Anstruther, tue 18th July

  I'm sat on good old boat Dreamtime, moored up in Anstruther harbour with a great sun setting, reading a boatie book (about Jack de Crow). Compared to last night, sat in front of telly, i prefer this.

  I had a look up on the sea wall, It's very windy up here, the seagulls are hovering around in one spot, just playing with the air currents 'n swirls and the sea has many white horses, a small motor boat was out there ploughing through the waves, looked tough.

  There's plenty of summer left, so I reckon doing more of the coast is a grand plan. Mebbe a week at home to weed the garden and cut the grass then vamoose. I'd like to be around Devon and Cornwall, specially when the Perseid meteors are happening in August. I've got about a month's worth of dried food and so far everything has stood up well to the rigours; so my kit is all ready to go (ok,with a bit of titivation) and I haven't got anything better to do with the rest of 2017. I reckon a bit more of the wild camping on a beach or anchorage would be in order too.

Anstruther

 Wow! Everybody is so open and friendly round these parts. I went to 'The Bank' pub to pick up the washing that they very kindly did for me, watched the grand prix. Went to Mason's and had a couple of engaging conversations. Went to boat and remembered that I should have a go on the Waltzer, got talking to the guy that runs it, what a sound fella, had a short free ride,thanks Mitch, made I laugh.
   The gusts of wind are very strong now but it is very sunny.

What windy weather looks like from far away

The end

  I've decided to call a halt to my trip here at Anstruther, i don't have sufficient confidence to tackle the run up to Inverness and would be waiting a long time in harbour for favourable wind forecasts. It's a shame that the Clyde and Forth canal is shut as I could have happily carried on that way.

  I've certainly achieved the main aim of the trip which was to meet new people, see new places and do new things. No doubt my sailing skills have improved and I've learnt a lot about passage planning, allowing for forecast weather and tide. 

  It's been an interesting day for reading the runes of the weather forecasts and relating that to what has actually happened. Met. Office Inshore waters was doom, gloom, and force 6! Windguru said that the wind would pick up at 13:00. And the actuallity was that conditions were benign all day, Could  have easily sailed to my next destination, st. andrews. (but hadn't passage planned) At 6pm dark clouds came in and it all got a lot windier.

  Popped into a pub at lunchtime,  asked about laundromat and was told that there's not one, would I like my bag of washing sorted ? Thanks 'The Bank'.

  The way the tides is at the moment, i need to leave here bright and early, some of the tidal streams, on the coast north of here, run at  twelve knots. Bear in mind that I can hope to do four knots average .

 Windy weather

'Anstruther outer harbour beach

Anstruther, fri July 14th 2017

  Lobster for breakfast! Me and Kouran ate one last night and the other this morning. It was very tasty, nice juices. Btw, recipe is; put lobster in pan of water, bring to a roiling boil, time for one minute, eat.

  Today could have been good for sailing but I had run out of sailing energy, hadn't researched a passage plan, so chilled. The forecast for Saturday and Sunday is for strong wind so I might sail on Monday.

  Kouran went back to his 'real' life today. We've had a great week, did a fair bit of sailing in a range of winds, including a couple of days of sunny sky, gentle winds and calm seas. Thanks Kouran, couldn't wish for a better crew mate.

  The last week has seemed like a mini-cruise within the bigger trip. We've had reasonable weather, the many islands dotted about the Firth of Forth add to the interest and there are quite a few harbours which are mostly picturesque, all with extremely friendly locals. It would be a good area to plan week's cruising holiday.

Anstruther harbour (spot me titchy boat)

Aberdour to Anstruther, thur 13th July

  Needed to get off our drying berth near to high tide and had twenty-two mile voyage planned so needed a reasonably early start. Probably set off sailing at about 10am and had a very calm start, all sails up and wind behind. Had a great view of the Forth bridges sternward.
  About three quarters completed there were dark raining clouds coming towards us across the Firth. I got rid of the main and completed the rest of the journey under jib alone in strong wind with waves. I've now been out in worse weather so wasn't overly concerned. Kouran did  a good job as crew, moving to balance  the boat unbidden and learning the ropes.
  Having just tied up, a chap came in on his small fishing boat and said hello, we'd been moored alongside him in Dunbar. He asked if we'd like two Lobsters! Thanks Peter. It was great to be able to sample fresh unmessed-about-with lobster, yum-yum

Just fits in my pan

Garton (Leith) to Aberdour, wed 12th July

  I had just a small hop planned for today, four miles across the Firth of Forth to a titchy, drying harbour. The sun was out, the seas were calm and there was a gentle wind. Unsurprisingly, we had a very pleasant sail and took a detour to go around an island.

Old Abbey on island

  Aberdour is a very cosy harbour, well protected and, as always,very friendly and helpful people.

A change of plan ¡again!

  Had a leisurely wake-up on Thursday with the intention of having a relaxed sail to Port Edgar, last stop before the Forth and Clyde canal. So I squeezed in a bit of passage planning amongst which was phoning the sea lock at the start of the canal to find out what would be a good time to arrive on Friday.
  The canal is closed. Apparently a lock gate has failed, it'll be maybe three weeks before it's fixed. That was my plans thrown in the air, looks like i'm heading for the Caledonian Canal again, which is a shame, i was getting rather used to the idea of cutting through to Glasgow.

North Berwick to Leith, tue 11th July 2017

  Took things steady this morning, kept dry from the drizzly rain, took a walk along the beach to local shops and cafes.
  The boat was afloat at about 1pm, the sun came out as predicted at 2pm and we set off about 3pm with a gentle wind and smooth sea. It was pretty much a run all the way, starting out with all sails up and with the Kouran crew on the case, gull-winged out, we were hitting 5 knots. And I noticed that the wind had been creeping up on me, with white crested waves coming up from behind; so the main sail came down and we ran along under just the jib for the rest of the sail. Kouran had a go at the tiller for an hour or so, then i took over just as the weather picked up a gear, some of the waves that had built up where quite large and threw the boat about, i felt a bit anxious but all was good and we came to the current sheltered harbour of Granton.
  We"d travelled 22 miles and been in large seas, miles out from the sprawl of Edinburgh

Dunbar to North Berwick, monday 10th July

  Woke up this morning to lots of wind and pretty much coming from the direction we wanted to go in. I wasn't very keen to go out in the bumpy waves and damp weather but my crew was. The intention was to just make a short hop of nine miles and if need be we could use the motor. And that was what we ended up doing, making progress into the wind wasn't possible with just the jib and I was reluctant to get the main up in such blustery and bumpy conditions with  novice crew in the boat

Dreamtime in North Berwick harbour

Sunday 9th July, Dunbar 2017

  Slept well, ate well and went on a bracing walk with excellent views of Bass Rock and the expanse of the Firth of Forth.

