A lumpy ride to Amble

We said goodbye to the arctic terns in Newcastle and left Royal Quays marina at 0920 this morning. We knew that the wind would be from the north (i.e. directly from where we wanted to go), that the tide would be against us for the afternoon, and that one of the forecasts had predicted 'moderate' seas, i.e. waves up to 2.5m high (but another, the one we decided to believe, predicted waves only half a meter high). We decided we were man enough to deal with a bit of lumpy stuff anyway, should the need arise.

As we edged our way out of Newcastle harbour the tide was indeed in our favour initially. The waves soon grew to 2m, then 3m and eventually 4m with the odd 5m wave thrown in for good measure. We went up hill, down hill and turned this way and that. Eventually we worked our way past Blythe (an alternative port) at which point the sea seemed to be calming down, so we pressed on. So did the sea, and we dealt with 4m and 5m waves for most of the rest of the trip. We  finally rounded Coquet island off Amble so as to approach from the north east, as recommended by the almanac. We could see waves breaking on and over the harbour wall, and other waves surging through the narrow entrance into the harbour. The approach looked a bit dodgy so Roger radioed the harbour master for advice while I turned the boat around so as not to enter until we had some advice. The harbour master did not reply, but the marina office advised that entry should be OK under today's conditions. So we went for it, and absolutely surfed down the waves into the harbour with an audience of onlookers standing along the harbour wall! (Personally I think we deserved a standing ovation, but strangely it didn't happen). After today's journey we decided that we definitely do not want to deal with any more lumpy stuff!

Once tied up in the marina Roger did a fridge audit (the fridge smelled of.....something....). The audit revealed that we had an excess of cheese on board, and we made a cheese offering to the marina manager (about half a dozen packs of different cheeses, all with good dates) along with a request for a special 'charity' berthing rate. The marina staff thought we were completely nuts turning up and dumping all the cheese on the counter.

After today we decided that we needed a rest, and plan to walk along the river to explore tomorrow. Much flatter seas are forecast for Saturday!

Arctic terns gather on the pontoon at Newcastle

View from the marina at Amble

Amble high street

Dining on Blue Star :-)

A look back at the harbour entrance in more benign conditions

And then there were two......

More rain and strong winds were forecast so we decided to stay in Newcastle for another few days. Unfortunately that meant that Lisa decided to head off back home to prepare for being in Brixham at the weekend for a dinghy sailing event. Before that though the crew took the opportunity to visit Durham. Initially a good time was had, but then disaster struck! Jim slipped on a cobbled street, fell over and broke his ankle! The crew went to hospital with him in the ambulance; his sailing was clearly over for this holiday! His son James booked into a nearby hotel so that he could be on hand when his dad is discharged in a few days time. Today we took Lisa to the train station, then visited Jim in hospital and delivered his things to the hotel. We wished Jim a swift recovery. It has all been so unfortunate that, because of the bad weather and Jim's accident, Lisa, Jim and James have all experienced only one day sailing for their 'week' on board!

....so that just leaves Roger and I on board Blue Star. A possible trip to Amble is in the air for tomorrow, weather permitting.

All having a good time in Durham initially....

......then disaster, Jim slips and breaks his ankle!

Inevitably, a trip in an ambulance follows!

'The Angel' looks on as we return from hospital, and storm clouds threaten!

A rainy day in Newcastle

It rained today. Most of the day. As predicted. The weather wasn't the only thing that was rough. I had just about got over my stomach ache, but now had a sore throat, cough, thick head and no energy. Whilst the rest of the crew took a taxi into Newcastle to explore, I just wanted to sit with a newspaper in a coffee shop.

The forecast is for rain again tomorrow. Hhmm.

Our rain-swept marina in Newcastle

On to Newcastle

Today we left Hartlepool marina, via the lock, at 0900. It was sunny, although we knew the rain was belting down elsewhere over much of England. Exiting the lock we were a little surprised by the magnitude of the swell that we had to negotiate. There was very little wind, but swell around 1.5 to 2m made interesting boat motion and for a while several crew wondered what they had let themselves in for! Gradually however the swell decreased and 2 hours later things had improved considerably. Jim and Lisa each took a turn on the helm (Lisa had a 'blonde' moment when, noting the helm's display, she informed us the sea was 25 miles deep; we explained to her that perhaps it was really only 25 meters deep and we all smiled!). Off Sunderland we decided that the wind had increased sufficiently to enable us to sail. There were several other sailing boats around and several small dinghies sailed around us; an air display was also taking place over Sunderland which was great entertainment for us. Another yacht, Romteskip, was heading for Newcastle too (I didn't think we were racing it, but as it became apparent that we were the faster vessel I realised that after all we WERE racing!). Later we found ourselves alongside Romteskip in the lock when we entered Royal Quays marina too, about 2 miles up the river Tyne. Soon after we tied up the rain started! It looks like it might be here for 2 days! Looks like we might be too!

