MV Dirona travel digest for Ramsgate and Portland, UK 2020

Position: 51°13.73'N, 4°24.46'E

We watched with interest as this crane boom self-deployed, unfolding like a spider's leg.

Position: 51°13.85'N, 4°24.43'E

"Een Goed Stadsgedicht" (A Good City Poem) by Antwerp city poet Stijn Vranken underneath London Bridge. The poem, visible to those waiting on the road while a ship passes with the bridge open, asks at the end if the ship is "transporting the time that you are so urgently losing here?".

Position: 51°14.10'N, 4°24.42'E

Emergence response team training in the Port of Antwerp.

Position: 51°14.16'N, 4°24.41'E

Mural Muretz #3 by artists Muretz, Treepack and Street Art Antwerp.

Position: 51°14.38'N, 4°24.39'E

The Resurrection of Antigoon along the Kattendijkdok by Antwerp artist Bruno Kristo. The huge metal hand clutching a bollard represents the legendary giant Antigoon, who once terrorized Antwerp, clawing his way back onto shore. According to legend, Antigoon's hand was chopped off and thrown into the river Scheldt by Antwerp hero Brabo, whose statue is prominent in Grote Markt, .

Position: 51°14.53'N, 4°24.37'E

Siberia bridge closing behind us after we exit the Kattendijkdok.

Position: 51°14.55'N, 4°24.38'E

Waiting for Royerssluis to empty so we can lock through.

Position: 51°14.55'N, 4°24.38'E

Jumbo Maritime's heavy load carrier Fairlift at the Port of Antwerp. The ship has a 250-tonne and one 400-tonne crane with a combined lift capacity of 650 tonnes and is currently carrying two Gotwald-Konecranes port cranes (blue boxes with grey superstructure) destined for Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Position: 51°14.55'N, 4°24.39'E

The Belgian customs vessel Zeewolf underway from Royerssluis.

Position: 51°14.53'N, 4°24.35'E

The barge Chloe churning up the water as the skipper makes a sharp turn to port on exiting Royerssluis.

Position: 51°14.49'N, 4°24.21'E

Tied off port side-to in Royerssluis as we exit the Antwerp inland docks for the river Scheldt. Here you can see part of our continuing fender experiment: three white EasyStore inflatable fenders. They are less than a third of the price of many of the inflatable fender brands, so we were interested in seeing how long they lasted. It's been a couple of years now and they're doing pretty well.

Position: 51°14.49'N, 4°24.21'E

Gate opening at Royerssluis for us to exit to the river Scheldt.

Position: 51°15.94'N, 4°18.11'E

Ship passing through the Kallo Lock and into the left-bank portion of the Port of Antwerp. The lock was built in 1979 and is 1,181 ft (360m) long, 164ft (50m) wide and 37 (11.4m) deep. The 1,600ft (500 m) long by 223ft (68m) wide Kieldrecht Lock, currently the largest lock in the world, was completed in 2016 to relieve traffic pressure on the Kallo Lock.

Position: 51°19.36'N, 4°16.53'E

Final view to the 2,923 MW Doel Nuclear Power Station on the banks of the river Scheldt.

Position: 51°20.48'N, 4°16.27'E

The barge Themis bunkering the container ship Chacabuco along the Port of Antwerp west-bank exterior docks.

Position: 51°20.48'N, 4°16.27'E

The dredge Pallieter working the river Scheldt near the Berendrecht and Zandvliet locks.

Position: 51°22.65'N, 4°3.35'E

High winds blowing the bow wake of the Valdivia. Winds are blowing 20-30 kts today, but are predicted to settle down this evening and overnight. Our initial plan was to depart Antwerp tomorrow morning in the calmer conditions en route to Zeebrugge in Belgium, where we would spend a few nights and continue south along the French and Spanish Atlantic coasts and into the Mediterranean. But we've become increasingly convinced that the COVID-19 epidemic is going to worsen substantially, particularly after reading Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now, posted three days ago.