Dreamtime moored on long lines

¡a change of plan!

  While motoring from Eyemouth to Dunbar, against the weather, i decided that instead of heading up a long way north to Inverness, on the exposed North Sea, it'd rather go through the Clyde and Forth canal, much less challenging than Rattray Head.

Eyemouth to Dunbar

  I intended for today to be a practice for sailing into the wind with a  moderate breeze forecast.

  I left at 9.30, with the tide wiv me till 12 and was beating into the wind and waves. Got two reefs in smartly and was making progress, trying to get round St. Abbs head. There were pretty big,white topped, waves (NW wind against tide) and as I got nearer the promontory they were getting steeper.
  So i started the engine to get round the head and once past the sea calmed down with only an occasional white-cap. The wind and waves were pretty much coming from the direction in which I was going and I decided that it would be convenient to carry on motoring, so I used the engine for the rest of the way. Every so often the wind and waves would pick up resulting in much hull slamming and splashing but the spray didn't get into the cockpit much,
  The entrance to Dunbar harbour is just a crack in the rocky cliff face, very difficult to spot from sea and I reckon I wouldn't have found it without GPS and charts. Met up with mate Kouran who is going to be with me for a week and we had a really fun time mixing it up with the locals in town.

Kouran and sunset

Eyemouth, Thursday 6th July 2017

  What a fun day, i didn't get any further in circumnavigating but met lots of new people and did fun things.

  I had decided not to sail today, largely because the forecast was for extremely light winds.
  Last night had a curry and the chap serving us was chatting and got very wistful and dreamy when he was talking about seeing the sailing boats from the cliff when he's out for a run, imagining what it might be like to sail. I was several sheets to the wind and rashly offered to to take him out today. Well, at 6am it was well drizzly and wet and I was regretting my impulse, thinking that it would be pretty miserable being out, wet, and having no wind. So I did some washing in the Eyemouth marina facilities and, surprisingly, by the time came for Varun to contact me (11am) things had cleared up a lot.

  Varun was like a pig in excrement, splashing his hand in the water, marvelling at the wildlife and looked so pleased when I got him to steer the boat. All the time he was astonished that you don't need any paperwork or qualification to be allowed to enjoy such simple pleasures and I really enjoyed seeing him savouring being on the sea faor the first time.

  Then got back in for 2.30 and met up with work mate Neil and his family who are holidaying very nearby, hung out for a bit in the pub, then went back to boatie and showed 'em around. Neil's  mum Anne persuasively convinced me to take 'em out for a pootle in boatie so off the four of us went, and it was infectious the enjoyment that, particularly Anne, had for messing about on the water, even though it started raining and she just had a t-shirt on.

 I've had a lot of pleasure today from sharing boatyness with other inexperienced people with boatie in their soul.

Lindisfarne to Eyemouth,Wednesday 5th july

  Set off as soon as I got lifted by the tide at 11am, motored for half an hour to get into the wind and around the rocky parts of the island. Then is was a straight line sail with very gentle winds, full sails, no stress and also no rain. Sylfrid, a bilge keel yacht left a little before me to make the same passage and I very soon was making much better progress. This might have partly been because Sylfrid was further offshore and perhaps being effected by the adverse tide more. But it certainly seems that a Wayfarer can out perform a big yacht in light winds.

Lindisfarne, tues, 4th July

Woke up and it was persistantly raining which carried on all day, so i've been sat at anchor keeping under cover and haven't poked me head out all day

Lindisfarne, 3rd july

  Dithered about this morning whether to go or stay. Decided to stay. Picked up crew of Sylfrid (whom I first met in hartlepool) with my boatie and we spent a very pleasant day ashore, bumped into some interesting, friendly, local, people, did lots of chatting, walked about a bit, drank a bit and ate out. Jolly good company and a pleasant sunny spells day with plenty of wildlife thrown in. Lucky, lucky, luck what a good thing to do with a day of my life.

Weathered stones at priory

Washed out sunset

Lindisfarne, Sunday 2nd July 2017

  Had a bit of a panic this morning. Was sat at anchor, waiting for high tide (10.20) so that I could get closer to shore, dry out, and get to land (I was getting a bit of cabin fever). Then the anchor got unstuck and I was drifting towards the other boats moored here. The dependable motor started up and I avoided any major disaster. I reckon I didn't leave a long enough line and as the tide came in boatie lifted the anchor out.
  When I finally grounded, squelched ashore and had a very enjoyable visit to Lindisfarne,  bands were playing, sun was shining and I drank and ate. All accompanied by a strong wind. A good day not to be at sea.

Lindisfarne, Saturday 1st July 2017

  Another day of nervous, on edge sailing. 23 miles to do, from Amble to Lindisfarne Started out quite peaceably, full sails and the wind behind and to starboard (a bit easterly), went along quite nicely with a few sunny spells. Pleasant coastal scenery including Dunstanburgh Castle. The wind started moving towards the west, so possible gybe time. I got rid of the main sail (up and down a couple of times) and was doing 4 knots with just the jib, perfectly good progress. I only had reefs one and two set up and would have found it difficult to engage reef 3, should really have set out with reefs 2 and 3 configured.
  The easterly got stronger and stronger but I was managing ok with just the jib on a reach but at the Farne Islands I had to turn left which put me on a beat into the weather and again it wasn't possible to sail into the wind with just the jib. So 6 miles from Lindisfarne I started the engine. The wind had picked up quite a chop, lots of white crests and the boat was slamming and splashing it's way forward. I was getting plastered in spray which was chilling me down and the whole thing felt scary. Everything was ok though, thank you Mr Honda for my reliable engine, if that had failed my options would have become more limited and sketchy.
  As I got close to Lindisfarne my phone with the nav app on got soaked with spray and settings changed and not amenable to being set back. I contemplated trying to find the haven I'm in (The Ouse on south side of island) from memory but was put off by rocks, it was 3.30pmish and low tide. So, if in doubt anchor; parked up in the lee of a sand dune, dried and configured my phone and successfully navigated into t'Ouse, all the while with a stiff breeze blowing. Struggled a bit to get my anchor to set amongst a  bunch of other boats (should probably have picked up a mooring buoy) but second time lucky and I waited till 8pm for the tide to come in so that I could get a more protected anchorage. Only worry now is whether the ground underneath me is not spiky as I will dry out, probably at about 2am.
  R & R day tomorrow.

