Sailing Aphrodite

Hartlepool to Amble

Hartlepool's marina sits behind a lock so there is much radio traffic arranging boats to be locked in/out and I managed to get out on the first lock of the day at 0700.

Motoring into the Tees Bay I was confronted with a flat calm, a hint of wind, a minefield of pots and dense fog. Clearly today was going to be a motor rather than a sail. And I thought it was the 'Fog on the Tyne' that was famous!

1000 hrs
The fog was beginning to lift, but still a flat calm.

The concentration in fog is intense. The big ships you can see on AIS or as dark shadows in the mirk, but the small wind farm off Blyth took some spotting!

As I was motoring along I spotted a comment in the pilot book, you had to book the marina at Amble! A hasty call about noon asking for a berth for the night was greeted with a cheery of course we have space and I relaxed.

1500 hrs
I rounded Coquet Island with its small lighthouse and lots of seabirds.

As ever I was early for the tide and had an hour ahull in the bay eating a late lunch and listening to the radio and the events in the wider world, Afghanistan in particular.

1730 hrs
I had enough water to enter the harbour and set off with instructions that the 'Welcome Pack' would be on B pontoon and after edging my way up the river, it was shallower that charted I found the entrance to the marina, B Pontoon and a lady enjoying the evening sunshine and a glass of wine as her husband cooked supper.

Finding my berth I squeezed in as there was not a lot of room and no gelcoat was damaged. Looks like my berthing is improving.

I am beginning to take the weather forecasts with a large pinch of salt. More wind than forecast one day not as much the next!

Crew: Sandy Garrity

Trip Stats: Distance: 50 nm, Average speed: 4.50 knots, Maximum speed: 5.00 knots, Under way: 11 h 10 m

Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 01:00 (UTC+1) on Sun 15 Aug 2021 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Mon 16 Aug 2021

Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: West or southwest, becoming variable 2 to 4, then northwest 4 to 6 later. Smooth or slight, becoming slight or moderate later. Rain at first in south then showers later. Good, occasionally moderate at first in south.

Hartlepool

To say I slept well was an understatement! It was beginning to be clear to me I needed more time to rest between passages.

I popped over to the marina office and paid for two nights and decided to take it easy. While I was getting a lot of miles under the keel I was pretty tired and still had a long way to go!

I spent a lazy day checking the boat after the 'excitement' of yesterday's passage. A few issues were found, there was a tare in the leech that was pretty cosmetic, but would need to be checked daily and a slide needed its stitching re-enforced. I removed the starboard lazy jack and stitched it back together, just the matter of going up the mast. Something I hate doing.

A visit to Asda for provisions then again for fuel and the chores were done. The afternoon was spent looking at the charts and planning the next few passages, the east coast was proving a challenge as there are few places to hide if the weather turns.

Scarborough to Hartlepool

0600 hrs
Departure from Scarborough to get the best of the tide and with a good forecast I was looking to an enjoyable sail. Everybody was saying a F5 from the SW, even the Met Office was giving a F4 - F6, but the sea was slight.

Heading out of the harbour, no groundings this time, I headed round to the next bay and raised the sails and settled down for more coffee and an brisk sail up to Amble.

Well, the wind built and built and I reefed down to the second reef as by noon I had 35 knots over the deck and this was no fun at all. With waves crashing over the boat and me pretty exhausted I felt the better course of action was to head for Hartlepool Marina where I knew I would be 'locked in' and I could recover at a smooth berth.

As I had arrived 'early' as it was low water, I and the other boats wanting to go in needed to wait in the bay. By now the wind had subsided to 20/25 knots and I lay ahull in the bay for a couple of hours - very comfortable and quite relaxing.

On entering the lock I drew alongside a boat called Gem with a Royal Western Yacht Club marking on the transom and Plymouth as port of registration. I commented that it was quite far to come to meet a boat from your home port. They kindly transferred one to their crew to act as guide to my allocated berth. It did feel some distance from the entrance and I successfully backed into the berth - not a manoeuvre I do that often. Exhausted I had a light meal and got my head down.

On inspecting the boat the following morning I found that the starboard lazyjack was damaged! The lead rope that goes thought the block on the mast had managed to destroy the stitching that held it to the rest of the setup and had become free. I removed the whole thing and when I can find some time will set about a repair.

Crew: Sandy Garrity

Trip Stats: Distance: 50 nm, Avg speed: 4.40 knots, Max speed: 9.00 knots, Under way: 11h 20m,

Weather:Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 01:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 13 Aug 2021 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Sat 14 Aug 2021

Berwick upon Tweed to Whitby - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Southwest 4 to 6. Smooth or slight, becoming slight later. Showers for a time. Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwest, veering west, 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first. Smooth or slight, becoming moderate for a time near berwick-upon-tweed. Showers then fair. Good.

