For 24 hours we had e-mailed the mayor’s office in Ramsgate and we had also left phone messages. In the spring we had even visited the harbour and made an agreement.
“We’re coming tomorrow,” was our message to the friendly Jane Dale from the mayor’s office. On behalf of Ramsgate she had taken on the responsibility of arranging the stay and overnight accommodation for the Sea Stallion’s 60 crew.
After sailing for 19 hours from Portsmouth, the Sea Stallion was an hour from Ramsgate harbour on Tuesday morning and we had still not received confirmation that the town was ready to receive us.
Time and again we rang to the mayor’s office while the Sea Stallion came closer to the approach to the harbour. There were no problems with the harbour authorities: “Just sail in,” was their message on the VHF radio.
The telephone was finally answered at the mayor’s office just 15 minutes before the Sea Stallion sailed into the harbour.
“Are you coming now?” was the surprised response from Jane Dale at the other end of the line. “We weren’t sure that you were coming at all. And I haven’t made any overnight arrangements for you.” There was a pause. “I’ll see what I can do,” Jane Dale added resolutely.
When the Sea Stallion glided to the quay, Alan Poole, from Kent County Council, and Jane Dale were ready to receive us. A large camping site on the edge of the small English harbour town had already agreed to take all 60 crew and their tents. One of the harbour lorries soon turned up to transport the tents and personal effects. A bus came a few minutes later. The crew climbed in and off it went to the camping site. That’s the way to do it!
Tomorrow, Thursday 17 July, the trip heads north for Lowestoft in Norfolk, where some of the Sea Stallion’s crew will be replaced by a fresh complement before the trip across the North Sea begins.
