Burnham to Ramsgate passage plan.

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firstascent2002

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Bringing the new boat round from Burnham on Crouch to Plymouth. Have not bought the charts yet or started any serious planning but having a quick glance at the chart on the boat yard wall it appeared to me that the Thames estuary is one enormous sand bank!

Anyone local got any pointers to give me like what stage of the tide to leave on and any suitable cuts through the sands. I draw 2 m.

Any thoughts gratefully recived.

J
I hope that everyone's preps are going well. It was a tough weekend to be sanding whilst there were so many boats already out on the water!
 
FullCircle's yer man on this one, but at 2m, it'll probably be out of the Crouch all the way to Whittaker, Down via East Swin through the Sth Edinburgh channel and round East Margate... or possibly via Sunk....

Timing wise, its 42nm, and usual kick off from memory is about HW-1 local
 
If you want to get a move on, work out the change of tide @ N Foreland and aim to be there as it starts to run south and you should be able to get past Dungeness on the same tide. If you want to stop at Ramsgate it doesn't matter, but you will cross the sands at HW and don't really need a chart (only joking).
 
I wouldn't start from there /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

But if planning to go on down to plymouth I'd plan to get to Dover first as it gives a better chance of getting the tide turn in your favour past Dungness.

Also plan to give the awful thing calle dStart Point a wide berth. I've spent hours tacking backwards and forwards down there and just stayed off the point the entire length of a a tide.
 
Foulgers Gat is quite a way round from the Burnham direction.... a great route from the Harwich Estuary though ..... but you'd need to go a fair way into Black Deep to use that one from Burnham... although it is probably a safer passage than the Edinburgh channels...

As an aside, Long Sands Outer, which marks the South side of Foulgers Gat was out of position as of Sunday.....
 
I agree with magna C. HW-1 from Burnham.
Thing is you are on a falling tide. and you will have to go to Whitaker Beacon at least to clear, depending on Neaps or Springs. The sands are flat there and do not have any unexpected lumps.
Take a decent note if you have wind over tide, as there will be less water, and it gets damn choppy, therefore slamming and slow. Ditto for odd barometric pressures which can have quite an effect.
If you are doing this never to return, then plan a longer easier route and promise not to come back.... its just unfunny if it goes wrong with 2m draft.
So, after Whitaker, N Middle, Sunk Beacon and Foulgers Gat. After that you are home free.
If you are a truly prudrnt cautious sailor, then head south west back into the Thames and go round the bottom of the Barrow and into Alexandra or Edinburgh Channel.
Study the tidal gate at North Foreland, as you get a late turn of the tide there.
Note the ships wont move until tide change, so your lookout is best done in the direction of the tide.
Any difficulties with weather, head for Ramsgate inside the Goodwins. Cant recommend the Goodwins in duff met.
If you do stop in Ramsgate, I recommend the beach trail past Sandwich and Deal via Quern, B2 and Deal Bank, if the weather is good for it. Its just a nice sail.
Other than that, go though or round to Dover, as you will have a better (but still crap) tidal gate round Dungeness/Beachy Head etc.

Have fun, if you are in Burnham, send a PM, would like to meet to send you off!

Cheers

Jim
 
Better safe than sorry.
I draw 7'1", and then 3'0" 30 seconds later. Covers all the bases, including drying out in those lovely little French harbours.....
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you do stop in Ramsgate, I recommend the beach trail past Sandwich and Deal via Quern, B2 and Deal Bank, if the weather is good for it. Its just a nice sail.

[/ QUOTE ]

True it is a nice sail. I live on my boat and am moored near Sandwich on the Stour and regularly travel down the inside channel. A word of caution though. The Ramsgate Channel which runs along the beach between Ramsgate and Deal is littered with 'pots' /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif and nets. The pots are marked with varying degrees of buoys ranging from 'ballcocks' to significant dayglow buoys. The tide can run fast along the channel submerging the ballcocks. The nets, as far I have seen are marked with flags and radar reflectors but you need to decide which side of the flag to go!

Good luck on your voyage and hope you have fair winds.
 
I'd second Fisherman's Gat. I came across last week in an F6 NE. I have 1.5 metres draft not 2 metres fortunately. I try to hit the Whittaker on the flood, so I cross the Thames Estuary on a rising tide. I swing down past the East barrow, when opposite the green stbd hand marker head for the Sunk Beacon which has now disappeared but it's position is still shown on most charts, definitely leave that on your stbd side - I can generally find about 2 to 3 metres of water depending whether springs or neaps. Keep heading south until a mile clear of the Sunk Beacon then head east north east up the channel to the Fisherman's Gat, when through Fisherman's Gat straight to Nth Foreland. You might want to leave the Whittaker a bit later than me so you have a little more water at the Sunk beacon, but otherwise it should work for you.
 
I'd third it too. Fishermans Gat, a psycho typo on my part... prob because we were talking about going through it on Morgana on Sunday... Ooops. Still, it is obvious on the chart.
 
That's how we did it last year. Whitaker just after LW, to get the rising tide for all the shallow bits. You have to do some strange zig-zags to pass through the various sankbanks and main channels. Nice leisurely sail with only very short periods tangling with the big ships. Work out your course carefully in advance and there'll be no problems.

There have been some recent navigation warnings about SW Sunk and Long Sand Head.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I'd second Fisherman's Gat. I came across last week in an F6 NE. I have 1.5 metres draft not 2 metres fortunately. I try to hit the Whittaker on the flood, so I cross the Thames Estuary on a rising tide. I swing down past the East barrow, when opposite the green stbd hand marker head for the Sunk Beacon which has now disappeared but it's position is still shown on most charts, definitely leave that on your stbd side - I can generally find about 2 to 3 metres of water depending whether springs or neaps. Keep heading south until a mile clear of the Sunk Beacon then head east north east up the channel to the Fisherman's Gat, when through Fisherman's Gat straight to Nth Foreland. You might want to leave the Whittaker a bit later than me so you have a little more water at the Sunk beacon, but otherwise it should work for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you clear Sunk beacon and head ENE that takes you to Foulgers Gat. Did you mean the SW Sunk beacon?

Confused of Bradwell /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
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