A lovely day on the sea at Margate. We parked up at Hodges Gap promenade car park at Palm Beach Bay. It’s not the closest to the beach – that one is adjacent but closed by a barrier to vehicles and access is only for jet-skiers with a code. So it adds a little to the walk, but is manageable. There are no toilets here – the nearest we found were at the smart Bowling Club a short walk away – visitors welcome.
The launch at about 1215 from the beach was straightforward, with just a slight swell to contend with, and keeping clear of the reef to the left. We headed out to catch the flow, keeping a careful eye on a pack of noisy jet-skiers who fortunately moved off pretty quickly and left us in peace.
We headed west with the flow in good conditions, with a light north-easterly breeze and a sunny sky. We paddled past Walpole Bay, Margate Cove, past the Turner Contemporary, searching as we did for the Antony Gormley statue, but he was submerged (the solitary figure becomes visible three hours before low tide). Then past Margate Main Sands, Westbrook Bay, St Mildred’s Bay, Westgate Bay, towards the impressive Reculver Tower and Roman Fort. A deliberate and – may I say – a well-executed roll by David along the way added to the fun.
We stopped for a packed lunch at Epple Bay, the turning tide revealing an area of sand to land on, which was much preferable to a slipway a bit further along. No facilities in the area though.
Then back the way we came, a lovely smooth run in the sun and the sparkling sea, keeping out from land to catch the flow which picked up as we headed east. It felt we covered the ground faster than on the way out – and we took the time to do some skills practice with Mary coming to the aid of a suddenly poorly David, who was towed by Liza for a few metres before happily recovering Liza demonstrated an impressive self-rescue.
We arrived back at Palm Bay Beach at about 1630 with the tide coming in, shortening a little the walk back to the cars. It was a great day out, and it felt good to brush off the winter cobwebs. Many thanks to Liza for organising it so well.
