Day 78. Sat 15 Aug. Moored in Sunderland.
With the wind howling in the rigging as per forecast, we took the easy option and stayed in bed - at least until we got up for a late breakfast. All day there were heavy showers to accompany the Force 6 to 7 SW winds, so there was little incentive to leave the boat to explore the city, let alone sail anywhere, so we had another make-and-mend day - with limited success. At least we cured the leaking inlet pipe on the loo, by taking out the broken fitting for the bottle of "blue". We also put more sealant into the babystay fitting, and tried to mend the fridge, which had inexplicably stopped working.
In the late afternoon, the weather improved a little, so we walked round the marina and past the yacht club, where we stopped to chat to member who was lifting out his dinghy using the club crane.
Day 79. Sun 16 Aug. Sunderland to Hartlepool. 16 miles.
The weather forecast had improved slightly to W to SW Force 4/5, and the wind had clearly moderated, so we decided to make progress. We left the berth at 0930, to make full use of the South-going tide, and hoisted the mainsail in the outer harbour, unfurling the jib at the entrance.
Fairly soon afterwards, it was very obvious that there was a lot more wind than forecast - 5 gusting 7, so we put in the second reef and wound in a lot of jib, and we had a really invigorating sail, reaching The Heugh off Hartlepool by 1200. We then started the engine for the last mile to windward, and were in the marina lock before 1230, and in the berth by 1245, having averaged over 5 knots for three hours.
After lunch, we walked round the dock to the historic ship collection, and went round HMS Trincomalee - the oldest warship afloat. She was built in India just after the Napoleonic wars, and restored in Hartlepool in the 1990's. This was very interesting - both the ship and the dockside exhibits.
Day 80. Mon 17 Aug. Hartlepool to Whitby. 25 miles.
With a Force 5/6 from the West, forecast to back southerly tomorrow, we set off for Whitby. We locked out of Hartlepool at 0900, as soon as there was enough water in the channel, to give us as long as possible to get to Whitby before two hours after high water (1500), so we could get through the swing bridge into the marina. Today, we didn't bother with the mainsail. With the wind on the beam, we tried sailing under the jib alone, and soon we were averaging more than six knots over the ground - touching 8.4 knots at times - without any stress.
There was plenty of commercial traffic entering the Tees, and several ships at anchor, but these did not cause any real anxiety, other than the possibility of poor visibility, as rain clouds threatened. In the event, the rain held off, and we made rapid progress down the coast. Off Staithes, we were the proud recipients of our own "Securite" message, as the guardship for a marine survey operation made an "All Ships" call to vessels in the Staithes area. Being the only one there, we called them to negotiate an acceptable path to Whitby, and sailed past them close inshore. By 1315, we were in Whitby harbour, jilling round, waiting for the 1330 bridge opening.
We were allocated a berth opposite the dry dock, and right by the marina gangway. After lunch, we did the laundry, visited the supermarket, and spent a long time chatting to the marina manager, then started tidying the boat, ready for the extra crew arriving tomorrow.
Day 81. Tues 18 Aug. Moored in Whitby.
Once the boat tidying was complete, Garth and I climbed up to Whitby Abbey (all 199 steps), and looked round, and had lunch in the tearoom there, before returning to the boat via the chandlery, where I bought a new hand-held VHF set. I then collected my daughter, Sara, from the railway station, which is about 200 yards from the marina, just beyond the supermarket.
Sara had brought a fruit cake with her, so we had to sample this. It was delicious, but my slice had a nut missing from the top - apparently Sean ate this, since he wasn't allowed a full slice.
Wieland arrived on a later train, and we bought fish and chips on the way back from the station.
Day 82. Wed 19 Aug. Moored in Whitby.
In spite of now having a full complement of crew, we stayed in Whitby. The weather forecast was for a strong Southerly wind, which was not only straight on the nose, but also looked as if our planned destination of Scarborough would be very exposed.
Garth and I had produced a long list of things we don't do, which included - force 6 and above, strong head winds, unfavourable tides, rain, snow and hail, thunderstorms, harbour walls,....... Garth, of course, doesn't do walking. It's surprisingly how many of these we had already broken, but we were not prepared to break them today, so we had another day doing touristy things in Whitby.
Wieland climbed up to the Abbey, whilst Sara, Garth and I went on a tour of the Grand Turk. It was interesting comparing her to the Trincomalee, which is a 100-year newer design, quite a lot bigger, but essentially a floating museum. On the other hand, Grand Turk is a replica of an eighteenth century frigate, modified for film work, but is a working ship, with an exhibition on board. I paid a quick visit to the public library to find an internet connection, and upload the blog. We then adjourned to the Middle Earth pub, across the river from the Marina, for a lunchtime drink, which we followed with a lazy afternoon. This was disrupted by the arrival of a large new motor boat, which needed help parking in the marina in the gusty winds. They had set out from Hull on a maiden voyage to Scarborough, but had been refused entry because the harbour was full. This made us very pleased with our decision to stay put.