Tech update

I've decided that my stove fire was due to user error. Having got the replacement pump unit I read the instructions and realised that I should not have been using an o-ring to seal it. I think my original pump used the o-ring So I'd assumed the previous pump unit (which was a replacement too) needed o-ring as well.

Amble, 28th june pm

¡Gale force 8 is predicted for tonight!

Amble, wed 28th june, am

  Set off this morning at 7.30, got through the large waves at the harbour mouth with the hull slamming down a couple of times. Further out the waves were ok, not many white crests but I decided that with a  north easterly force 4 all day they were likely to get bigger, so decided to turn back and am moored up at Amble again.
  It's all good experience,  i had decided yesterday to go out largely on the wind speed - I should be able to manage a force 4. But didn't think too much about the sea state, if it had been westerly winds so that there was no fetch, then it might well have been doable.
  Forecast dry today so will visit Warkworth and it's castle. Next two days are forecast jolly windy, might sail Saturday.

Amble Tues 27th june

 It's been a  very rainy day here, I've mooched around town, done some washing, and planned next day's journey. The inshore waters forecast looks dead scary, even mentions gale force 8! But windguru says that tomorrow daytime will be moderate winds good for sailing. So my intention is to leave early tomorrow morning making for the Ouse bay on the south of Lindisfarne and then hold out there for two days of strong northerly winds.

Amble, Tuesday 27th june 2017

  Had a very pleasant sail yesterday from Blyth to Amble, about 13 miles. Gentle winds so full sail all the way and no stress. Started off doing 1 knot which was just drifting with the tide, the wind slowly built up and at one point I was doing over 5 knots. Passed by two or three porpoises that were hanging out in one area and disturbed lots of puffins sat on the water.

Off Coquet Island (which is in the distance)

Blyth, Sun 25th June

  This is a tad frustrating; trying to figure out if it is sensible to go to sea in the expected wind conditions. I suppose, on the plus side, i have generally been content with decisions i have made to stay tied up as the day's weather developed. However, i reckon the chances of circumnavigating via Caledonian canal are thinning.
  The met office's inshore waters forecast, which I intended to rely on, has a couple of drawbacks, it's for a 24hr period and covers a long stretch of coast so is not really finely detailed enough and it predicts average wind speed rather than separating out into wind speed and gust speed. It shows the coast as red when force 6 is mentioned. It is red most of the time! Windguru is good for gust prediction and is more finely divided into three hourly slots so I'm tending to rely on that more.
  At the  mo', 9.30am, there's shrieking gusts still coming in, it might calm down a bit at lunchtime and then pick up again. I ought to get myself out there just to see how I manage in the force 6 gusts but that's a phaphph, i 'd definitely do it if there were a safety boat.
  Tomorrow's forecast is the other extreme of exceedingly light winds so i'll deffo leave for the twelve NM to Amble, which will probably take all day. Needless to say i am itching to move.

Blyth sat 24th june

  I've been dithering about whether to go sail or not and decided, as the forecast is much like yesterday's, that i'll play it safe. Tomorrow looks equally blustery.
  My ratio of sailing to non-sailing days is pretty poor. Ah well, go with the flow. There's a music festival down the beach today, should keep me amused.

Blyth, noon, 23rd June

  Got out from under tarptent to reccy the weather just as the wind was freshening up. Spent a while looking at the RNYC knot meter whilst listening to the rigging noises. I reckon whistling is 15 knots, shrieking 20-25 knots and howling must be 30+.

RNYC clubhouse, a wooden 1800s lightship

  Went out onto the pier that makes the western harbour mouth and had to lean into the wind, it felt really strong and i was pleased not to be at sea. There were a few windsurfers in the bay and I saw a seal, which looked like it was listening to the barking of a dog being carried on wind from beach. 'Cos of the limited fetch there weren't big waves but they did have a lot of mini whitecaps.

  Came back and had a cup of tea with a neighbour,  thanks Alistair.

Moored at RNYC

Blyth, 23rd june am

  I'm currently sat at mooring waiting to see how the weather develops. The forecasts are for jolly windy and indeed the gusts are whistling in the rigging. The RNYC, whoose pontoon i am on have a wind meter which i have seen on 20 knots, though one could expect more wind at sea. The wind is from a good direction though, SW to W; good for getting me north and, as it is off the land there shouldn't be any gargantuan waves. Think i'll sit tight till lunchtime.

Blyth, 22nd june

  Set off for the 12NM leisurely sail to Amble at 11am in light winds and smooth seas and was working out contingencies for not making much progress. Then the wind picked up a bit as did the waves, both from the north. Then as i was trying to get past Newbiggin Ness the waves got many white crests and the boat was crashing into the valleys, by now i was on two reefs and still not managing to keep the boat level. It was 14.30 and I'd only done a quarter of the trip, if the wind had increased any more then i'd be a bit out of control,  so, decided to turn back. Once on a run everything quietened down and, of course, I questioned my decision. But by that time i'd travelled back a distance that would take ages to regain against the wind and sea.
  Went into town and had a curry

Blyth harbour, summer solstice

Leaving royal quays

Set off from royal quays at about 1pm, the wind was stiff but from the south so pushing me in the right direction. The waves were pretty  much from behind too, very large n scary, they try to steer the boat for you so for the whole sail i was on edge.

