An English Summer 96

 

Stargazer winds her way upriver. The setting sun casting its golden glow upon the, lightly ruffled, waters. The breeze slowly melting away, amongst the wooded banks, of Upnor Reach, to one side and the buildings, of the Chatham Dockside, to the other. She glides silently up to the lock gates, borne as much by the tide as by the wind. 

This morning, we seized our moment of opportunity. Stargazer beat up to North Foreland in twenty two knots apparent. Making seven knots over the ground. A fair tide beneath her.

The forecast was for the breeze to ease, perhaps die completely, by mid afternoon. And to stay light and variable into next week . Our choice was: fair wind or fair tide . In the morning, a passage making breeze. In the afternoon, a favourable tide for the Medway.

Fortune is on our side. It is a neap (small) tide today. Giving us enough depth, in the ‘Overland Passage,' off the north Kent shore, for Stargazer to pass, even at low water. And meaning that the slowing effect, of an adverse tide, will be at its weakest.

Stargazer wriggles her way through the shoal Copperas Channel, at low water. Casting from side to side, searching out the best depth. Shaking out the reefs, as the breeze drops to ten knots. Slipping along, inside the Whitstable wind farm, over waters smoothed by the sandbanks to seaward. Two to three metres between her keel and the sea floor.

The tide has turned now. Helping Stargazer along. Raising the apparent wind to fourteen knots. Out in the London River, a steady stream of shipping files by. Skating across the horizon in stately slow motion.

Stargazer tacks into the Medway deep water approach . The stumps, of sunken (World War Two) munitions vessel Richard Montgomery's masts, her turning mark. 

Then she is slipping up river. Sails eased, to better harness its shifting zephyrs. Helm in constant motion. Heading up in the lifts. Tacking on the headers. All the while a glorious cacophony, of birdsong, serenading us from the saltings . As the wildfowl settle for the evening. And an English Summer fades inexorably into autumn. 

An English Summer 95

 

Next Wednesday, at twenty twenty British Summer Time, the hours of darkness match those of daylight. At the moment of the Autumn Equinox . From the twenty second of September, until next spring's equinox, on the twentieth of March, darkness will dominate the twenty four hour day.

The long twilight hours, of summer, are already gone. Ramsgate was almost deserted, of leisure craft, on arrival. The harbour staff relaxed and conversational. Together with the crew, of the only other visiting sailing boat, also returning from a summer in the West Country. And a team from the Border Force patrol vessel, Seeker. By the time that our discourses are done, and I have Stargazer's sails stowed, night has fully fallen.

On the sea wall the IPTS (Interntional Port Traffic Signals) lights glow a fiery four reds. 

The illuminated face, of the clock tower, surveys the harbour front, like the all seeing eye of Sauron.

Restaurants and bars beckon enticingly, with the warm glow of their lights, from the quayside.

Stargazer cleared Dover at fourteen thirty. A little later than planned, due to a flurry of ferry movements. Port Control requesting us to hold, inside the Eastern Entrance, whilst they found us a slot in which to leave. We follow the Irish Seas ferry out and tack in toward the cliffs, to clear the track of an inbound P&O ferry.

Outside, there is a steady eighteen knots of breeze, from the north east . Not atall as forecast, but a fine passage making breeze none the less. Stargazer short tacks up to the South Foreland lighthouse. Two reefs in her main.

Once 'round the corner,' and with two to three knots of tide now helping us along, one long starboard tack carries us to the foot of the Goodwin Sands. A short port tack into the Gull Stream. And a final starboard tack up to the Ramsgate Channel. With four meters rise of tide, Stargazer is able to save some distance, by sailing low of the marked Gull Stream. 

Three hours after she left Dover, Stargazer is alongside in Ramsgate. 

The timing, of our final leg home, will depend on seizing the opportunity, of a fair breeze, when it offers. The forecasts are agreed on only one matter. That, for the next few days, the wind will be changeable, in both direction and strength.

An English Summer 94

 

The ancient stone turrets and keep, of Dover castle, dominate the skyline. 

A British bulldog, foursquare, atop the famous white cliffs.

Its silhouette an omnipresent backdrop to the sunlit streets, of the town.

I walk through the park. . . .

. . . .and Market Square. Follow the winding Castle Street up and up, toward it.

To be rewarded with a view out over the port. The sea calm, in the western entrance today. Barely a breath of breeze ruffling its shimmering surface.

In contrast to the conditions of yesterday and upon Stargazer's arrival.

There is too little wind, for Stargazer to make for Ramsgate, on the afternoon tide, as planned. Adherence to arbitrary deadlines, though, has no place in our cruise. Wind and tide continue to sculpt its shape.

Tomorrow an easterly three to four is forecast. Enough to carry us north, through the Goodwin Sands, via the Gull Stream; perhaps under cruising chute, if we are fortunate with its precise angle. An evening passage. Next post therefore planned for Tuesday.

An English Summer 93

 

Stargazer gybes, off Dungeness, and runs down toward the position of the vessel in distress. Our arrival coincides with that of the RNLI. With relief, we gybe back onto the rhumb line, for Dover.

