We asked for your advice on getting the best from Ramsgate.
We asked for your advice on getting the best from Ramsgate.
Here’s what you said?
Chris Malley writes:
Arrived there last August on route from Burnham on Crouch to Weymouth (delivery trip for my 1969 Storebro Royal 34). It is a useful place to draw breath before or after crossing the Thames Estuary and all that that entails!
You have to call Harbour Control and get permission to enter due to ferry movements etc.
There are a few pontoon berths immediately behind the inner wall to the harbour. We were advised that we could stop on any berth that was not marked ‘Reserved’ but most of them appeared to be so marked and there is not much manoeuvring room once among the pontoons.
There is an inner harbour with a lock gate entrance which was shut when we arrived and we were lucky enough to find a berth within the outer pontoons. It is quite cheap to stay overnight and the harbour office directed us to a very cosy restaurant overlooking the inner harbour where we had a very good meal at a very reasonable price.
It being a Friday evening, most of the pubs along the harbour had taken on the guise of ‘clubs’ with bouncers in attendance. There appear to be dozens of young students all speaking a variety of languages other than English about in the town. We eventually found a decent pub without doormen and settled in for a couple of pints before returning to the boat.
By that time the lock gate to the inner harbour was open – be warned when the lock gate is open, and if you are on a berth in the outer harbour pontoons it is a long walk back around the inner harbour to gain access!
David Scott-Miller writes:
Went to Ramsgate last year for the start of a MBM cruise . I wouldn’t describe Ramsgate as the centre of the universe; we got delayed there due to bad weather for two days and we were keen to move on when the weather eased!
The harbour staff were most helpful and the facilities were fine. The town has all the basic shops and places to eat from fish and chips upwards. The yacht club is most welcoming, has a commanding view over the harbour, good beer and snacks. We spent a lot of time there – great balcony.
The visitors’ berths are tucked in behind a sea wall with an old lighthouse on. Pick a berth as far away from the entrance as you can as at the top of the tide you can get quite a swell. It’s all right during the day but at night expect creaking ropes and a feeling all is not well.
Don’t forget to call the harbour authority for clearance to enter and exit. It can get a bit ‘interesting’ when the ferries are on the move; doesn’t happen too often, but you’ve heard of Sod’s Law?