Jim and his son James keep a look out

Lisa at the helm

The headland south of Newcastle

Woolcool. Cool!

Salmon and leek pie, courtesy of Woolcool, and prepared by Jim! Yum yum! Thank you Woolcool!

Crew change, and a delivery from Woolcool!

Today we said au revoir to David, Kevin and John, and hello to Jim, James (Jim's son) and to Lisa. We also took a delivery of frozen food from Woolcool! Thank you Woolcool! The food was delivered by Andy Willder of Compass Couriers. Well done for finding us Andy! The day also saw us finally decommision the SCCC Commodore's burgee which had all but been blown to pieces by the wind!

Time to decommission the burgee

Andy Willder of Compass Couriers hands over a Woolcool delivery

Another package from Woolcool is delivered

I open the packages and....yum yum, lots of nice food freshly delivered thanks to the Woolcool packaging!

Hartlepool - sail and visit

We thought we would go for a day-sail out of Hartlepool today. We exited the marina around 0800 expecting a good sail in a light wind, but the wind turned out to be near non-existent. We turned our attention to exploring the mouth of the river Tees instead. Some dolphins kept us company for a short while. We radioed the River Tees Port Authority to let them know of our intentions, as a large tanker sped past us.

In the afternoon, after returning to port we had to move to a different berth and repair an adapter that the marina gave us, before we could obtain mains electricity on the new berth. Then we visited Hartlepool's historic quay museum where lies the restored HMS Trincomalee, the second oldest warship afloat. It is a very impressive exhibit, very well restored. We thought that the museum deserves more visitors than we suspected it receives; in London the museum would be packed out and would cost much more to see. It is well worth a visit if you get the chance.

Tomorrow is 'crew change' day when sadly we have to say goodbye to Kevin, John and David. Replacing them will be Jim, James and Lisa, and we look forward to welcoming them.

Guess the river......

A blast furnace and steelworks on the river Tees

Kevin and John fix the mains electricity adaptor

HMS Trincomalee and historic quay museum

On to Hartlepool

We left Whitby at 0930 and sailed 5 miles onwards to Runswick Bay where we planned to drop the hook and brew up. Unfortunately there were so many fishing pot markers in the bay that it proved impossible to manoeuvre to find a suitable spot to anchor so we gave up. John waved to his friends who had a house on the shore in the bay, and we pottered along at low speed under engine power whilst we brewed up. Several drinks and buscuits later we hoisted the mainsail again but ended up having to motor-sail as the wind was coming from ahead. We had to weave our way around the tankers anchored off the mouth of the river Tees - one seemed to chase us before it turned away and dropped its anchor at the last minute as we tried to get out of its way. The wind piped up a notch and the sea got a bit lumpy for the final few hours as we crossed the bay into Hartlepool. Tomorrow we will probably go for a sail in the bay and return to Hartlepool. Weather today - sunny and then cloudy, but fairly warm.

The swing bridge opens for us as we leave Whitby marina

A day in Whitby....

We wouldn't.......would we?

We had a day of shore leave today and explored whitby. The usual things.....coffee at the sea front, got a blue star tattoo, visited the old abbey, sandwich lunch on board, visited the Captain Cook museum, then returned to the boat where John cooked us a dinner! Tomorrow Hartlepool beckons!

A new approach to team-building

Whitby Abbey

Whitby harbour entrance

Whitby

We departed Scarborough at 0700 as the rain set in. Great. Not! Fortunately the rain stopped almost as soon as it had started and we had a fantastic sail along the coast to Whitby with a F6 wind from the south absolutley blasting us along what showed itself to be a really spectaular coastline of cliffs, coloured rocks and luscious green vegetation. Amazing, and a great feeling to see it all this way! The other wonderful thing about this cruise has been the opportunity to see wildlife that you tend not to see from land - yesterday several seals popped their heads up to watch us on our way, swimming with us for a while. We have had the company of dolphins on occaisions too, and yesterday there were lots of (very colourful) puffins flying around us off Flamborough Head.

As we got into Whitby harbour today we were just too late for the last opening of the bridge in the morning; you have to pass the bridge to get to the marina in Whitby. We had to stop on the 'waiting pontoon' until the next high water when the bridge swings open again.