  Then there was a fishing boat wiv a geezer waving his fluorescent jacket off the front. I thought he must be in trouble so steered over - turned out he was fishing salmon with drift nets and I was on a collision course with nets. So once I twigged started up engine and headed south for a bit.

 Other than that it was fairly straightforward, downwind with just foresail up. Tho' I was a bit stressed the whole sail (scary big waves) it only took 3 hrs so i'm not worn out and fancy going to Amble tomorrer,  13NM away.

Blyth harbour in a sou' sou' easterly

  The sailing people here (royal northumberland yacht club) are dead friendly and as it is a racing night i had food as well as beer. WiFi that works too.

Royal keys, Newcastle, tue 20th june

  Yesterday i was up at 5.15am, to get to metro station and arrive at tridentuk who very kindly took my sail on a sameday turnaround to put me third reef in. Had a long and exhausting day in the 26C day.
  Visited Storrar Marine, which is a well stocked  Chandlers, particularly well provided with sailing reference books. Got the RNYC pilot guide to the nook and cranny harbours from Humber to Rattray head (recommended by Mike Septimus) and also a pilot guide for the harbours of Irish Sea. The latter  because a boater who purposely came to chat with me (who has circumnavigated twice) suggested i might go South down the Irish coast rather than Wales etc. Thanks for the infochat geezer.
  So i wuz carting books n stuff around, hung out near millenium bridge waiting for phone call from sail loft. Drunk beer n listened to great Northumberland piper. Picked sail up at 5pm,  more walking to Metro, then walking, with load, to boatie and was exhausted. Went to sleep 9ish.

  Woke up unready to go to sea, even tho' the weather was pretty much perfect. Had cafe brekky, did washing and boat fiddling. In between neighbour Ross invited me to sample his whiskeys - nice one Ross.

¡Saw a cone jelly!
¡comb jelly in Newcastle

  Reflected that i'm always thinking of big hops, trouble with sailing 20-30 NM means I need a rest the next day, so tomorrow plan to do a moderate 10NM to Blyth. Wind is scheduled to start stiff & then moderate so I've set sail up with no2 & no3 reefs in and plan to leave at a leisurely 12 noon as tide is not my way 'till 'bout 1pm. Try out new third reef.

Leaving Hartlepool

Royal quays, sun 18th June 2017

Boatie with sun reflector reflecting t'sun

This  morning had a breakfast at the local marina restaurant. It's the most designer joint i've et in, checkout the wonky coffee cup and the square iron bar backed dining chairs.

when entering the place passed by a couple of lap dogs which yapped at me - so I yapped back. Then the couple wiv doggies came into the eatery (wiv doggies), had two diet cokes and water for dogs and moved on after one of the little darlins left a calling card up one of the designer chair legs!

Tyne (royal quays marina), Newcastle - sun 18th june

  One problem that I had during yesterdays sail was that the knots holding the radar reflector failed so that was banging about all the time. This morning I dropped the mast and refined that, taking the opportunity to hang my red ensign too. Then, once mast was up, as the winds were light, had a play about with sculling (using one oar out the back) the boatie around; it worked out OK, pretty straightforward.

  Then went and found the metro station in advance of my journey into town tomorrow, which took me past the 'Earl Zetland' which is a big boaty that has a bar on board, so had a beer or two to keep me cool on this 27C day. Currently just chillin' on me boat wondering what to do about grub, might have to break into onboard supplies.

River Tyne, sat 17th june

Had an enjoyable sail covering the 20 Nm between Hartlepool and Tynemouth. Was on a beam reach most of the time (wind from the side) turning into a single tack beat. The wind was variable in strength, as usual but was never overpowering

Hartlepool, Fri 16th June 2017

Looked like there might have been a window in the weather this morning, but the wind continued to shriek in the wires n strings most of the day. 'Tis even doin' it now, at 1.30 sat  morn.

  Prediction is for perfect sailing weather satURDAY. All i'll have to worry about is sunburn :-) gonna head for Tynemouth as Sunday's predicted winds are very light so might struggle to get anywhere that day. i'd like to be on Tyne Monday morning, to get stove part and more reef in sail.

  Did a bit of boat fiddling; tarptent one  is now trash and 'new and improved' tarptent two has been deployed. For a bit of fun, fitted a rollock at back of boat to have a go at sculling. not tried it yet (will need boom inside t'boat), also connected sea-anchor, swivel, and rope so that can now be deployed without too much fuss.

3am dawn!

Hartlepool, early morning Thursday 15th june

  Got up at 6am and didn't like the look of the wind. It was stronger than i'd expected and the forecast, which hadn't changed since yesterday, was for it to build. So I ummed and ahhed for a while and decided not to go out. And i'm happy with that choice, at 9am the gusts are more and more frequently moaning in rigging.

Bumped into the boys from Lady May for the third time :-), they are off north today. Me new found mates boat has a blog too.

Hartlepool, Wed 13th June , later on

  Well, what a great bunch of geezers; dissimilar historys but a lot of common connexions. Nice one andy mike n jeff.

  'S really good for my soul to be in the company of boaters. Everybody likes to talk about your boat or what is happening with their boat. It's an independent-minded, water borne festival.
  Today a lady came up and said that forty years ago, she 'n her fellah were first together in a similar boat to mine, over in Scandinavia, with much more primitive conditions, in t'70's (no outboard motor). and maybe it's not so good now with a big yacht. We all got connexions :-)

  Outside

 
Inside

Hartlepool, Wed 13th June

Decided to have a rest day today, just as well cos there probably wasn't enough wind to get to me next destination which is North Shields.

  Had a look at the Tricomalee, 200 year old square rigger and a dishevelled paddle steamer, the Wingfield Castle, had a couple of lunchtime pints which felt so cool and relaxed compared to a 'normal' working Wednesday. Visited what must be the massivest asda to top up on dark n stormy supplies  (dark rum and ginger beer) and completely failed to modify new tarptent instead chatted. Going aboard Septimus this evening where Mike is kindly cooking a bunch of us dinner.

Spot the dinky dinghy

  Tomorrow plan to leave early to miss most of the strong winds and get to North Shields, hopefully get third reef put in mainsail and pick up replacement pump for stove. I've hardly used my gas replacement one, I've bin drinking tea and eating out in these civilised marinas.

