It felt like the start of another big adventure, as we prepared Sirena IV to leave her home port of Gillingham. She has never looked better, with snowy decks, wood newly restored (stripped, treated with oxalic acid and teak-oiled) and even new navy covers for her fenders. 
We headed into the lock with our old friend Harry there to catch a line. He saluted as we chugged out into the familiar Medway.
The wind, a mere Force Two, was easterly (right on the nose) the sky blue, the air warm and the water was calm. We motor-sailed against the tide for a couple of hours to get to Garrison Point where the river ends and the sea begins.
And then we wended our way across the top of Kent, via the Queen's Channel, until we reached North Foreland with its white lighthouse and took a right turn to go south towards Broadstairs and then Ramsgate. The entrance to Ramsgate was interesting, as Lesley picked her way carefully at low tide through the very shallow channel leading to the marina. At one point the depth read zero metres under the keel.
The trip took just over seven hours, all of it motor-sailing in light winds, though it felt perishing cold through much of the journey. Lesley piled on 2 thermal vests and layers of scarves and jumpers and it really began to feel like last year's trip to Scotland. Even Nic accepted the loan of a scarf, unheard of for him. Dinner - giant bowls of pasta and a small sherry. Then passage planning for tomorrow! Slowly, the comforting habits of life on board are forming again.
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