Scarborough

The sun rose early and after a long sleep I had a wander round the bay to the Scarborough Spa. It was good to stretch the legs after the passage up from Lowestoft. Halfway round the bay I was accosted by a chap who had just broken up with his partner the night before and clearly needed to talk to somebody, so we ambled up to the Spa and passed the time of day in the morning sunshine before the town woke up. He thanked me for listening and wandered off into the distance trying to work things out.

The town had not fundamentally changed since I was a child. The English Seaside Town is alive and kicking. Seaside amusements, fish and chip shops and 'kiss me quick hats'. Perhaps the only difference was the number of tattoos on display.

After cleaning up from breakfast I found the nearest filling station, Sainsburys, and took the jerry cans up the hill to replenish the diesel. In the past Sainsburys have insisted that you can only buy 30 lts at a time. I popped into the kiosk and checked, yip it was the same here. I filled with exactly 30 lts and payed before rolling the trolly down the hill.

On getting back to the boat the couple in the next boat, WAKONDA, said hello and as we were doing the same thing we chatted over our plans. They were taking a few years to do what I am planning to do in the few months.

Mike, an old climbing pal, arrived in the afternoon and we caught up on about 30 years of life over a few pints and some fish and chips.

After a busy day of chat, I retired to my bunk and got ready for an early departure.

Lowestoft to Scarborough

My first single handed leg was an ambitious one of almost 150 nautical miles and a passage time of about 30 hours.

Waiting for the tide I had a stretched my legs along the South Beach and visited the RNLI shop. A bit surprised to see 2022 diaries on the shelf. After a wonder round the pontoon I prepped the boat for a 0930 UTC start, called up Lowestoft Control and headed out into a bright sunny day.

Having got the sails up I settled down to an enjoyable afternoon passage north following the coast towards the Wash. There was a real feeling of 'the start of an adventure' onboard as I settled down to my usual position on the port quarter and watched the world go by, looking forward to my first overnight single handed passage.

In the late afternoon the EENDRACHT a Dutch Sail Training vessel passed about 2 miles off my starboard.

By 1645 hrs I had lost all wind and turned the engine on, it remained on all night as the wind did not return until morning.

Supper prepared I enjoyed seeing the night sky emerge as the sun set and settled down for a night of dozing as I weaved my way passed the wind farms of the Wash and there are a lot of them

The sunrise at 0600 over an oily sea was stunning and rather a lot of ships were parked waiting for orders.

Sunrise Over an Oily Sea

However, I did not look as bright!

After a night at sea and in need of breakfast

A major milestone had been passed I was comfortable after 24 hours at sea and had navigated the boat safely through the maze of wind farms and parked ships. They did look mysterious in the cold dawn light. Breakfast was a few handfuls of dried fruit and nuts and, for me, rather strong coffee.

Finally, the wind returned and I hoisted the sails again. Onwards to the next major waypoint. Flamborough Head, with hopes of seeing the Yorkshire Albatross.

A beautiful day followed, with some good sailing winds.

Flamborough Head was a challenge due to the number of pots just below the surface in the tide which meant I needed about six pairs of eyes and had to hand steer.

I arrived in Scarborough Bay only to be called up by another sailing vessel asking for a tow as they were having engine troubles. Sadly, I was unable to assist due to insurance issues, but the harbour master got him sorted out.

The tide was not yet high enough to get into the harbour so a late lunch was had as I enjoyed the afternoon sunshine and the day trippers in the very fast motor boats from the harbour.

The Harbour Master advised that by 1500 there should be enough water to get alongside, I was to prove him wrong and touched the bottom, spun on my keel and grabbed another berth.

I was in Yorkshire.

Crew: Sandy Garrity

Trip Stats: Distance: 142 nm, Avg speed: 5.00 knots, Max speed: 5.00 knots, Under way: 27 h 50 m.

Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 01:00 (UTC+1) on Wed 11 Aug 2021 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Thu 12 Aug 2021

Gibraltar Point to North Foreland

24 hour forecast: Variable 3 or less until later in north, otherwise southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5. Smooth or slight. Mainly fair. Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southerly or southwesterly 3 to 5. Smooth or slight. Mainly fair. Good.

Whitby to Gibraltar Point

24 hour forecast: Variable becoming mainly southeast 2 to 4, then veering south or southwest 3 to 5. Smooth, occasionally slight. Showers later. Good, occasionally moderate later.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: South or southwest, backing southeast for a time, 3 to 5, occasionally 2 at first. Smooth or slight. Showers then fair. Good, occasionally moderate at first.