Ramsgate Royal harbour / marina

P

paul salliss

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 Sep 2010
Messages
1,037
Location
Sevenoaks
Visit site
I am looking at a change of scenery this year and considering keeping the Targa at this marina. Does anyone have any first hand experience of this location. Particularly keen to know what it's like as a place for weekend trips out to sea. We live in Sevenoaks so it would cut our existing journey to the Solent in half
All views on this facility most welcome
 
I can only speak as a visitor, rather than a resident.. But Ramsgate is a picturesque and vibrant little marina location. When we visited it was 'Ramsgate Week' so raggie-racers everywhere, yet still the harbour staff had time to make us welcome and sort out any issues. The Yacht Club was heaving, being race week, but I understand it's very popular anyway (www.rtyc.com).

If you do move there, I would make sure you are given a mooring in the main (outer) marina. They have spaces within the inner marina, but that's mainly for visitors and the active fishing fleet (can be smelly!). Also, as with many marinas, the space between the pontoons can be tight in some areas, so make sure you can get safely in and out of your proposed berth, even in the wind (which does cut over the harbour wall).

Ramsgate to Brighton of course is a pretty easy day trip, The Solent is possible, and in the opposite direction London/Teddington (if you get the tides right).

Happy cruising :)
 
Hi, my family have a boat (Cranchi 39) in Ramsgate, and have done for 15 odd years. Just a quick note on thames crusiers note, the inner marina is where most resident boats are moored, the outer marina is mainly visitors and fishing boats.

If in the inner marina (and thats where I would want to be), facilites are good, showers and toilets nice and clean and warm. Security is good, and there is access to the seafront. Pubs and restaurants are OK, some better than others obviously. Ramsgate also has a nice sandy beach right next to the marina.

One thing to note, is that the outer harbour can dry out in places, but you can still get out in all states of tide if you are in the outer marina. The inner marina has a closed gate, which only opens either side of high tide ( I think an hour or 2 either side). You would have to check how long either side. If you get back with the gates shut, you have to moor up in the outer marina until the next high tide opening. It can get quite choppy just outside the harbour entrance with certain tides and conditions, but once out there is lots of shelfter in Pegwell Bay, its a nice trip up the river stour to Sandwich, with some nice pubs there aswell. There is also some good fishing around if you like to dangle worms. You can also got the other way, and also find sheltered water in the right conditions around Whitstable/Hernebay. Further afield, it is a nice trip over to France from here, watch out for the Goodwin sandbanks though.

For the money saving and closeness, I would be inclinded to move there in your position, unless you really value the easyness of heading out for a day to a destination with a quayside pub as per the Solent. You would easily be able to head down to the boat for an pleasant overnighter without it being a mission on a Friday night round the M25 if in Ramsgate.

Andy
 
Ah yes, I stand corrected. I wasn't thinking of the inner locked marina, rather the two 'outer' harbour areas, I think called West and East Marinas. Sounds like good advice from Andy though :)
 
Hi Thames, you are right about the east and west outer marninas. They could have changed their names as I have not been down for a while. One of them may be an option to avoid low tide lock ins. I now do my boating in the Solent, but I live there so no long drive, just a 20 min walk to the pontoon. :)
 
We were based in Ramsgate for a couple of years when we lived in Whitstable.
I would go along with previous comments in general but compared to the Solent it has nothing like the number of short haul options for days out if that is what you are used to so you need to think about how you will use your boat there.
We moved the boat to the Medway after a couple of years for this reason. (Could be an option?)
Pays to be not too close to the North corner of the inner harbour as this gets busy/noisy/entertaining/annoying on a Friday and Saturday night depending on your points of view due to the number of pubs and bars there!
 
We had several years there in the early 1990s - based in the inner harbour. Yes it is two hours access either side on a normalish tide but we found it easy to work around that and both of the outer marinas can be subject to swell depending on tide and wind so I'd opt for that if choices are available.

Really liked the location, from just meandering through The Downs off Deal to heading south for France, towards the east for Netherlands, north across the Estuary for East Coast Rivers or of course west for London / Medway or along South Coast. Few places in UK with that many choices.

Weather wise it can get a bit wild on that corner with anything out of E especially and I suspect there's a bit more than the usual amount of fog experienced too but as with anywhere it is nothing you cannot plan for and get used to.

I also like the VHF discipline in that corner of the world, much better than the constant noise in Solent on CH16.

Plus of course you have the slightly different feel of Planet Thanet - it might not be much of an Isle any more but it is a bit different!
 
Plus of course you have the slightly different feel of Planet Thanet - it might not be much of an Isle any more but it is a bit different!

Yes indeed Kim plus the fact that both the beer and fish and chips (especially fish and chips) are better than the Solent too. But then I am originally from Clapham so its gonna feel more like home anyway innit?
 
"All views on this facility most welcome"


Ramsgit ...Nice to visit and the Club is fantastic but....

It may well be handy for the continent,but miles from anywhere,the town itself is "tired" to say the least and the area cuisene is Fanny Craddock circa 1959.
Distinct lack of just round the corner boaty spots,and as was mentioned,if there is any easterly in the wind and you add a bit of tide its manky and dont think the swell wont get you parked in the harbour .
More to do in Brighton and more scope in the Medway and with the Thames just round the corner.
Me... I would stay in the Solent !
IMHO.
 
Last time I was there in 2002 I thought the town was like an East European slum (not that I've been to any!) and we weren't too impressed by the local sport of spitting on boat owners from the sea wall above the pontoons.
Apart from that it's lovely!
 
Dover

We are based at Dover and we think more flexible than Ramsgate. Deep water every where, good workshop facilities and a nice little beach. Similar cruising ground to Ramsgate. Marina staff are very professional and surprisingly good little eateries tucked away nearby. Also a quicker drive in and out of Dover than Ramsgate
 
Hi Paul, we were at Ramsgate in the outer western part for five years to 2011, and probs will be back there in a month or so with our next boat, but in the inner marina. I live near Whitstable and Ramsgate's proximity is the key to my choice mooring there - having said that, I'm considering moving to Chatham for a season or two for change of scenery. I'll list some pluses and minuses as I see it - and in no particular order of importance.

Staff can be indifferent in attitude.
The town itself is rather dull to the point of being a tad shabby (maybe I'm too snooty!).
Probably quite a bit cheaper than the south coast.
Not too much choice of quality nearby destinations for half-day or day boat trips.
French and Belgian coast nearby.
Parking can sometimes be in short supply (probs like that in most marinas?)
Fishing fleet in harbour adds interest (and gull poo).

Hope this helps.
 
Would agree that the success or failure of a season in Ramsgate would depend largely upon the weather. We had a month there with SWMBO having a week with her kids and me having a week with mine. Her week the weather was fantastic - mine it was awful with easterlies keeping us in the harbour. There's not that much to do.

Against that we had a friend who moored there and regularly weekended in France and he loved it.

We've had the last 10 years on the Medway (and I did 15 years there in my teens/early 20s as well) and there are some great weekend trips to be done such as London (St Kats etc.), Ramsgate (OK for a weekend), Ipswich/R Orwell, Brightlingsea/West Mersea, Burnham/R Crouch. The (notorious) GC1 formerly of this Forum posted his adventures and showed what could be done from a humble base such as Chatham.

Easy and quick to get there from Sevenoaks, too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top