With the infection risk and the fact that museums, restaurants and other attractions are closing, this is does not seem like a good time to be travelling in those areas. This morning we decided to take on the bigger winds and potentially rough conditions today to take advantage of the calmer weather coming overnight to make a run across the English Channel for Ramsgate, UK. We're disappointed to be walking away from, or at least deferring, our trip to the Mediterranean. But it's looking more and more like the right answer.

Position: 51°26.23'N, 4°1.14'E

The control tower for the Hansweert Lock where we first entered the river Scheldt 16 days ago. We really enjoyed our time in Antwerp and could easily have stayed at least another week.

Position: 51°21.78'N, 3°54.00'E

We crawling along at 3.5 knots in a strong negative current.

Position: 51°20.88'N, 3°49.13'E

Ships in the locks at Terneuzen, which provide access to the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal leading to the city of Ghent and beyond to the river Seine.

Position: 51°26.36'N, 3°36.87'E

Passing the massive 1,311ft (399.8m) MSC Mina, the seventh-largest container ship in the world with a TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of 23,656. The top eleven, all owned by the Swiss-Italian company MSC, are basically the same length and vary only slightly in capacity.

Position: 51°26.31'N, 3°36.27'E

The Dutch pilot boat Lynx on the river Scheldt. We crossed back into Dutch waters shortly before reaching the Hansweert lock.

Position: 51°26.23'N, 3°35.69'E

Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in Visslingen builds a number of the Royal Netherlands Navy ships, possibly some of the ones we saw in Den Helder.

Position: 51°26.03'N, 3°33.96'E

Beautiful sunset as we near the mouth of the river Scheldt.

Position: 51°23.92'N, 2°44.26'E

Lots of ship traffic (blue triangles) as we enter the North Sea from the river Scheldt just outside the traffic lanes. Most are underway, but we're just about to pass south of a large group of ships at anchor. Visible on radar at the northeast corner of the display is the Thorntonbank Wind Farm. The first phase of the 325 MW Belgian facility was brought on line in 2009.

Position: 51°22.42'N, 1°46.44'E

The currents are really strong in this area. We've been seeing lots of positive current, but are back in a negative current now and making only 3.1 knots. In calm water, we'd normally be making just over 8 knots at 1770 RPM. You can see from the wind graph at center that the winds have settled down as predicted to around 15 knots from steadily close to 30 knots.

Position: 51°19.55'N, 1°26.09'E

The cliffs at Ramsgate, lit up in the morning sun.

Position: 51°19.53'N, 1°25.78'E

Approaching the entrance to Ramsgate Harbour, initially built in the mid 1800s. The harbour is one of the closest to mainland Europe and was a major embankment point for the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, sending 4,200 ships.

Position: 51°19.53'N, 1°25.78'E

No vessel can enter or leave the harbour at Ramsgate without permission from port control, located in the top floor of this building. The floor below is a restaurant with great views to sea and across the inner harbour.

Position: 51°19.53'N, 1°25.47'E

Jack up rig moored just inside the outer harbour at Ramsgate.

Position: 51°19.54'N, 1°25.37'E

The heritage-listed west pier light at Ramsgate has been standing since 1842.

Position: 51°19.72'N, 1°25.17'E

Three friendly UK immigration officers on board to check our passports. After landing at Ramsgate, we called the National Yachtline to report our arrival. This needs to be done if non-EU citizens are on board or if the vessel is arriving from outside the EU customs zone or VAT territory, such as the Channel Islands.

Position: 51°19.72'N, 1°25.17'E

Now that we're cleared through, we can lower the yellow quarantine flag that we were flying above the UK red ensign. We're very glad to be here.

Position: 51°19.72'N, 1°25.17'E

Spitfire wearing a harness in Ramsgate. Pets cannot be imported into the UK aboard pleasure craft, except from Ireland. You can still bring a pet in though, they just aren't allowed to leave the boat and must be confined and restrained on board so that they cannot escape. Spitfire doesn't like the harness, but he's had to wear it a few other times where he's not been allowed ashore, for example in Fiji.

