Following a conversation in the Hendon Hall Hotel one evening, Graham Colover offered his boat, a 34 ft Jeanneau named Chai of Burnham, for a sailing trip over the second bank holiday in May.

Graham lent Robert full size charts to plan the route for this intended trip which was to Oostende.

On the day, the weather forecast was F 5 to 6 NE, sea slight to moderate.

The team comprised Graham, Robert, Graham’s RYA instructor friend Ron, and Victor.

We all had a hearty lunch at the marina restaurant “with marina view” and then motored down the River Crouch against the tide. It was quite obvious after an attempt that we were not going to get sailing in a north-easterly direction into a north-easterly wind. While still in the estuary we did a man overboard drill with two fenders – we left the marina with 5 and luckily continued with five.

As we were heading towards Long Sands Head buoy, lunch was heading that way as well. We got there about 22h00, more or less the time predicted, and altered course south-easterly and hoisted sail. However, we could only sail within 20° of our intended course, the seas were quite high.

It became apparent after heading north on the opposite tack towards South Galloper which is just under half way across that we were fighting a losing battle, mainly against the sea state and the direction of the wind, and two of us having lost lunch overboard – no, we did not do a “lunch overboard” recovery drill, Ron suggested we should consider not going to Oostende. So, collectively we decided to divert. The options were to return to an Essex port or go down wind and down tide. We chose the latter and headed for Ramsgate.

Ron did a magnificent job of helming with Victor as lookout to about 4 in the morning when Robert came up for air and took over for the last hour or so to Ramsgate. The entry into the marina was interesting – broadsided by the wind into the Britannia Sailing School yacht at the bottom of a dead end – sorry Graham, I didn’t do it purposely. We finally did get onto a pontoon.

What is the best thing about Ramsgate marina? The hoses to remove the last traces of lunch that didn’t quite make it overboard.

We turned in and surfaced again at about 10-30 and the harbourmaster asked us to move, so with Victor as catcher, Graham motored us round, next to a boat that had come from Oostende – that’s rubbing it in a bit.

After a gentle walk round the promenade, we looked out to sea, which was now quite rough – lots of white out there; the forecast posted on the computer in the shower block was 5 – 6 NE, sea moderate. We watched others come down the dead end with such gusto that an inflatable hung over the stern of a moored yacht might (will) need some attention after being sideswiped.
In the evening we had a drink up the hill at the Royal Temple Yacht Club, founded in 1857, originally located near to the Temple Steps in the City of London, and moved in 1897 to its present location in Ramsgate, where Rothschild was a one-time Commodore. Then for dinner, there could only be one choice – the French restaurant in the level below the club. That was the nearest we were going to get anything French.
The forecast for Sunday was still more of the same, but the sea was actually quite calm with just a swell, and Ron suggested we head to Dover and then north, or straight north. Why Dover? Because it’s there. We left harbour at about 09h00 and motored northwards to make the most of the weather window.
Near the Crouch estuary is a prominent new landmark in the form of a radio mast on a platform used for research into wind etc for the proposed wind farm at the south east entrance to Fisherman’s Gat. We motored up the Gat and over the sands across the Crouch estuary towards the River Colne. A change of course let us sail, but with winds increasing we reefed. The seas were from the northeast. It was getting heavy again. The entrance to Brightlingsea is similar to Chichester, it has a bar, and mooring is on pontoons remote from the shore but with an efficient water taxi service.

We did the town in about 10 minutes and ate in the fish and chip shop. It has the feeling of a village in decline that might have looked better in sunshine.

The following morning we had the option of do nothing or leave by 07h00. The weather forecast was NE 5 -7 occasionally 8, sea moderate.

We readied the storm jib, and Graham took us off the pontoon at 07h00. Once in the Colne we sailed under a heavily reefed jib (no dots out of three showing), but at the first course change into wind that came down and we motored the rest of the way to Burnham.

The seas were massive – wind over tide, spray horizontal over the bow when the bow dug in, spray over the stern after we changed direction, with the propeller out of the water a couple of times. The wind was a steady 25 to 35 knots, with regular gusts to 46. In conditions like that, if you are heading within 45° either way of your desired course you are doing well. This is the time one learns that wet gear does what is says on the label – it keeps the water out till it comes down the neck, and then keeps it in.

This was not the sort of weather the camera comes out to show what it was really like.

Graham pointed out the seals on the sands in the Crouch.

We got to Burnham at about 12h00 having made the 29 miles or so in just 5 hours.

This type of sailing was not for the faint hearted, and had Ron thought it was not do-able he would have advised against. We went, but he took over because he had seen it before, done it before, and gave us the experience of boat handling we would otherwise not have got.

Finally, many thanks to Graham for taking us, and to Ron for getting us back.

Robert Falk
27/05/08