Hartlepool, tue 13th june

  Went through Whitby swing bridge at 8.30 expecting light winds from the south but very soon had two reefs in the main and then got rid of main altogether and tried to sail close to the wind with just the jib - very difficult to keep on a course. I was wondering about contingency plans at this point as i'd only just started my 23Nm trip. Could definitely do with a third reefing in the main sail which would give me more options when i only have me for ballast.

  Then things calmed down a bit and i ended up close-hauled pretty much on one tack all the way with the wind veering favourably and many reefs coming in and then going out.


  Somehow i managed to catch some intense sun though it had seemed to be a basically cloudy day. Had my clothing a bit more sorted with long trousers under my salopettes but will try fleecy long-johns next time.

  Hooked up with Geoff & crew, fellow boaties and had a good pub meal and got an angle on a sail loft on the Tyne, which is probably my next stop.

Whitby, Monday 12th June 2017

Another day of strong winds, some sunny spells and a drop or two of drizzle. The gusts that sang through the riggings were more infrequent than yesterday but inshore forecast was predicting occasional force 7. Again i was happy not to be out on the open sea.

  Should have been a day of productive boat fiddling, particularly configuring new tarptent but couldn't be arsed, nice thing is, it's up to me :-) Fitted compass finally, was really struggling to work out where to mount it; it needed to be on top of a horizontal surface or stern-ward of a vertical surface. Ended up with it on top of the middle of thwart, not ideal 'cos it'll be in the way. But definitely a move forward to have easily referenced compass. Did some washing and paid marina bill.

  I'm moving on tomorrow, ¡yeehah! bin here since Thursday, bonus of this layover is that my cracked forefingers have nearly completely healed up. Forecast winds are very mild, Hartlepool is destination, 25Nm away, i intend to leave at 8am, tide should be with me from 10. So should be a relaxed sail, however; the Boston leg taught me to keep a weather eye out.

  I like watching the seagulls fly, there's a bunch of 'em, just rolled in, no doubt on the scav. I gotta theory 'bout seagulls; they got all emboldened, with us all being nice to animals n that, they nick our ice-cream and chips with impunity.  We oughtta grab 'em n eat 'em, that'll deter their larcenous tricks.

  Woke up with tarptent a flapping, and wind caterwaulin thru marina wires.

 Bright sunny spells meant another day of boat maintenance; sanded neighbour's fix,  decided that i'd leave it there, 'cos could have made it worse adding more gunge ('poxy n filla)

  Yesterday's floorboard fix looks good

 Installed rope handles for managing boat landing in a swell

  Bit of protection where I tread all the time

Stowage of rond anchor and sanitary shovel  (shit spade)

Flags

Whitby sat 10th June

  Woke up to drizzly grey dampness, stopped in bed for a while. The epoxy on my transom has gone all white, must have got moisture in it. The hatch cover and floorboard are ok tho.

  Had cafe breakfast and walked around town in the drizzly wind. Stopped in pub most of the day reading. Initially there was a family nearby with typically restless, fidgety kids. After they left the geezer of the outfit turned up with a pint for me, in appreciation of me being kind to his kids and not curmudgeonly!
 
  Back to boat and rain had mostly ceased but wind gusts were again shreiking in rigging, apparently 33knots out at sea. Helped a yacht moor up which aggravated my tortured finger skin so have plastered them up.

  Blog is gonna be dull for the next coupla days, i don't fancy the forecast for Sunday or Monday so don't intend to sail untill Tues

Whitby, fri 9th june

  Yee! Ha! Had another monumental sleep, must have been 12 hours, great mugs of tea and toast at the kabin cafe. Into town, got a replacement tarp, exactly like the one I set out with  before the FIRE!

  There's a good chandlers here, bought a stirrup pump for easy bilge emptying, and some really useful looking clips which are for hanking a jib onto 4mm line. I've got 4mm line around the perimeter of my boat so hope to use these clips to secure new tarptent

Today's weather has bin generally sunny with a bit of showers at midday.

All my appliances are charged up and battery is close to full. Today has been epoxy day,
1 the ply at the corner of front hatch had delaminated,
2 there was a chip out of the stern hatch top,
3 where I had cut the floorboards in two one had  a chunk broken
3a Also, when parking up yesterday, i had a minor collision with a neighbour. Saw him today and he was very happy for me to patch up the cracked rubbing strake. Thanks fellow boatie :-) i let them know that i were insured.

  Trouble is, tied up in a marina on a sunny day you bump into loads of boatie people and have happy boatie conversations, not conducive to being productive.  Shared a beer with Paul and Dan who i'd met previous in Bridlington. Also yesterday met a geezer who had been labouring through the southerlies going clockwise round in a 22 footer

  Still, epoxy waits for no man.

  I've  now removed the electrical tape (spawn of the devil) that i'd put over the top of the transom, this was keeping some screwholes dry which were from where i 've removed the traveller rail. They are now filled in with twelve, hand carved, 4mm, hardwood pegs. I made the replacement chunk of floorboard out of hardwood too.

  So that was my day done. Finally had some chips  (and curry sauce) after all these seaside resorts, downed some beers and un bouteille de vin rouge

.

  It's pleasant and tranquil here this evening

Whitby, Thursday 8th June 2017

  Got up at 5am, set sail at 7pm, Gary timed it to perfection to wave goodbye. Scarborough was an interesting place, 'cos it's on a hill there are loads of sets of narrow stairways between levels and also lots of narrow alleys and walkways.

  The sail was gentle and damp with drizzle on and off, low cloud and initially very gentle wind. Once again it was a basically a southerly, pushing me in the right direction on a run but consequently not very noticeable 'cos boat moves at similar speed to wind. Only 14Nm to do and, as predicted the wind and gusts slowly built up. Just as i approached Whitby harbour entrance i was just about overpowered with full sails up. There was a long rounded swell from the NE and sometimes these waves were breaking at the narrow entrance to harbour (with low tide making the water shallow) but i got in without having to manage any surf.

  Tied up to swing bridge pontoon at 11 and waited 'till 2.30 for bridge to open, so took opportunity to use newly acquired gas stove to brew up. It worked very quickly. I made a mistake in the gear i wore, as rain was predicted i wore my dry suit and underneath wore lycra type, wick-away long-johns but this was pretty cold. Next time i'll wear summat more insulative.

