We are now moored in Ramsgate, having been in Hellevoetsluis, Zeebrugge and Nieuwpoort. The trip to Zeebrugge was not without some minor ‘rooky mistakes’ like touching (again) the side of the lock (fortunately this time without damage) and forgetting to make the line slipping in the lock, so having to cut one of the mooring lines. These things happen but do have an impact to our moods for some time (are we really still that stupid after all these years sailing?), but after a few hours the moods change again for the good.
We went to Zeebrugge to meet Jan Verschaeren, who bought the same ship as us 2 years earlier. We learned a lot from his changes and additions and will take over some of his ideas, especially on fire protection as we are not happy with ours.
Saling trips to England are always interesting, and this time was no exception. With 20 knots coming from behind we raced acros the channel, hitting 11,4 knots when surfing on a wave.
The solarpanels work as a charm. Below you can see that we use about the same energy as we produce, while the weather was not exceptionally sunny.
The plan was to sail to London, but we decided to stay in Ramsgate. The first day we took the bus to Broadstairs and Margate. Very nice old beach cities like Scheveningen but smaller and without the new buildings.
The following days we hired a car instead to visit Camden market and (today) Harrods. We had lunch there and I learned one can buy a hamburger for 87,50 Pounds. We did not order it, but did order the fries for 13 Pounds…pfff. So on a tight budget for the coming days.
The coming days we will reprovision and we want to try the new downwind sails and the watermaker. The latter depending on the weather.