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The World Cruise of Veleda IV |
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Ipswich to Dover October 29, 1999, Written at Limehouse Basin, London  The last log described our first experience with putting Veleda on the hard, at Ipswich in the Orwell Yacht Club. However, before leaving Ipswich, I have to say how much we enjoyed walking around that ancient town. There is a pedestrian mall (precinct) in the centre of town near an ancient church with roots back to the ninth century. Another church is now a tourist information centre. This was our first experience of "redundant" churches, ancient and medieval churches no longer used as churches, or just abandoned, in the middle of town. It was sad to think that churches, in which for centuries families were baptized, married and buried in such architectural glory, the centres of their community life, are now "redundant", the buildings used for tourist information centres, museums, or offices, or abandoned, awaiting some developer to come up with a commercial plan for such "valuable" property. There is a large "wet dock" harbour along the historic waterfront, built in 1850. In addition to some commercial traffic, it houses Neptune Marina, a large modern marina in the downtown historic centre of Ipswich. This harbour has good depth, but must be entered through locks operational only two hours before High Water until one hour after. There are new condominium developments going up in the old warehouse district along the shoreline. Downstream, Ipswich has modern Ro-Ro and containership facilities. In fact, the Orwell Yacht Club may come into a windfall, as the port authority wants to create a turning basin near the club, utilizing club waterfront property. If so, it will have to offer the club enhanced facilities in exchange for such property. Good luck to the Orwell Yacht club!We left the Orwell Yacht Club at 0945 on September 9 with fond memories of the OYC, their members, and of Ipswich, Suffolk's county town. Having raced down the Orwell River a few days previously, we felt quite comfortable in unfurling our large genoa and motor sailing the fifteen miles down to Harwich, passing Pin Mill, HMS Ganges at Shotley Point, and the buoys mentioned in the "Swallows and Amazons" story "We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea". As the winds were light, we continued motor sailing across the Thames Estuary and around Ramsgate, making our way to Dover. Off Ramsgate we saw several ships at anchor, awaiting the turn of the tide before proceeding upstream. We passed close to one ship at anchor, flying the White Ensign, a Royal Navy minesweeper/coastal defence vessel, HMS GRIMSBY. Being an old Navy type, I thought of the tradition of civilian vessels saluting naval ships by "dipping" their ensigns (national or military flags). This is a procedure whereby one vessel salutes the other when passing by furling or lowering her ensign. The other vessel then should respond by lowering its ensign, then hoisting it again, after which the first vessel then raises its ensign. I was preparing to lower ours when I saw a seaman scurrying aft and then dipping to us ! We then lowered ours, raised it again, and then Grimsby raised theirs. As I mentioned, normally it is the civilian who salutes the warship, but I suspect the officer of the watch noted my preparations and saluted me first, as a foreign flagged (Canadian) vessel in British waters. After this exchange, I called up the ship on VHF and thanked the OOW for his courtesy. Incidentally, for those not familiar with Canadian geography, there is a Canadian town called Grimsby down the southwest end of Lake Ontario less than 30 miles from my home town of Dundas, just outside of Hamilton. It was dark when we lowered our sails at 1930 getting ready to enter the Dover Harbour Control Zone. We called up Dover Port Control to indicate our position about five miles out and our intention to enter harbour via the east entrance, which is the main ferry entrance as well, and that we wished to secure to a mooring buoy in the Northwest section of the harbour. They acknowledged and asked us to contact them again at the entrance. When we called them, just off the eastern entrance, they stated there was no traffic in or out bound and to proceed in directly. Shortly after entering, as we were heading across the harbour, a harbour launch came alongside and asked us to follow him to the mooring buoy, which he illuminated with his spotlight. There were no other boats at the moorings and we would have had difficulty finding the buoy in the dark without their assistance. They came alongside and welcomed us, giving us a file of information on the harbour and Dover. We were glad to be on a secure buoy after a sail of 62 nautical miles and 22.5 hours. However it was a very rolly location, and in the morning we moved in to the outer marina floating docks, even though we had to pay 19 pounds per day (about $45.00 Canadian). We had heard that the