Position: 51°19.72'N, 1°25.17'E

The upsides of the new remote are that it has far more reliable reception over much longer distances. But the downside is that it's a crane remote, so the standard button labeling was designed for crane operation and doesn't match well to boat operation. At this point, we're not sure if it'll be a backup to the Yacht Commander when it's not working due to conflicting transmitters in the area or if the new remote will become the primary remote with the Yacht Commander as backup. From our experience so far, the new remote may become the primary.

Here we've changed the labels to reflect boat operation: Start and stop enable or disable the remote, "F" is transmission forward, "B" is transmission reverse, "FR" is forward thruster right, "FL" is forward thruster left, "RR" is rear thruster right, "RL" is rear thruster left, and "TC" is take control which allows this station to take control of the boat.

To use the remote, we press start to enable it and press TC take control of the boat and, after that, the boat is under remote control until stop is pressed.

Position: 51°19.95'N, 1°25.17'E

To minimize the risk of infection, we wanted have some antibacterial wipes on hand to disinfect any surfaces that may harbor SARS-CoV-2. We'd tried several stores in Antwerp, but it doesn't seem to be a product that is sold there. Plenty of wipes were available, but none with active ingredients recommended for use against SARS-CoV-2. On the advice of the Ramsgate Marina staff, who had a bag of antibacterial wipes in their office, we tried a nearby Wilko store and found a bin-full at a half-pound (US$0.61) each.

Position: 51°19.79'N, 1°25.12'E

Ramsgate Marina has three separate mooring basins. Dirona is moored in West Marina, one of the two outer basins. The third and largest basin, Inner Marina, is behind this gate and accessible only 2 hours before and after high water.

Position: 51°19.78'N, 1°25.01'E

The three-flight stone staircase Jacob's Ladder was constructed in 1826. It replaced an earlier wooden staircase built in 1754 to access the harbour works from the cliff-top during the construction of Ramsgate Harbour. The original staircase was apparently named after the carpenter who built it, Jacob Stead, rather than most Jacob's Ladder staircases around the world whose name derives from Jacob's dream of a staircase to heaven described in the Old Testament.

Position: 51°19.88'N, 1°25.08'E

Looking east across Inner Marina from the top of Jacob's Ladder. West Marina, where Dirona is moored, is out of the picture to the right.

Position: 51°19.95'N, 1°25.17'E

Ramsgate is full of appealing-looking bars and restaurants. Normally we'd stop in for lunch, but since leaving Antwerp we're staying away from crowded places, close quarters, restaurants and bars.

Position: 51°19.72'N, 1°25.16'E

Since we couldn't have lunch at Mariners Bar, we stopped in at Dirona's Bar for a delicious Belgian beer with our meal. Here we are sharing a bottle of Het Anker Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Imperial Dark that Miguel Timmermans gave to us. The beer is brewed annually on February 24th, the birthday of Emperor (Keizer) "Charles V", in a limited quantity focusing on the highest quality and tradition. It was impressively good.

Position: 51°19.66'N, 1°25.29'E

After lunch we walked to the end of the west pier as a pilot boat was heading out through a reasonably heavy swell.

Position: 51°19.65'N, 1°25.20'E

The heritage-listed light at the end of west pier light was built in 1842 part of the construction of the harbour at Ramsgate.

Position: 51°19.66'N, 1°25.17'E

Looking across to our berth at West Marina, with the RNLI lifeboat (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) on the right and Ramsgate in the background. We often saw RNLI lifeboats as we toured through the British Isles in 2017, and it's great to see them again.

Position: 51°19.91'N, 1°25.14'E

19th-century brick arches supporting an ascending roadway from harbor level form a striking and distinctive backdrop to Ramsgate harbour. The low-level arches now are filled with cafes and marine trade stores.

Position: 51°19.93'N, 1°25.30'E

Why is it that once we decide to stay away from pubs and restaurants, we find nothing but appealing-looking ones?

Position: 51°19.88'N, 1°25.31'E

Prior to 1840, when Greenwich Mean Time became the established standard, south coast ship's captains used Ramsgate Mean Time to set their clocks. The signs on the building read "The first stroke of this clock at the hour of 12 indicates Greenwich Mean Time. Ramsgate Mean Time is 5 mins 41 secs faster than this clock".