  I was pleased that the weather window unfolded pretty much how windguru had predicted, the inshore waters forecast was pretty scary predicting force 4 or 5, occasionally 6 but that is for a 24 hour period. Indeed by 2pm the wind was very strong.

Scarborough ,wed 7th june

  Woke up with no electrickery which was a surprise but it was a dry day with lots of sunny spells so soon had power back. Slept all the way through the nighttime gale and was pleased that tarptent was all in one piece.

  Had a cafe breakfast, did a bit of shopping, then boat fiddling & tidying which took ages for little change. All day the wind was strong with gusts shreiking through rigging.

  A lull in the windy weather is forecast for tomorrow early doors so i've been tempted to go for it, the forecast gusts are still strong and it all picks up in the afternoon. Southerly so should push me in the direction I wanna go.

Scarborough, Tues 6th june 2017

Had another mega sleep, crawled out, ablouted, had brekkie: tea,fry up and coffee in nearby cafe, then it was 11.30.

Good chandler in town, got most of what i needed, mended tiller extention u.j.with an allen one which, with minor butchery fitted my sea sure version

tonight is the big storm, the wind is larkin' about, shreikin' n shakin'

Seaweed Monsters

Scarborough, Monday 5th June 2017

Had a big sleep, stayed in bed late and was then a bit rushed. Checked in with port authority and then met up with mates number four; Hoorah:-), Gary n Deanna are holidaying in Scarborough when i'm here.Had a chinwag and climbed the castle Hill. Had a wine buying retail opportunity and have sunk a bottle of elderberry (11%),started the bottle of cherry(11%) and have ginger to go. The weather was damp and I prospected a B&B then it cleared up and i got miserly.

The forecast prospects are looking 'stormy weather boys' for the next week! With a possible window bright and early Thursday morning with a building southerly wind.

Scarborough is grand, though i was disappointed when i went out at 7pm to get chips & all was shut :-)

I'm pleased i didn't B&B it, tarptent is finessed to minimise water intake, i've got springs out to secure the mooring. With the wind occasionally whistling through local rigging and the rain pattering on tarptent i feel as prepared as poss for the oncoming gale.

Scarborough, sun 4th June 2017

Got up at 8.30, then it was pretty full on to get ready for the sea. A couple of fellahs in a motor cruiser, Lady May, were moored up next to me and are planning a similar trip,so might well see 'em again.

Had a really pleasant sail today, winds very variable in strength , quite a bit of sunshine. Got out to Flamborough head OK, no big waves, then it was a reach which turned into a single tack beat all the way. Sometimes a bit over powered with just a twice reefed main & occasionally nearly becalmed. Saw me first puffin. Flamborough is good looking with eroded limestone causing little bays, arches and caves. Next coupla days are forecast to be too windy for me.

Dreamtime in sunny Scarborough

Bridlington Sun 4th June

It was getting on for midnight when boat floated, then i loaded gear, so up late and started a bit of passage planning for Scarborough. Today is forecast force 3,4 sometimes 5, Monday is forecast up to a 6. So if i'm gonna go best go today.

High tide is at 2pm, i'll be afloat at 11am, plan to leave by noon, then get to Flamborough Head by turn of tide to take me on up past all the sharp & pointy rocks.

Bridlington, 3rd June

Had a damn thorough sleep last night. Waiting for 2pm tide in the morning so hit town had some snap (food),there's stacks of takeaways & cafes here. Bought some crocks (shoes) and then when the high tide had receded a bit, got boatie to beach, careened very easily having recruited a couple of likely geezers and hoiked the offending grit from centreboard with my new tool. All went very well.

So now I can sail again. Me plan is to stop in Bridlington tomorrow (Sunday) & have more r&r in the sunshine and go to Scarborough Monday which is forecast to have a bit of rain and wind up the chuff again.
.

Bridlington, 2nd June

  I like it here, part working harbour, part sail boaties and big part touristas. The media have bin wittling on for ages 'bout the decline of the UK seaside resort, guess they ain't bin to Brid recently. The harbour dries out to mud about half the time.

  First task of the day was to get centreboard unjammed  (really, first task was source a new pump  for me stove) but that didn't happen, I chucked buckets of water at it, lots of hose action and still it just moves a mm, which I reckon is play in the pivot bolt hole. summat is jammed below. This is something that i'd learned about but had'nt planned for, hadn't taken seriously. It's part of my gameplan,  on the east coast, to be on a beach 66% of the time. So, I need to perfect the art of solo landing a Wayfarer, on a beach, in surf and not  get cb bunged up. I have two, grand, inflatable beach rollers

which will help in the endeavour, they make brill fenders too, only prob is that there's nowt to tie onto.

   Mission number one tomorrow is the centreboard, there is a small sand beach between the mud and some concrete, pointed out to me by a fellow sail boater (who has built his own  boat.) where i'll careen t'Dreamtime and attack centreboard from below.
  Big thanks to Lawrence  (Laurence?) who fabricated, out of stainless steel, exactly the tool that I had seen somewhere in my Wayfarer research; for hooking pebbles out of centreboard.

So, nowt better to do I made a much needed visit to launderette which was well shabby including a burnt out dryer:-)
Came back to boat and rigged a bungee in the mooring rope with butterfly loop knots, works well but got my one pair of long trousers muddy.

I need to lay over here for a while. I was hoping my hands would just callous up and get used to the abrasion but my right forefinger has cracked/split at the joints which will take a bit of healing.
  High tide is at 2pm ish tomorra, the beach will be exposed 'bout 2hrs after so it'll be midnight when we're afloat again.
  I rather like this living within the strictures of natural rhythms, no doubt i'll soon be getting up at bright o'clock to catch a tide and dawn. Early night tonight, the gentle rain is pattering on me tarptent.

