Parade of Sail

Robinetta

This morning we had a Parade of Sail which involved about half the gaffers locking out of Ramsgate inner harbour, sailing up and down off the beach for a couple of hours, and then locking back in again. It was a pleasant sail on a warm bright day with light winds: one of those days when it is more comfortable to be on the water.  

Bonita's crew see old boats sailing everyday of course, but I later heard that quite a lot of people were enjoying watching the event from the beach.

The picture shows Robinetta in the parade of sail. She was built in 1937 and  the noted yachting journalist Maurice Griffiths called her 'a saucy little tub'.

In the evening we enjoyed a meal in the Oak Hotel by the waterfront. 

We have seen many changes in Ramsgate over the years, many for the better. One thing I don't remember from previous visits is the large commercial aircraft coming in low over the town centre to land at Manston airport. There are not at present very many of them, at least by Heathrow or Gatwick standards. However if no clear decision is made on airport expansion in the South East and there is just some increased activity all round, then more traffic at Manston might well have a detrimental effect on this relatively unspoilt part of Kent. It could be argued that one advantage of the Goodwin Sands airport proposal is that this air traffic would be moved offshore ending these low level flights over Ramsgate and enabling Manston to be returned to being part of rural England. 

Bonita lovely but blurry

Strong SW winds are forecast for tomorrow but we will decide in the morning whether to choose the discomforts of the sea or the attractions of Ramsgate.