An hour earlier, when the angling boat's engine had failed, a line squall swept in from the south. Driving rain reducing visibility to all but zero. The wind rising to thirty knots. It must have been a frightening wait, for assistance, for the fishermen.

(Picture taken as the squall ended)

Stargazer had been broad reaching, up to Dungeness, under full main and jib. With the squall upon us, we bore off and ran before it. Maximising boat speed, to minimise the apparent wind; and strain on Stargazer's rigging (due for replacement this autumn). Surfing on the swell, Stargazer peaked at nine knots, averaging seven to eight. Hull and rig humming. White water climbing high, on either hand.

(Pre-squall picture)

We set sail as the rising sun strove to pull back the curtains, of cloud, from the dawn sky.

Beachy Head receding behind us, into the murk. Our, long awaited, south west wind building behind us, as Stargazer escapes its lee.

Eleven knots apparent builds to fourteen. Stargazer's speed from five to six knots, over the tide. We broad reach down, toward Rye, out of the main westbound tide.

Climb out, around the tawny tip of Dungeness, as the tide turns east bound. Now, with it running hard beneath her, Stargazer scuds up past Folkestone. Beneath the piebald cliffs. Riding the swell with her easy gait. Making eight knots over the ground. I furl the jib two miles off Dover, to give me time to rig lines and fenders.

We are granted an immediate green light, for the western entrance. Port Control, high in their tower, can see Stargazer's predicament. The sea state, off the port, is chaotic. The, already considerable, inbound swell is colliding with waves refracted by the breakwaters. Breaking crests are torn off by the cross wind . Stargazer gybes, just south of the gap in the breakwater. Batters, bucks and bludgeons her way in, through the entrance, before the tide can sweep her past, onto the northern section of  the breakwater.

(Picture, of the eastern entrance, taken after mooring up) 

In an instant, the water flattens, the wind drops to twenty knots. Stargazer is within the protecting harbour walls . I stow the main and kick the fenders over the side. Motoring for the Wych Channel.

Soon, Stargazer is secured in the heart of Dover. Back in Kent, for the first time since May. The town winding down, for the weekend, around her.

An English Summer 92

 

Our strategy appears to have paid off. Stargazer finds herself poised to make the, tide critical, passage from Eastbourne, around Dungeness to Dover, as the winds turn fair and the tide times come to suit.

The easterly to north easterly airflow, of the past three weeks, did not relinquish its hold without a struggle. Spectacular sheet lightening and resonant thunderclaps by night. Sea fog this morning.

But now, warm autumnal sun bathes the shingle, of the beach, and a gentle breeze has set in, from the south. Tomorrow it is forecast to build, from the south or south west.

Predictions vary, with regard to the final wind strength. Anywhere between eighteen to twenty eight knots. Fortunately precision is less vital than usual, in this case, because it is a following breeze. Meaning that the apparent wind speed will reduce, by five or six knots, for Stargazer, as she sails away from it.

A benefit, of having the wind aft of the beam, is that the full range of sail plan options is available to us. From jib only, through to full main and cruising chute. Stargazer is therefore able to adapt to the widest possible range of wind speeds, on this point of sail.

In order to carry a fair tide around Dungeness and up to Dover, the section where it runs most strongly, Stargazer will have to sail against the tide, for the first fifteen or twenty nautical miles. We therefore plan to leave at first light tomorrow and to make full use of the day. Our next post is planned for Saturday. 

An English Summer 91

 

After the warm windless days, of Indian Summer, the breeze is back. Still from the east, but even beating, Eastbourne is only thirty nautical miles from Brighton (straight line it is around twenty). This is too good an opportunity to miss! Stargazer puts to sea.

 Our exploration of the charismatic city is on hold, until we can next return.

We tack up, beneath the chalk cliffs, in eighteen to twenty three knots apparent, under double reefed main and full jib.

Stargazer reaches Beachy Head at twelve thirty. Just as the tide changes its direction of flow, from east to west. We had to wait, on our berth in Brighton, for enough depth to leave it. Squandering the first two hours of the east going flow. Now we will pay a price, for that delay.

Stargazer butts valiantly through the swell, kicked up off the headland. Through the water she is making just short of six knots. Over the ground we are down to four, fighting the tide.

The wind eases down to ten knots. Stargazer's speed, over the ground, falls to two knots. I shake out the reefs. Now we are making almost three knots. I engage autopilot, make a pot of coffee and a cheese and pickle sandwich. Eat lunch in the sunshine, as slowly, ever so slowly, we leave that red and white striped sentinel, and the tall white headland, astern.

By fifteen hundred we are off the Sovereign Harbour locks. Cryptic messages are being exchanged between lock and Lifeboat, on the vhf. Talk of 'disembarking' first on the fuel berth, then in the locks. An 'All Ships' message that one lock will be closed. Then 'No outbound locks until further notice'.

The reason soon becomes apparent. The head of the second lock has become an 'Incident Centre.' Cordoned off with multiple agencies present. Its perimeter secured by officers wearing body armour.

I moor Stargazer beside the lifeboat. (Her bow just visible, left of picture, with blue stripe, beneath the gentleman standing on the coach roof, of the boat alongside her). The crew are standing down, after the rescue of one hundred and one migrants, who are now being 'processed,' at the lock, before being led away, aboard three coaches.