This pic shows t'rain and beach

Tetney haven to Bridlington, 31st May, 1st June

Tetney haven to Hornsea

It's working out well so far, going the 'wrong way round'. I leave at high tide and the ebb takes me up north.
Today I planned to leave at 10.30 on the high tide, but had a fender go AWOL, fortunately the wind took it to shore but it was very shallow, oars came in handy. Winds started off brisk from the east which was the direction I needed to go to get out of the Humber Mouth. First I had to head West to clear the sand bars, then a beat to windward, this was with two reefs in and playing with the jib area to keep the boat level. I felt that I was playing with the big boys when my first marker for crossing the shipping lane, tetney monobouy, was occupied by an arabic named tanker being held at the stern by a tug, gave that a wide bearth. The Humber traffic control said that they could see me on radio and gave me the all clear to cross over.

Then having got out East for the crossing I headed North following the coast. There was pretty big surf in the shallows of spurn point, there's summat about the noise of breaking waves en mass that jangles the nerves, obviously Wayfarer took it in it's stride with nose pointed in. Then it was a simple reach for quite a while, then wind dropped and I lost two reefs in quick succession.
It then felt like the wind was trying to sneak up on me, it came from behind very gently, then built up, so, learning from last Saturday I flew just the jib for the rest of the day, I reckoned I wouldn't get to Bridlington in the day anyway and it was to be a long days sailing. Once I cleared spurn point and the wind came from up the chuff it was bright sunshine all day.

I headed for a sticky up thing on the horizon which turned out to be a lighthouse at Withernsea and carried along a monotonous cost with soft cliffs with very narrow beachessian. I was wondering if there would be space to park a boat at high tide but logically we're near neaps so tide should not be so high. High tide was 10.15pm and I had to work out some where to stop for the night, scoped out what looked like the best prospect just north of Hornsea and anchored off there in very wavy seas. The waves were coming onshore at an oblique angle, when it was time I let the anchor rope out but it got me no where near the shore. The beach sloped at a sharp angle into the sea so I got in close with the outboard board, chucked out the anchor, and just about managed to land stern first in big surf. It took ages for the boat to stop moving and once it had I set up home and went to bed, no food,no tea, just sleep. Set me alarm for 5 low tide to dig anchor in to help get off.

Dodgy beach to ground on

Hornsea to Bridlington

Up early to catch 10.20am tide the anchor just pulled free! Must be summat to do with surf churning it up, managed to get out on oars against a gentle onshore wind then, tho' wind did steadily build up it was a pretty simple run to Bridlington ending with two reefs. Bridlington! Civilisation! They got toilets n showers n restaurants n everything. Arrived at 1pm, made a cup of tea, topped up outboard and filled stove on which the seal popped out, the plastic had got soft so mended it with a cable tie. Had a curry and bouteille de vin rouge, came back to boat, put kettle on and the stove leaked PETROL FIRE ON BOARD! (Wooden boat). The fire extinguisher I have worked very well. I think I suffered mild flash burns, the tarp has a hole melted in and I have no stove.

Dreamtime in Brid Harbour

Woke up aground but was soon floating again on the incoming tide. Got some advice from Matt Sharman one of the helpful, friendly, knowledgeable and like-minded members of the UK Wayfarer Association and after chucking a few bucketfuls of water at the centreboard and a bit of wiggling it was free.

A couple of fellahs out sailing a catermaran came by and asked if I needed help, they advised me about a sail loft (Sail Register) in Market Rasen. Thanks for asking and the info guys.
When the water dropped again I went ashore. There were a couple of chaps at the Humber Mouth Yacht Club. I enquired about showers and Steve (rear-commodore) warmly invited me to use the facilities. Thank you Steve and the HMYC.

The sail loft were kind enough to fit me in on a while you wait basis even though they have a long lead time for orders. So took a taxi and two shakes of a lamb's tail later my sail was fixed. Thank you Sail Register.

Got back to Tetney haven and had a much needed shower, squelched back to the boat, did a bit of fiddling, then food and passage planning particularly the crossing of Humber shipping lane which looks very busy, busier than the solent for big ships I reckon.

Sunset at Tetney haven from my boat

Me waiting at anchor for high tide having dropped Marky-Boy off on Sunday 28th May

Monday 29th May, rest day at Tetney Haven

Poked my head outside the tent this morning and it was grey, cold, windy and drizzly, a bank holiday Monday in Cleethorpes. The rest of the day continued in the same vein - perfect day for staying under cover, keeping warm and toasty eating lots of grub. I'm largely eating boil in the bag camping food. Today's flavours were; full breakfast, chili con carne with rice and rice puddings. Also made some instant cheese 'n onion mash and finally made use of the fresh onion that i've been carting around by chopping half of it up to mix in.

Stuck my head out for a second time when the tide had receded and took some pictures of oyster catchers, boats and sand fort, then noticed that I had come to rest two metres or so from a precipice!

Precipitous Mooring


Listened to a couple of radio programs and there are lots of natural noises; surf, and every so often the wind would play in the rigging making an aeolian harp sound that was a bit like Tibeatan throat singing. Then there is a deep gurgling sound when there are wavelets and the tide comes in or out under the boat. It's a pretty tranquil spot even when the wind is coming from the north-east.

Nearby boaties and Haile sand fort (is that Marky-Boy's footprints?)

When The tide came in again in the evening I moved a bit further inland, I'll be aground longer and be able to access the land, i'll also be more exposed to grockles.

I did very little productive today, fiddled about with the tarp/tent a bit so it's a bit more
resistant to rain and wind

Tech update

So far the solar power has worked great, i've got a marine panel the lead of which goes through a waterproof gland into the waterproof forrard hatch to a power controller and LiFePO4 battery. The tablet that i was hoping to use for navigation is not really practical, in it's waterproof bag, when wet, touching the screen doesn't work. S'pose I could use it uninteractively. I also have nav software on my waterproof 'phone which works much better plus has a built in compass, needs to be tied on tho'.

Drier weather forecast for tomorrow, hopefully do some boat fiddling and get on the trail of a sail loft/sail maker.

