and the evening was becoming chilly so we fired up the engine and got a move on.
Jane got dinner on the stove under way and we were soon at anchor and ready for a feast of gammon, veg and mash
Then it was time to plan for the morrow. None of us felt wildly enthusiastic about a very long day, perhaps as much as fifteen hours or more, to go straight across the North Sea so we decided unanimously to head for Ramsgate
That calls for an 07:00BST departure and should take nine or ten hours. We'll lose the mobile phone network for a time in the middle of the trip so we'll disappear off Boatbeacon etc for several hours
With the key waypoints dialed in to the chart plotter, we investigated the engine cooling system which we felt wasn't chucking out quite as much water as it should. It seems to be just the cockpit telltale that is a bit drippy, but we'll keep a close eye on things tomorrow
Finally, after checking the tides and depths one last time, I set the anchor alarm and we all headed for our berths
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