Week 2
| Date | Blog Entry | Related Pictures |
| 6/07/08 |
Lots of progress made again today with around
45 miles to Amble Marina. There wasn't a huge amount of wind so
had to motor for quite a while. We managed to stay quite dry
despite regular downpours all around us. The sea is very
different to what I'm used to in the South. Whereas we have
short steep seas, up here the waves are long with about 50m
between each crest this is because they have the whole of the
North Sea to build so in any wind with a hint of East in means
the seas can build quite quickly and in strong winds the North
East coast can be quite an unfriendly place for yachts. This is
because there are few harbours which can be entered safely in
strong onshore winds. It was a very quiet trip up until outside Blyth where I could see a yacht in front, it was another Corribee and after speaking to the skipper it was good to hear that he had been following my progress. The entrance into Amble was pretty straight forward despite the swell rolling around Coquet Island just off the entrance. Next stop will be Eyemouth in Scotland, travelling past the picturesque Farne Islands and Holy Island (Lindisfarne) |
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| 5/07/08 |
Today dawned with rain which continued for
most of the day, although its pretty bad I can't complain too
much as this is the first spell of heavy rain since the start of
the trip. Combined with a F7 from the SE it made it feel more
like March than July and this was confirmed when the lock keeper
told us the day had a high of 12 degrees. It is a shame that we have this weather during Hartlepool Maritime Festival as so much which had been planned had to be postponed or cancelled. We will be aiming to sail to Amble tomorrow, thank you to all at Hartlepool Marina for their help and free moorings. Photos are of previous days sailing past Whitby and a photo of 'friends' who were interested whenever food was about in Amble Marina. |
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| 4/07/08 |
Had a fantastic leg today, leaving
Scarborough at 06.00 so to carry all of the ebb to
Hartlepool. A passage of 40nm would normally take 10 hours at an
average of 4knts but today it only took just over 6 hours
meaning a blistering average speed of 6knts. 6 knots the
equivalent about 7mph isn't that fast on land but on the water
and especially in a small boat like Padiwak it can be seen as
fast. It just highlights the effect the tide has on passages. As we approached Teesside and the busy Tees Port the wind began to die off to almost nothing but this didn't matter as we had almost arrived. The scenery on the way up was beautiful and again the wildlife was frequent all going about their daily business. Arriving at Hartlepool it didn't take long to realise that we had arrived on the eve of the Hartlepool Maritime Festival. With a packed schedule full of events and attractions it seems like an attractive place to stay whilst an Atlantic low is forecast to pass over us along with some poor weather. After Hartlepool is Amble in Northumberland and then its just one day on before we are in Scotland. |
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| 3/07/08 |
Had a day off today to have a look around
Scarborough and rest after a couple of long days. Scarborough is
an interesting town with lots to see and do some photos of the
town can be seen in the Trip Gallery. One side of the harbour
has recently been dredged so that the new pontoons will stay
afloat at all states of the tide. Due to the harbour being very
busy because of the North Sea race we were put into the Old
Harbour which dries out. The pontoons there have a funny system
which means that they dry out on legs 6ft above the mud. With
Padiwak having about 2ft of freeboard (space between the
waterline and the gunnels) there was quite a considerable drop
down so it was interesting the first time the tide went out. I
was told the sandy mud there is quite firm so I took the
opportunity to have a look at Padiwak's hull. Out came the
wellies and the brush and I was ready to go. I edged onto the
mud treading very carefully just in case it wasn't as firm as
expected! Luckily it was just ankle deep and Padiwak's hull was
very clean and with no problems. Had a very nice day in Scarborough and with a decent forecast am hoping to aim for Hartlepool tomorrow but if needed I can call into Whitby which is about half-way. Photos are of muddy boots, Scarborough from the castle walls and the 'different' pontoon system. |
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| 2/07/08 |
We left Bridlington at about 13.30 as soon as
Padiwak was afloat on the incoming tide, this was good as it
gave me the morning to sort out some small jobs and have a look
around the town. It was a very nice
trip up to Scarborough despite there not being much wind, I saw
lots of sea birds on the high cliffs including puffins and
gannets. The coastline has changed from low-lying beaches in
Norfolk to 400ft high cliffs north of Flamborough Head. Arrived in Scarborough at about 18.45 and haven't had a chance to look around yet so have decided to have tomorrow off to catch up with emails and updating the website. Also there are quite a few things to do in Scarborough so am going to enjoy it whilst I'm here. Hoping to go onto Hartlepool after Scarborough if the weather allows on Thursday. It is quite busy here at the moment as yachts are preparing for the start of the North Sea Race which leaves tomorrow evening heading for Holland. |
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| 1/07/08 | Left Grimsby Fish dock at 05.00 bound for
Bridlington in East Yorkshire. The day dawned beautifully and we
had sun all the way down, there wasn't much wind at first but
this grew steadily as the day went on. The passage was a fairly
simple one the main problem was dodging the shellfish pots
scattered all over the place. I met John in Grimsby who was
doing the same day sail to Bridlington so we were sailing close
together all of the way down there and he helped enormously by
sharing local knowledge for further passages. By the time we got to Bridlington the freshening breeze had steeped the sea up so it made for quite an interesting entrance but once in and rafted up alongside another yacht we were very comfortable. The harbour was very interesting with fishing boats coming in and out all of the time and quite busy with tourists. Thank you to all at the harbour for their help and free mooring. Tomorrow we will be aiming to get to Scarborough which is only a short hop up the coast. |
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| 30/06/08 |
Its a week since the start and I have enjoyed
every minute of it, well most of the minutes! I've covered quite
a fair number of miles but with all of the legs so far have been
rather long ones so have been quite draining. Hopefully after
Grimsby I will be able to do some shorter hops and have a look
round some of the smaller harbours. I left Wells-next-the-Sea at
05.30 bound for Grimsby on the River Humber. It was a lovely
sail with fairly light South westerly winds we made good
progress over the 50miles and arrived outside Grimsby at about
16.30. During the trip I sailed past the Donna Nook military
firing range and it was very interesting to watch a huge plane
in action. I wouldn't know what plane it was but it was
certainly big. You wouldn't need to look where your going to get
to Grimsby but instead follow the background smells of fish to
arrive at the fish docks. Its great to see the industry on this
kind of scale, although I doubt its no where like what it was
years ago before depleting stocks lead to severe cuts in fishing
quotas. Tucked round the back is Meridian Quay Marina and home
to the Humber Cruising Association who have made us most welcome
and have shared local advice on the next passages. Tomorrow we
are aiming for the small harbour of Bridlington in Yorkshire,
the weathers looking good so it should be a good sail up there.
Photos are of a fishing boat in Grimsby and of the plane
although the picture quality isn't very good as it has been
zoomed in quite a lot. |
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