Position: 51°19.88'N, 1°25.29'E

A Morris Minor 1000 parked along the harbour at Ramsgate. 1.6 million Morris Minors were manufactured in Britain between 1947 and 1972. The cars, considered a classic example of automotive design, were designed by Alec-Issigonis, who also created the best-selling Mini.

Position: 51°19.84'N, 1°25.44'E

Ramsgate's sandy beach, Main Sands, is very popular in the warmer summer months.

Position: 51°20.07'N, 1°25.59'E

In the late 1800s, a 1,124-yard (1,028 m) tunnel was built through the Ramsgate cliffs to provide train access at harbour level. The trains stopped using the tunnel in 1926 after a new station was built to the north. A tourist railway, that became known as the World Scenic Railway, operated in the disused tunnel from 1936 through 1965 and the tunnel was used as a major air-raid shelter during World War II. Today the tunnel is a tourist attraction with a museum and guided tours.

Position: 51°20.07'N, 1°25.59'E

Model inside the inside the Ramsgate Tunnels of the 19th-century Ramsgate Harbour Station with the cliffs behind and the tunnel entrance at right.

Position: 51°19.70'N, 1°24.77'E

UK-based Gefco imports 50,000 cars a year into the UK through several ports, including Ramsgate.

Position: 51°19.94'N, 1°24.97'E

At Waitrose in Ramsgate to do some more provisioning. We've not seen much evidence of COVID-19 concerns here—everything seems to be pretty much business as usual with crowded streets, bars, and restaurants. But even here, as elsewhere in the world, toilet paper is sold out completely.

Position: 51°19.71'N, 1°25.16'E

Jennifer returning from Waitrose with a cartful of provisions, including lots of flour and eggs, in preparation for our trip to Scotland. We normally buy and freeze artisan breads, but want to stock the boat with a good two-month supply of food before we need to reprovision ashore, so are devoting more of our freezer space for meats and will make bread instead.

Position: 51°19.71'N, 1°25.16'E

Last night around 7:30pm, the RNLI lifeboat Esme Anderson departed from the berth nearby. We assumed they were on a training mission, but they were heading out to rescue this boat. The vessel had fouled a sail in its propeller east of the Thanet Offshore Windfarm, about 15 miles from Ramsgate, and was drifting further offshore.

With deteriorating sea conditions, the lifeboat could only tow at about 5 knots to minimize the risk of damaging the vessel or injuring its 3 passengers, and nearly 6 hours elapsed between the lifeboat departing and its return to berth.

Position: 51°19.71'N, 1°25.16'E

The lifeboat Leonard Kent from Margate, on the north side peninsula from Ramsgate, moored against the local lifeboat Esme Anderson.

Position: 51°19.72'N, 1°25.17'E

Departing Ramsgate at 8pm to take advantage of calm overnight weather to make a run to the Isle of Wight, or possibly Portland. The winds are blowing in the 20s right now, but should calm down soon.

Visible directly ahead is the Ramsgate Port Control building, and on the right is the West Pier light.

Position: 50°58.69'N, 1°7.34'E

Conditions have been a bit lumpy for the past three hours since we departed Ramsgate, as you can see from the wind speed and pitch graphs at center. But the winds are starting to settle down and the seas should follow.

Position: 50°39.48'N, 0°9.37'E

We just reached 10,900 hours on our John Deere main engine and it continues to operate flawlessly.

Position: 50°36.43'N, 0°23.97'W

Fishing float in the water about 20 miles offshore, southwest of Brighton. We generally haven't seen much gear in the water, but whenever we're running 24x7, its always a bit of a concern. These floats can be hard to spot at night, and they sometimes are trailing a length of loose rope.

Position: 50°35.87'N, 0°30.17'W

Traffic off Selsey Bill southeast of Plymouth. The highlighted AIS target is the fishing vessel GV Northern Dawn N10, with details visible at bottom right. Slightly to the east is the vehicle carrier Garnet Leader and approaching from the south is the fishing vessel GV Gleaner.