south coast ports were expensive and they are. This was the usual fee for dockage at marinas on the south coast. The facilities were good, and central to downtown Dover. The outer marina has no locks to negotiate, with 9 feet of water at low tide for the fifty to seventy well-equipped slips on floating docks that rise and fall with the tide. Small world department, within two hours of being alongside, Michael from Laudance, a Canadian boat we met in Bermuda and last saw in Horta in early July, came on board. He and Britta were at the inner marina and were heading out that day eastward to the Medway. We got caught up on how they were and where several other boats were that we met in Bermuda and the Azores. We saw them again later at the Hoo Marina near Chatham, where they are leaving their boat for the winter while they return to Canada. Dover was enjoyable! The castle is a "must see". It dominates the eastern cliff side, with its walls and ramparts still intact. The castle itself, with keep and barbican, is in good condition and well displayed. Hearing clanks and yells we came upon a common where armoured gentry were engaged in mock battle with swords, daggers, shields and battle axes. After that, yeomen, young boys, and maidens practiced archery; a living history display put on by a group of enthusiasts. In the castle we learned of the siege of Dover by the French in the beginning of the thirteenth century. The castle held and the French were repulsed. Exploring the heights of the castle and its dungeons and passageways brought to life Dover's role as the protector of the gateway to England throughout the centuries. Another interesting tour in the castle grounds was the tunnels, under the White Cliffs of Dover, that were used as the co-ordination centre for the Dunkirk evacuation, and as wartime hospital and command bunkers. One section was devoted to Dover at war, revealing daily life in Dover during WW II. Dover was within range of the long guns across the channel once France surrendered, and shells could rain down on the town with no notice whatever. The town was heavily pounded as a centre for the D-Day landings. These tunnels have only been open to the public for the last few years. Several of them used to open out onto the cliff side, but have been sealed up for maintenance purposes. However one opening onto the cliffs that was left was a window with a fantastic view of the Dover harbour and the white cliffs and coast line. This small window was in a toilet compartment, and is referred to as the "Loo With The View", the best view in all of Dover. Also in Dover is the "Painted House" the impressive remains of a Roman villa built in the first century and associated with the fort of Classic Britannica, the Roman Navy in British waters, which established a fortification at this important entry route to Britain. Rome's impact on Britain was impressive over the almost four hundred years of its control before Britain and Europe sank into the Dark Ages. "The White Cliffs Experience", a multimedia display of the high points in Dover's history, had excellent portrayals of both the Roman period and the Second World War situation, including a bombed-out street, complete with rubble, dust, and the sounds and smells of destruction. In addition to our sightseeing in Dover, on Friday we saw a poster advertising a Sea Shanty Festival in Deal, about eight miles along the coast. When we telephoned for details, we found out that Cyril Tawney, a noted collector and composer of sea shanties, would be performing that night. So, a taxi (as we did not know where the train or coach stations were) to Deal, and a very enjoyable evening of sea shanties, in an old-fashioned folk singing atmosphere. Judy bought several tapes and a book. At the end of the evening, we asked if anyone could give us a ride back to Dover. One gentleman offered, and it was not until we were almost back to Veleda that we found out he was actually going to Canterbury, but had volunteered to drive ten miles out of his way to give us a lift. His kindness was greatly appreciated. Dover is a fantastically busy harbour, with over 300 ship movements per day controlled by the port. The ferries of course account for most of it, from the large car/train/truck ships using the east entrance to the loud fast catamarans and hovercraft that ply the west opening. That is why Port Control want to know when even small sailboats such as Veleda are moving in the vicinity of the harbour, not only leaving or entering harbour, but also when transiting past the harbour entrance. In addition to the ferries there are ships sailing into and out of the English Channel, making the waters off Dover the busiest in Europe if not the world. Each of the four times we have traversed these waters it has been at night, including our departure before dawn at 0520 on Sept. 12 in order to catch a favourable tide out, on our way to the Solent, the sailing and Naval Mecca of Great Britain. Next Log |
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