Day 83. Thurs 20 Aug. Moored in Whitby.
The wind was still Southerly, blowing Force 6 and over, so there was still no incentive to move - so we didn't. However, we started planning for the better weather expected on Friday. This was for a window of South West winds, Force 4 to 5, occasionally 6, before reverting to South to South East on Saturday. SW would give a fast reach all the way to Lowestoft - more than 150 miles, but missing out our planned stops at Scarborough, Grimsby and Wells-next-the Sea, whereas SE is dead on the nose (see rule 2). Also, rather than leave when the bridge opened two hours before high water in late afternoon, we could leave two hours after high water in the early morning, on a passage likely to take around 30 -36 hours, and so arrive at Lowestoft in daylight. So we checked that the bridge would be opening at 0600, and planned accordingly. Wieland paid a couple of visits to the library to get detailed weather forecasts off the internet, and I went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for ship's stew for the overnight passage. This was then cooked in the pressure cooker, so it just had to be heated through.
Days 84/85. Fri/Sat 21/22 Aug. Whitby to Lowestoft. 157 miles.
We duly left Whitby at 0600, and put up the sails at the North Cardinal buoy just outside the harbour. The two reefs were still in the mainsail from the leg to Hartlepool last Sunday, and we left them in - the forecast was for SW winds, Force 4 to 5, occasionally 6. In the event, the wind was a steady 6 from the SSW, with squalls of F7, so we were glad they were there. We divided into two watches straight away, with Wieland and I (both left-handers) taking the port watch and Garth and Sara the Starboard - three hours on and three off, and this worked well.
The wind was harder on the nose than we would have liked, and when the time came for a decision whether to divert to Scarborough, we were in the middle of a particularly nasty and wet squall. However, just then I received a morale-boosting text message from Bill, our resident on-shore weather forecasting service, and my nerve held. From Scarborough to past Flamborough Head, we had to punch the tide, but were still making over 4.5 knots over the ground, but the sun was out and it was a lovely day again. At one time, the wind dropped right away, and we shook out a reef and put the engine on to maintain speed, but within half an hour the reef was back in, and the engine off.
By 1500, we were approaching the Humber. We were coping well with the occasional squall, and the sky was almost cloudless; it was an easy decision not to divert to Grimsby. The tide had turned in our favour - in fact we carried the tide all the way to the Norfolk coast where it turned against us with a vengeance, and touched 9+ knots at times. Crossing the shipping lane was straightforward; there were plenty of ships on the move, but only one was close, so it was easy to keep clear.
The sun set as we sailed down the Race Channel, and we lowered the mainsail and unwound the rest of the jib to give ourselves a more easily manageable rig for the night, although the wind had dropped to the forecast 4/5 level. This made very little difference to our speed. Venus in the rigging was much easier to steer by than any instrument. In fact, the stars were a magnificent display. Down the Race Channel, we had the sea to ourselves, until we suddenly noticed the Hull to Rotterdam ferry catching us up rather rapidly. She had obviously seen us on the radar and kept well clear.
On change of watch at 0030, Wieland resisted all attempts to wake him, including prodding in the ribs, so his place was taken by Chris, the autohelm, for the first 90 minutes, when he surfaced, suitably embarrassed. After nine hours of favourable tide, this now turned as we approached the Sheringham Shoal, and our speed over the ground dropped to about three knots, which seemed like standing still after the good progress we had been making. The passage inside the Shoal was very busy with small commercial traffic, but we were outside, so well out of their way. We put the engine on again, to get round the corner past Cromer, and with the wind now Southerly, kept it on all the way to Lowestoft, although the tide turned favourable at North Scroby, and the last twelve miles flew past (including the two thousand mile point off Great Yarmouth).
We tied up in the new marina in Hamilton Dock at 1000, alongside Excelsior, the last of the Lowestoft sailing trawlers, now used as a sail training vessel for disadvantaged youngsters, and due to be taking a dozen of them to Holland in the evening. As we strolled ashore for a walk to the Ness, Britain's most Easterly point, we saw the Hilary Lister team caravans on the quayside (see Days 25/6). Hilary was on passage from Wells, and expected to arrive in four or five hours' time, but was having to battle against both wind and tide for the last ten miles from Great Yarmouth.
Sara now caught the train back to Birmingham, via Cambridge. It had been lovely to see her for a few days, and she had the enjoyment of doing what turned out to be the longest leg of the trip. An hour or so later, David turned up again for the final leg home. The four of us went to a Chinese restaurant for supper and returned to the boat suitably replete.