A Whitby fish and chip supper beckons this evening! (Obviously I need to go along for the sake of the rest of the crew, but I won't eat any of it that is unhealthy, of course).

Looking ahead as we leave Scarborough

Looking behind us at Scarborough castle, beach huts, and rainbow!

Blue Star on the waiting pontoon at Whitby in the centre of the picture

On to Scarborough....

We left Grimsby at 0900 today and motored against the wind parallel to the shipping lanes in the river Humber. Once out to sea we crossed the traffic seperation scheme lanes and found two wind farms blocking our planned path - the wind farms were not marked on our charts. After circumnavigating the wind farms we got back onto our intended track towards Flamborough Head - another yacht appeared ahead of us, also following the same direction. We had sun and wind for a while and were able to get several hours sailing done before we had to turn to motor power to get our speed up. The weather turned to rain showers and dark clouds, before the sun returned as we approached Scarborough. We were reminded of Simon & Garfunkel's 'Scarborough Fair' and so we listended to some S&G on our ipod player..... then some Beatles, Queen and Dire Straits. We rafted up alongside another boat in Scarborough as Pat Garnett from SCCC shouted a welcome to us that we were all very grateful for; I went ashore to shake Pat's hand but couldn't find him!

Flamborough Head as the showers passed over us

John, Roger and David keep watch in the rain.....someone has to!

Thank you to all of Kevin's friends and family....!!

I noticed that lots of friends  and family of Kevin have made a donation in support of Kevin sailing with us on the Blue Star GB Challenge! Thank you to all of you! It is very much appreciated! We will try our best to give Kevin a memorable week of sailing with us, and to send him back safely! Here's a clue as to where the first stop might be.......!
Click for a clue as to our first port of call....!

Don's photo

My neighbour, Don, popped over to see me today and handed me the photo shown below. Don is, shall we say, 'getting on a bit'; an octogenarian in fact. Don made some comment about the crew on this yacht. Clearly there is still some considerable life left in the old dog yet, as the saying goes!

Don's photo

I imagine, like me, that you are most upset if not offended by this photo. It just shoudn't be, should it? All those curves. Fancy being seen sailing like that! That mainsail and boom are just not rigged properly! (Apart from that everything else seems really good!)

Being prepared......

If you sign on as crew for a week of sailing, you don't always know exactly what you've let yourself in for until it arrives of course! So you have to expect the unexpected. Take the crew of Blue Star for example. I'm sure you will believe me when I say that we have to endure all manner of dangers, hardships, challenges to continue our intrepid adventure! We might find ourselves under attack from pirates for example, or torpedoed perhaps! At this point I feel I should reassure crew who are planning to sail with us but who have not yet set foot on Blue Star - do not worry. In the unlikely event of either of the above situations arising, your skipper of the day will have a plan and will tell you exactly what to do when the time comes :-)

To continue the theme.....we have recently discussed what we need to include in our 'grab bag' and on our 'grab list'. These are items prepackaged or pre-identified as being necessary for taking into the life raft with us, should it come to that. Our thoughts are:

Grab Bag: water, energy bars, heat conserving blankets, knife, repair kit for life raft, first aid box, torch

Grab List: EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon), handheld vhf radio, mobile phone, flares, additional food, additional clothing, personal medication, valuables, ships papers

we've not been attacked by pirates yet, fortunately!

....or torpedoed, fortunately!

A yacht 'grab bag'

 

Woolcool opening....

Diane and I attended the formal opening of the new premises of Blue Star's main sponsor today. Woolcool have opened their new manufacturing plant in Stone, Staffordshire. They are a brilliant success story for the area, having gone from only a handful of employees a few years ago to a projected 100 employees and yet another plant opening expected in a few years time! Well done Woolcool. We are so proud and pleased to have you as our main sponsor!

CEO Angela and MD Keith flank Sales Director Josie and council officials who cut the ribbon to open the plant.

The crew of Blue Star are looking forward to the first delivery of food arranged by Woolcool, to sample the ability of the novel packaging techniques, pioneered by Woolcool, to keep food cool and fresh!

Yellow...

Today is national 'Wear something yellow for CF' day, so Diane and I thought we'd get into the spirit of things - see photos below.

Diane has also painted a series of pictures of flowers (some yellow) which she is inviting anyone to 'buy' by making a donation to the CF Trust. You can see some examples of these below, but there are lots more too; if you are interested do please get in touch (frankly there are only so many oil paintings of flowers that one house can stand).

Also, if you click on this link, here is a video of Coldplay singing 'Yellow'!