Day 76.-Monday 1st August. The swale to Ramsgate.

I was stuck in the mud until midday, so I decided to take another trip into Faversham. The mud had a smooth brown appearance in places like old leather. I wondered whether people who had lived in and around this mud had as many words for it as Eskimos do for snow.There used to be people called "muddies" who dug the stuff and loaded millions of tons onto the Thames barges for use in the manufacture of bricks and Portland cement. They'd have known a good ooze when they saw one.

 The forecast was for this to be the hottest day of the summer so far, and even early in the morning it felt warm and humid.On the radio they said today is the 150th anniversary of the first broadcast weather forecast.It was all down to Robert Fitzroy, who had been a scientist on the Beagle. The broadcasting was via the telegraph and it was pretty basic stuff. pretty much limited to its blowing a gale here and we think its coming your way.

They have a Morrison's and a Tescos in Faversham and I was amazed to see the Tescos had been put into an old hops or grain warehouse. I didn't think they did this sort of thing for their bigger stores.I went inside and you wouldn't have been able to distinguish it from all their other store, but all the steel columns seem to have been retained in what I assume had been a big open plan space.

Re provisioned and re watered I floated off the mud and got away just before midday. The wind was blowing from the E/SE, which was not ideal for much of the passage along the south side of the Thames Estuary. early on there was also quite a chop in the wind over tide conditions and I was brought to a complete stop on a few occasions.

The first two resorts I passed were Whitstable and Herne Bay. there was a very run down old jetty off the latter.

A much older ruin is the old monastic church at Reculver, which its distinctive twin towers.This 12th century structure was built on the site of a Roman "Saxon Shore" fort. It is near the entrance of the old waterway that separated the Isle of Thanet from the mainland. This has now silted up, but used to be up to 3miles wide. It is one of the main contenders for the waterway the Romans used when they first invaded Britain.

One of the places I wanted to visit on this trip is the new Turner gallery in Margate. However though I passed by it very close, Margate has a drying harbour and isn't a recommended place to go. The East Coast Pilot says:

"The harbour itself, with its single stone arm, has little to offer a visiting yachtsman, being totally open to the west and drying at least 2m. Like Broadstairs, a trip ashore for an ice cream might be the only attraction".

You've got to really need an ice cream to take a detour,when you are passing by. However, but I will make an overland trip from Ramsgate to visit the gallery.

The cliffs around North Foreland and Boadstairs are like mini versions of the chalk cliffs of Dover,and make an impressive headland. It can be a nasty bit of sea because the tides of the English Chanel and Thames Estuary meet and the water is shallow. Today I came around at slack water though, and it was fine.

On the pontoon I am alongside a couple who live in Ramsgate. When I asked them what there is to do here. They suggested catching the train to Canterbury!.Whilst that may be an interesting thing to do I bet the place has more to offer than a train ride out.

Today was another short hop of about 30nm.This is a good easy cruising distance. Its doable within a tide, long enough to feel you've gone somewhere else and you can arrive not feeling tired. The recent parts of the trip now look like this, Mmmh-now Calais is about 30mn. How far could I get without my passport?

Tomorrow I arranged to meet Jane Stewart's mum for lunch at the gallery. She lives in Margate, so is going to show me its highlights.