Position: 50°35.22'N, 0°37.25'W

The 655-ft (200m m) vehicle carrier Garnet Leader en route to Plymouth.

Position: 50°33.14'N, -1°7.70'W

Wonderfully calm and sunny conditions as we pass south of the Isle of Wight. We've made good time and the weather is holding, so we decided to continue on to Portland rather than stop at the Isle of Wight.

Position: 50°32.83'N, -1°14.84'W

St Catherine's Lighthouse at the southern top of the Isle of Wight. The first light here was established in 1323 on the orders of the Pope and the current light was completed in 1838.

Position: 50°31.46'N, -1°47.57'W

The UK Border Force ship Valiant southwest of the Isle of Wight. We were expecting to at least get a radio call querying our clearance status into the UK, if not an inspection. But they continued on without contacting us, likely because we were fully cleared through two days ago in Ramsgate.

Position: 50°31.76'N, -1°56.96'W

The Anvil Point Lighthouse, near Swanage in Dorset, was completed in 1881.

Position: 50°31.73'N, -1°59.64'W

The winds are light, but with a big swell, and this fishing boat was half-disappearing in the waves as we passed.

Position: 50°32.46'N, -2°7.03'W

Cliff-top houses west of St. Alban Head.

Position: 50°33.58'N, -2°13.00'W

Approaching the North Ship Channel into Portland Harbour in the dark around 7pm. The ends of each wall, that we will pass between, are just visible on either side. The harbour has two entrances, but pleasure craft are only allowed to enter through this one.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.42'W

We anchored in Portland Harbor off the marina for the night, had a relaxing evening, and got this fabulous sunrise the next morning. We're still a long way from Scotland, but we're getting closer. Winds are forecast to be high for the next few days, so we'll stay put until they settle down.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels moored in Portland Harbour. Formerly designated HM Naval Base (HMNB) Portland, the 1,300-acre (520-hectare) harbour was the largest man-made harbour in the world when completed in 1872 (it's now the fourth largest). The base played major roles in both World Wars, but was decommissioned in 1995 after the Cold War and sold. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary, a supply arm for the Royal Navy, still uses the harbour though. On the right is the RFA Mounts Bay (L3008).

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

Huge Portland Harbour, exposed to strong English Channel winds but protected from their waves, is one of the best places for sailing in the UK. Both times we visited we've seen plenty of on-water action, with foiling craft really starting to dominate. This is a WASZP, designed by Andrew McDougall who also designed the Mach 2 foiling Moth that we saw in action at the 2015 Moth Worlds near Melbourne, Australia. The WASZP is designed to be a single-design racer that is less complex and more affordable than the Mach 2.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

Traditional windsurfer in Portland Harbour.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

During our stay in Portland we frequently saw Sea King Mark 5s, painted in HeliOperations distinctive orange, taking off from and returning to Portland. In their Portland location, HeliOperations are training SAR pilots for the Federal German Navy who will support the North and Baltic seas where UK military frequently operate.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

Foiling kitesurfer in Portland Harbour with two sailing moths.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

Foiling windsurfers in Portland Harbour. These surfboards are "flying" over the water, held up by a small foil just below the surface. This is similar to an aircraft wing in design, except the fluid they run in is water.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

James giving the boat a powerwash. We'd not given the boat a good clean since departing Amsterdam and it was definitely due.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.43'W

The lights of Portland, viewed at night from our anchorage.

Position: 50°34.69'N, -2°27.41'W

Jonathan Heathcote sailing at speed in a Mach 2 sailing Moth. Heathcote placed 8th overall in the 2017 International Moth Class UK Grand Prix held here at Portland. We saw many Mach 2 Moths in action at the 2015 Moth Worlds near Melbourne, Australia.

Position: 50°34.70'N, -2°27.42'W

Dirona often seems be used as a sort of a mark, with groups of craft such as these foiling windsurfers, frequently flying past quite closely. It was fun to be part of the action.

