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