Anchorages/Harbour at the north kent coast between sheppey and ramsgate?

DangerousPirate

DangerousPirate

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Hello, mate and I are looking into a trip up north and back, and then want to go down the coast to chatham marina and from there to ramsgate. Now the last bit is quite a stretch if you dont have favourable winds and I wondered where could we stop to rest? The entire northern coast seems very tidal. I know in some places you can go and sit on the mud very nicely, but the boat well use will have a fin keel. Any buoys or landing piers known or something else known?

Im not very familar with the area but I am having a look at navionics at the moment and see those "offshore anchorages" like "margate hook" ? Theyre not very sheltered. Are they any good?
 
Being based in Chatham, I regularly sail to Ramsgate on a tide in my 32ft Fulmar. If you do want to stop and anchor I would suggest the best place would be Harty Ferry at the eastern end of the Isle of Sheppy. It is possible to anchor off Margate harbour but you are so close to Ramsgate there is little point.

For the trip, just make sure you take the tide. I prefer to use the Princes Channel as it has stronger flow even though you will see plenty of ships using it. You can use the Copperas Channel, closer to the coast. which is shorter but quite narrow.
 
It is entirely possible to sail all the way in one go, but with longer passages you dont know what the weather at the end will be like, so if we get very light winds or something we probably want to shelter somewhere and rest before continuing.

But to be fair: Neither of us has been to ramsgate before so if it gets too late I would like to wait it out somewhere so we can arrive in the day.

Keep in mind: This is just plan b, just in case.

Your local knowledge is definitely helpful. Its just a very keel-unfriendly coast I guess haha. Harty Ferry is a name to me though. I think Ive been there before. Thats the other end of the swale, coming from queensborough, right? Neat the faversham creek?
 
Possible to anchor off Whitstable or Herne Bay in the right weather, though if you want to go ashore it is a reasonable pull. Also possible to anchor in places such as south of Ridge for a break - quite comfortable/safe/interesting in the right conditions.
 
Yeah, honestly dont understand why Herne Bay doesnt repair their pier. I would definitely sail up there because its a nice little town with plenty of pubs, and also close to canterbury. Shame really. Would have been a nice stop.

Where is that ridge you speak of? I dont see it? What is near it?
 
DangerousPirate said:
Yeah, honestly dont understand why Herne Bay doesnt repair their pier. Would have been a nice stop.
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Mostly because its a bleak exposed bit of coast and shallow to boot with no shelter except from the South. ?
Just about the best place to see a strong NE wind pitting itself against a big incoming spring tide as you could wish for.
 
DangerousPirate said:
Well, maybe. But wasnt there a pier before? I think so.
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Yes. It serviced a paddle steamer which went up to Southend amongst other places. Supposedly it is deeper beyond the pier head, but it is fairly patchy. Pre War

There are some moorings within the 'harbour arm' there which dry to largely muddy bottom. Access limited and leaving Chatham at high water means getting to HB at low water, so no access. Depending on draught and low tide height you can anchor a little way outside the yellows buoys in the bay and stay afloat.

Ridge is about 5 miles off Herne Bay / Reculver, next to the wind farm. A 'thinking outside of the box' option. Depth/nature of bottom is good. Have anchored there a couple of times in good weather. A delight. No doubt there are other places off the Margate sands.

There used to be an air display at Palm Bay near North Foreland, where loads of boats anchored. Bottom seemed good. Perhaps an option?

All the North Kent Coast options don't work very well with any north in the wind, apart from Harty Ferry which is a bit of a treck off the Chatham-Ramsgate path. Your best bet is to assume that you need to get into Ramsgate even in the dark, but with the option of anchoring if it is possible. It is a relatively easy harbour to get into - just remember that you can end up with a fairly strong cross tide at the entrance, and going into the inner basin (not the inner-inner one!), take care to look at the chart first!
 
DangerousPirate said:
Well, maybe. But wasnt there a pier before? I think so.
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The pier washed away in a storm in February 1978, so has been gone for quite a while. The pier head is still there, very isolated and a short section of the land end remains. The anchorages you mention on the charts are big ship anchorages. Not really somewhere that you would want to drop your hook. Depending on the weather there would be numerous places you could anchor if you went through the Copperas channel, but as already said no shelter if there is N in the wind. If the tide is low you may find some shelter from the drying Margate sands, but at low water there is very little water at the entrance around Copperas and Reculver buoys.
 
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