Sunday 30th/Monday 31st August 2020 – Grimsby to Ramsgate – 181 nm – 31hrs

Yesterday our Poacher friend Dennis, who we last saw at Neptunes Staircase, was back in his home port of Grimsby. We caught up on how our sailing trips went and then he kindly took us into town, and back, which saved us getting soaked and being blown away. Thank you Dennis and Humber Cruising Association for making us so welcome.

All the weather models we looked at showed the gales would subside from the early hours of Sunday, the wind direction was right for us so we took the decision to go with it to Ramsgate, using Lowestoft as a contingency if one were needed. We left Grimsby at 05:45 in a Force 6, we bobbed around like a cork in a washing machine in the Humber, but further out to sea we had Force 7 with big rolling waves. It was strangely thrilling for several hours watching cargo ships bouncing about so goodness knows what we looked like from their bridges.

During the early hours of Monday morning as forecast the winds died down and although lively we could at least unclip and move about a bit easier. We sailed all the way past the Thames estuary on the foresail. ‘Talavera’ sailed really well. We were happily enjoying the experience and the only downside was our usual watch system with opportunity to sleep was put on hold, as it was better for us to be in the cockpit together. There was a lot of commercial shipping around, we didn’t see any other sailing or leisure boats, or even fishing vessels, but felt we needed two pairs of eyes to spot lobster pots and other hazards. The engine only went on at the approach to Ramsgate.

What a great couple of days sailing – we’re now going to catch up on sleep ready for our final passage home tomorrow.