Subday 2ith may,Mablethorpe to Tetney Haven

Got off  the shore at Mablethorpe easily with an off shore wind and the boat floating away about 30 minutes before high tide, then discovered that the centreboard was jammed (up) by the gritty Mablethorpe sand.
  Sailing up the coast,  with strong wind from the side was doable, but going up through mouth of the Humber in lighter wind was frustrating so I resorted to engine. Saw a seals head poke up several times looking at us, it felt like it was just one animal playing hide and sèèk. While dropping off my crew mate Mark I  noticed that the tiller extention universal joint  is nearly broken ,  so that makes three things that I need to fix before moving on; tiller uj, centreboard and reefing cringle so I might be spending a bit of time at Tetney which is an anchorage that dries out (onto hard sand apparently) and floods at high tide. The forecast is for the weather spell to break.

Saturday 27th may, Boston to Mablethorpe

Me and Marky Boy went through the grand sluice lock at Boston at 10.50 and then tied up to a pontoon to get reefing lines set, mast up and ready for sailing action. All was set fair for a good sail with a wind from behind forecast by inshore waters to be force 4 or 5 and the ebb tide flowing in the direction of our travel. The wind felt pretty strong when motoring down the confined channel of the Witham estuary, but when we got out there were just a few white caps on the waves so not too bad. We settled into an hour on hour off watch system with my very inexperienced crew mate getting his first real taste of helming. Our ambitious aim was to dry out on tetney haven in the mouth of the Humber or alternatively land on a beach;.decision to be made for 8pm which was high tide.

  Well, the wind got up and a couple of times I stopped focusing on the job in hand and when the kicker got caught up in a tail end of rope it resulted in accidental gybe number 1, after which I noticed that the second reefing ringle at the leech of the sail had pulled out. Then as the wind got up more, we were doing loads of long surfs down waves coming from right behind with the wind similar then I had accidental gybe number two which very nearly resulted in a capsize with a fair bit of water getting into the boat. Marky did a grand job of getting out the bailer & the self bailer worked well too. Then we noticed that the boom fitting at the gooseneck had been pulled out. So we dumped the boom and sail in the boat and proceeded under foresail alone which was plenty. The conditions were such that if i had known that we would have such heavy weather in advance I wouldn't have left Boston. The seas became very choppy with waves breaking around us, we were even surfing with just the foresail. The option of running up onto a beach was not looking very attractive either. But things were stable and safe on the sea running before the wind on the jib alone.

  As the day wore on the wind dropped a bit and the sea became a bit smoother with a long swell and a beach landing began looking more feasible. Around 7pm it looked like running onto the beach was definately our best plan and just after high tide we aimed for Mablethorpe. Got landed OK, turned the bow towards the sea and soon the boat was settled. We landed right outside the lifeboat station and one of the crew came over to see all was OK, he said it had been a force 6. I  fixed the boom, Mark bailed the boat, we put up tent and fired up the stove. Plan is to pick up the high tide when it is back again tomorrow at 8.20am, it'll  be a bit lower than today's .

Rest and reorganise day at Boston

Marky Boy and I restocked with water and petrol, met up with the lock keeper who will let us out to sea tomorrow at 9.50. The target is Tetney haven in the mouth of the Humber where we can dry out on the sand, if we don't get that far then we'll land on a beach. Spent the afternoon on tidying up and fettles to be ready for sailing as safely as poss.

The weather looks set to be extremely fair with a moderate following wind and only a few possible thunderstorms to be wary of. Today was - scorchio; with avoiding sun-frazzle a major priority and the day ended with a perfectly clear sky.

Cromwell lock to Saxilby, to a tree, to Boston, 23rd,24th,25th may 2017

Tuesday may 23rd 2017, cromwell lock to saxilby
This morning started of with a good shakedown of equipment and techniques. I was booked to go through cromwell at 8am.I lounged in bed a little too long so wasn't fully prepared for the trip under motor to Torksey lock but planned to moor the other side of cromwell and sort the kit out. So I set off, single-handed, just before 8 and then the engine ran out of fuel. I knew it was low so was ready with the petrol can and splashed some in, however engine was still dead.I talked with the lock keeper on VHF radio explaining that i'd paddle back to the mooring & figure engine out he said that I should be smart about it because the current was taking me towards the weir next to lock! I had to paddle really hard and consequently the paddle blade broke off! I was able to deploy the oars to prevent disaster, phew :-) Turned out i'd switched the petrol tap off.
Motoring to to Torksey was straight forward, arriving at 12.15pm. I waited in the searing noonday sunshine until 6 for the tides to be right for the lock to open, so rigged a brilliant sunshade with an emergency blanket.

and then it was a motor along the Fossdyke navigation (built by the Romans) to moor up in Saxilby.

Wednesday May 24th, Saxilby to a riverside tree.
Had a relaxed start to the day, my crew mate Mark's mum had seen me in Torksey but was not sure if I were the geezer Mark had been with, happened to be in Saxilby, found me out & we had a good chat. Then Marky joined the crew, planning to be along for several days and we had an uneventful motor down the rest of the Fossdyke to join up with the River Witham. They meet up in the centre of Lincoln town in a bowl called Brayford Pool, the final part of the Fossdyke runs through a narrow channel called the Glory Hole which is bridged by an old wood framed building. In the hot sunshine it felt like Amsterdam or somewhere else foreign.

The day was another onslaught of intense sunshine making the trip very mellow & enjoyable in Marky's company & interesting because it is his old stomping ground.
The Witham is very picturesque (well, it is a river after all) with reedy margins, very little traffic and lots of wildlife. In the evening I saw a snowy owl.

Marky fancied wild camping so we tied up to a tree and had a comfortable night with plenty of room in the boat for two.

Thursday 25th may 2017, Riverside tree to Boston
Woke up like it was the drought summer of 1976, hot and clammy at 7am with a clear sky and the sun getting hotter as it got higher. First thing on my agenda was to dive into the river; it was so warm, I had a bit of a wash and could easily get back in the boat 'cos the water was shallow where it was moored. Then it was motoring along, making progress towards Boston and the prospect of getting under sail. We stoped at a waterside pub, the Piewipe and had refreshments. Gave a tow to a couple of sixty-something gents who were doing a long distance canoe relay & pootled along the very attractive river.

I did quite a lot of splashing about with me feet and hands in the cooling river and once tied up at Boston dived in again, the water being surprisingly warm. There were loads of kids around Boston doing the same thing too,it had been such a hot day.
The weather so far on this trip has been amazing; scintillating scorching sun day after day.