Saturday 5 April
The weather took a turn for the worse, and so did the forecast. I spent a morning fiddling with the autopilot compass to try to make it respond, but with no success, so phoned Piper Boats. Fortunately I managed to speak to someone, even though it was Saturday, and Andy soon phoned back. We did not manage to resolve the issue, but he agreed to speak to Raymarine on Monday morning.
We took advantage of being in London to go to the theatre in the West End. But despite being close to the theatres you forget how much it costs to go out in London for the evening. A modest meal and half price tickets for Spamalot still added up to £100.
Sunday 6 April
We awoke to about three inches of snow and heavy flakes still falling. A detailed look at the Met Office web page revealed a mixed picture for going down the Thames. A more detailed look showed that we should be fine at least to the Medway, from where we could review the situation. Spoke to Richard Bickford, our co-pilot, and he agreed, saying that they would be with us later that day. At 17:00 we walked down to Canary Wharh and saw the Olympic Flame jostled onto a boat for Greenwich. The Bickfords arrived during the evening
Monday 7 April
We managed to get a lock time of 07:00 so pulled out into the Thames just after this time and shot off on the ebb tide. It was a grey morning with very little river traffic about. The current carried us down at between 7 and 8 knots, through the Thames Barrier, past the Dome, Docklands and various well known sights. Eventually the river widened, the tide slackened and the cloud increased. As we passed under the Queen Elizabeth Bridge the sky darkened and sleet fell. Large ships started to appear on the river but not on our AIS display, which stubbornly continued to say 'no AIS'. Eventually the tide turned against us and we slowed to 3-4 knots, although the sky brightened up. Eventually we saw the mouth of the Medway and cut across the corner (now well under the incoming tide) into the river and down the small cut to Queenborough, where we moored at the all tide jetty.
Queenborough looked a fairly desolate place, and we had an alternative berth booked at Gillingham (£35 a night), but the RayMarine agent said that he would meet us there. We had a stroll around Queenborough that took all of 30 minutes and managed to get back through the turnstile (50P a person) onto the jetty. Despite a bitter wind the sunset was beautiful, and just as we finished dinner the RayMarine agent turned up. He decided that the charting computer needed replacing, so would have to order a new part. The AIS problem stumped him and he decided that he would have to come back with his diagnostic computer.
Tuesday 8 April
Another early start. We pulled away from the jetty just after 07:00. A beautiful morning with the tide running in our favour. We knew that it would turn against us, but did not fancy starting out at 03:00. We motored along in fine weather with the coast in sight on our right, large ships, wind farms and seals on our left. Nearing Margate we slowed to pass through a narrow straight between two sand banks. A yacht ahead of us was actually aground, waiting for the tide to lift it. We got through on 1.4M of water and quickly sped away. For the first time we were able to test the pumpout at sea, which worked after priming itself for a while. By this time the weather was calm and sunny. We passed Margate and rounded the point into the North Sea proper. As we turned into a stronger tide, and as we approached Ramsgate, the sea became a little more choppy, but the boat handled well and the rolling was not uncomfortable. The electronic compass was, by this stage, workign completely randomly, and the autopilot would not hold a course. So we had to navigate with a combination of course over the ground, dead reckoning and hand held compass. But we arrived safely at Ramsgate and went straight to berth. The rain got up for a while, but a large helping of fish and chips in Ramsgate made us feel better. The sun came out a produced a beautiful end the to day. The forecast was very good for the following day, so we decided to have the boatyard fix the navigation system in France and to push on the next day.
The weather took a turn for the worse, and so did the forecast. I spent a morning fiddling with the autopilot compass to try to make it respond, but with no success, so phoned Piper Boats. Fortunately I managed to speak to someone, even though it was Saturday, and Andy soon phoned back. We did not manage to resolve the issue, but he agreed to speak to Raymarine on Monday morning.
We took advantage of being in London to go to the theatre in the West End. But despite being close to the theatres you forget how much it costs to go out in London for the evening. A modest meal and half price tickets for Spamalot still added up to £100.
Sunday 6 April
We awoke to about three inches of snow and heavy flakes still falling. A detailed look at the Met Office web page revealed a mixed picture for going down the Thames. A more detailed look showed that we should be fine at least to the Medway, from where we could review the situation. Spoke to Richard Bickford, our co-pilot, and he agreed, saying that they would be with us later that day. At 17:00 we walked down to Canary Wharh and saw the Olympic Flame jostled onto a boat for Greenwich. The Bickfords arrived during the evening
Monday 7 April
We managed to get a lock time of 07:00 so pulled out into the Thames just after this time and shot off on the ebb tide. It was a grey morning with very little river traffic about. The current carried us down at between 7 and 8 knots, through the Thames Barrier, past the Dome, Docklands and various well known sights. Eventually the river widened, the tide slackened and the cloud increased. As we passed under the Queen Elizabeth Bridge the sky darkened and sleet fell. Large ships started to appear on the river but not on our AIS display, which stubbornly continued to say 'no AIS'. Eventually the tide turned against us and we slowed to 3-4 knots, although the sky brightened up. Eventually we saw the mouth of the Medway and cut across the corner (now well under the incoming tide) into the river and down the small cut to Queenborough, where we moored at the all tide jetty.
Queenborough looked a fairly desolate place, and we had an alternative berth booked at Gillingham (£35 a night), but the RayMarine agent said that he would meet us there. We had a stroll around Queenborough that took all of 30 minutes and managed to get back through the turnstile (50P a person) onto the jetty. Despite a bitter wind the sunset was beautiful, and just as we finished dinner the RayMarine agent turned up. He decided that the charting computer needed replacing, so would have to order a new part. The AIS problem stumped him and he decided that he would have to come back with his diagnostic computer.
Tuesday 8 April
Another early start. We pulled away from the jetty just after 07:00. A beautiful morning with the tide running in our favour. We knew that it would turn against us, but did not fancy starting out at 03:00. We motored along in fine weather with the coast in sight on our right, large ships, wind farms and seals on our left. Nearing Margate we slowed to pass through a narrow straight between two sand banks. A yacht ahead of us was actually aground, waiting for the tide to lift it. We got through on 1.4M of water and quickly sped away. For the first time we were able to test the pumpout at sea, which worked after priming itself for a while. By this time the weather was calm and sunny. We passed Margate and rounded the point into the North Sea proper. As we turned into a stronger tide, and as we approached Ramsgate, the sea became a little more choppy, but the boat handled well and the rolling was not uncomfortable. The electronic compass was, by this stage, workign completely randomly, and the autopilot would not hold a course. So we had to navigate with a combination of course over the ground, dead reckoning and hand held compass. But we arrived safely at Ramsgate and went straight to berth. The rain got up for a while, but a large helping of fish and chips in Ramsgate made us feel better. The sun came out a produced a beautiful end the to day. The forecast was very good for the following day, so we decided to have the boatyard fix the navigation system in France and to push on the next day.