I arrived at the
Whitstable Sailing Club at about 1.30 pm, set the boat up on the shore, and
drove off to Margate with the trailer, taking the train back. It was little odd
being on the train with my life jacket and waterproof box.
Back at Whitstable at
4.00 pm I set off at the top of the
tide, the sea calm and the light very poor. The tide caught me immediately and I quickly passed the Whitstable pier looking back in the gloom.
I settled into a
steady rhythm and saw Whitstable passing into the distance. I had set the
autopilot, which was working well. Without the autopilot I was used to making
my own automatic adjustments to my course, so now I was now fighting against it,
and had to relearn this habit. The sea was flat and glassy and I moved along
steadily at over four miles per hour, speeding up to over five when the tide
increased.
Soon I was opposite
Herne Bay with the dilapidated pier head out to sea.
As I rowed on a number
of seals tracked the boat, surfacing every so often. At one point I stopped to
drink and a seal surfaced about fifty yards from the boat from different
directions.
Soon I was at Reculver with the twin towers, remainder of the church built from the materials of the Roman
fort, but largely demolished and moved inland in the 19th Century,
when it was at risk of being taken by the sea.
Opposite Reculver I could
see the two buoys marking the narrow channel across west end of the Margate
Hook Sand. I had crossed through this channel last Easter in and yacht and the
depth had dropped to three feet on the echo sounder. Since doing the trip, this
channel has been re-routed.
As the sun set I rowed
on, the sails limp and Reculver receding into the distance.
I was at Margate towards eight o’clock in the dark. A swell had built up from the east and I nearly grounded
on a ledge to the west of the harbour, with the swell steepening up and
breaking. I found the entrance and realised the tide was out, but was confident
of landing because I knew the harbour was hard sand. I was able to trolley the
boat across the sand, through the harbour and up on to the Margate Pier.
Droit House with the Turner and Contemporary Arts Gallery (on another day)
By the pier there is a beautiful old building,
Droit House, (the Margate Pier and Harbour Co.) dating from 1812. It is now the
Turner and Contemporary Arts Gallery exhibiting artwork from international modern
artists including local artist Tracey Emin. The idea behind this gallery is to
celebrate the links that Margate has with the British impressionist artist, JMW
Turner whose sketchbooks have innumerable images of Margate itself and who
spent much of his life painting seascapes inspired by the coastal regions of
East Kent.
Turner’s
Old Margate Pier. The fishing barge is in the place where I landed, a bit
easier for me I imagine.
Fifteen
miles along the north Kent