Position: 50°34.42'N, -2°27.17'W

Our initial plan was to stop in Ireland on our way to Scotland to refuel. But any visiting boats are placed under a 14-day quarantine for COVID-19, and tax-free diesel is no longer available for pleasure craft. So now, recreational boat diesel in the UK is often less expensive than in Ireland. Instead we topped up our tanks here in Portland, in case we can't get any for a while. We only needed about 625 gallons, but its nice to have full tanks again.

Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

After fueling we moved over to the guest dock at Portland Marina for a couple of nights. It's been a long time since we've used a 32-amp 220V connection on Dirona, probably not since the last time we were were in the UK. In Scandinavia and the Netherlands, we rarely saw more than 16A, and in some places even as high as 16A was rare.

Position: 50°34.42'N, -2°27.17'W

We're so used to less than 16A power that it seems strange to see our shore 1 power draw at 26 amps (near bottom at right—click image for a larger view).

Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

Since last departing the US in 2017 for Europe, we've not yet needed to fill our propane tanks. Filling US propane tanks outside North America can be a real hassle. Many counties, including the UK, use unique connectors that are incompatible with those used in North America and cannot fill foreign propane tanks. We needed to find a way to fill our tanks in the UK.

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Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

Range safety vessel departing Portland Harbour. We are just west of a major military practice zone and these vessels patrol the boundary when firing is taking place.

Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

An important part of any emergency preparedness kit is a good spice rub. :) We've been practicing social distancing since leaving Antwerp six days ago, and are planning a trip to the grocery store to stock up tomorrow. Here we are making up a few spice rubs (pictured is Moroccan-Spiced chicken Brochettes) so we can purchase on any spices we consume.

Position: 50°34.23'N, -2°27.13'W

The HMS Osprey, a Westland Lynx HAS 3 XZ 250, on display at Portland Harbour. The craft accumulated 7,667 hours of flight time over 32 years of operation with the Naval Air Squadrons at RNAS Portland.

Position: 50°34.23'N, -2°27.40'W

The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy hosted the sailing events of the 2012 Summer Olympics here in Portland Harbour.

Position: 50°34.24'N, -2°27.46'W

When we arrived at the local Portland Lidl a few minutes before they opened at 8am, a line-up had already formed at the door. Customers were notably keeping their distance from each other, with some wearing face coverings. We're just starting to see more care around maintaining safe distances because of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Position: 50°34.22'N, -2°27.48'W

Most of the shelves at Lidl in Portland were still well-stocked, but the toilet paper and some cleaning products were long gone.

Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

We're now fully stocked up for a couple of months. The fridge and freezer haven't been this full since leaving South Africa, where we didn't expect to provision for 6-8 weeks on the 5,400-mile run from Cape Town to Barbados via St. Helena.

Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

Our hydraulic PTO clutch is electrically operated to allow the wing engine to operate with or without driving the hydraulic pump. A common failure mode for this component is false brinelling, bearing damage caused by vibration when the bearing isn't turning. This can cause the bearing to damage the races since it's not moving and just continuing to vibrate in place. Over long periods of time this can cause slight damage to the bearing races. Once this starts then it quickly gets worse as the system is used.

Northern Lights installed a timer on ours that releases the electric clutch for a half second every 10 min. This has proven very effective and, as a consequence, our clutch has lasted nearly 9 years. Here James is adjusting the clutch timing down to 500 msec every 2 min to see if it leads to longer clutch life. We think there is a good chance this will be an improvement, but the only way to know for sure it to run the experiment, so that's what we are doing.

Here's a video of us changing the PTO clutch explaining its operation, failure modes, and how to change it: Replacing Lugger Northern Lights PTO Clutch.

Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

Performing a regular electrical cabinet FLIR-1 Scan. Everything looked the same as usual, except the 240V inverter feed is somewhat warmer than unsual, although still under 100F. The slight increase in temperature is caused by the higher-than-usual electric draw of using the HVAC system to heat the boat. The shore voltage and shore ATS are both at 106F. This is normal when we're drawing a bit more than a steady 25 amps of shore power.

Position: 50°34.40'N, -2°27.17'W

A weather system is moving through, and we've seen winds up to 39 knots in Portland Marina. When this system passes, hopefully we'll have good weather to make the run to Scotland.