Only a week behind schedule, we finally got underway today arriving in time for the evening low water and got through the Bure bridges around 7.30pm. We were yet again caught out by scaffolding on the Haven Bridge, which hangs down underneath the bridge whilst maintenance is carried out - and always seems to appear just when we want to go under the bridge. Normally we could clear the bridge at low water, but with the added obstruction we would need the bridge lifted. As it was too late to get a lift this evening we opted to raft up against a handy boat for sale at Bure Marine, in no-man's land between Breydon Bridge, Haven Bridge and the Bure bridges.

In the morning the bridge lifted at 9.15am and we could make our way out to sea. Our new Marine View screen, finished only last week, proved a great improvement during the passage to Ramsgate. Mounted in the cockpit and able to act either as a repeater or additional screen for the laptop, we now effectively have a 15" sunlight-viewable, waterproof colour plotter, controlled by a waterproof mouse. At other times the screen can be used for a slideshow of digital photographs, or any of our other PC based applications, and is also able to take an input from the DVD player or a masthead camera.

We took our usual route south to Ramsgate, passing close to the Kentish Knock buoy. We were aided in this by our recent purchase of the large scale 1610 Admiralty chart for this passage, having previously managed only with the small craft folios. These show the outer areas of the Thames Estuary in very scant detail, leaving us almost in "uncharted territory". We timed the passage to coincide with the south-going ebb tide, as we expected mainly northerly winds. We moored up on the hammerhead in the Royal Harbour, which is close to the entrance and not particularly well sheltered, and were joined overnight by the Dutch square rigger the Oosterschelde.

Ramsgate Marina is now served by the quayside internet cafe and nautical "aladdin's cave" ShipShape. Wifi broadband is available in the cafe, or on board to berths in the inner marina. A repeater aerial serving the visitor berths is expected soon.

Cruising Statistics

Distance: 91 nm

Total to date: 342 nm

Avg Speed: 15 knots

Duration: 6:15 hours

Wind: NW 3

Diesel: 527 litres, 0.34p/l

Mooring: £20

Electricity: Included