Chrissy travels home

We were up at 05:00 so that Chrissy could catch the 07:00 Whitby to Victoria coach. Chrissy and I were at the bus stop when the coach arrived on time, but the driver said that the coach wasn't going anywhere today as it was leaking water. He arranged for another coach to be delivered to the stop, but this meant that the coach left over an hour late. 

After I returned to the boat I did my washing and also washed the outside of Calviere ii nearest the pontoon. I'll do the other side tomorrow.

I went for a drink on Liberio which is moored behind Calviere II. Keith, the owner, is interested in taking in the Whitby Regatta this weekend. I said I may be available as crew for the race on Saturday.

I had a text from Chrissy to say that she had arrived home safely but unfortunately the telephone wasn't working.

Guest Blogger - Chrissy

As I come to the end of my summer holiday I can say that I have enjoyed a lovely week. The weather has been kind so we have been able to have pleasant walks out & lots of whirly ice creams. The food has been plentiful and very good - only to be expected in Yorkshire. Tomorrow I have an early start for my journey home but certainly hope to return to Whitby one day.

John & Hazel visit us in Whitby

We spent the morning cleaning and tidying Calviere II, including washing the seagull excrement from the deck and spray hood. No sooner than I washed away one load, another arrived.

After lunch, during a rain shower, uncle John, Hazel and Tess, their dog arrived. 

Once the shower had past, we took a walk to the end of the pier, stopping on the way back to Calviere II for Fish & Chips.  

Sunday - The Bears Blog

Peter and Chrissy did spend most of the day with us bears on board Calviere II. They didn't seem to do too much, in fact us bears were far busier. They did go out for their Sunday roast dinner, which they must have enjoyed as they slept all afternoon. 

After tea, they did go out for a walk around the harbour, but returned when there was a little shower. 

Steam train to Pickering

After a very light breakfast onboard, Chrissy and I crossed the road to the Railway Station. We had been on the North York Moors Railway some years ago and they now have three steam trains which run right into Whitby, using the National Railway network for the final section. 

Our train was pulled out of Whitby by 'Green Knight' but once we were in Grosmont and on NYMR's own rails, the locomotive was changed to the world famous 'Sir Nigel Gresley'. The A4 Pacific class, sister loco to 'The Mallard'. 

We were in the carriage directly behind the engine, and whilst she did sound beautiful, she was barely above tick over.  Steam trains don't have 'tick over' but you will know what I mean. She holds the post war steam record at 112 mph, but today I doubt she went above 25. 

Even so, all too soon, we steamed into Pickering. We had a wander around the attractive town and found some lunch, before returning to the station. 

This time we were hauled all the way to Whitby by Green Knight, passing SNG in the sidings at Grosmont. 

Whitby wanderers

The day started well. In Wetherspoons for breakfast, I ordered two traditional breakfasts with a large coffee, the waitress said 'large', I said 'yes please' thinking she was talking about the coffee. I'll give Chrissy her due, she did manage to eat it all, there certainly was a lot, times two. 

We climbed on the Whitby open topped tour bus, hopping off at the town museum & art gallery and then up at the top of the hill at the abbey. We did take a look at the flower festival inside the church. 

We rewarded ourselves at the bottom of the hill with an ice cream. 

We had booked a table in a seafood restaurant overlooking the pier. Chrissy enjoyed her cod & chips. I tried to be a good boy and ordered the salad, with crab & prawns. It was delicious, but then it did come with a side plate of chips.

  

Back to Whitby

Chrissy and I caught the 10:15 coach out off Maidstone, and arrived, numb bummed at 20:45. 

Chrissy headed straight into the Co-op for something to eat on board for a late supper. 

Back home for a few days

John and I were up early to catch the 07:00 coach out of Whitby to London. A fairly uneventful trip south, and back home about 19:00. I returned to an empty house as Chrissy was out celebrating Dorril's birthday. Last year Dorril's birthday party guests included some Irish dolphins. 

Being with John had been good fun. We did have one or two good sails, and we had covered a lot of miles returning to English water. We had been really lucky with the weather. We stopped at some exciting & spectacular locations and met some interesting characters along the way. We did also enjoy a lot of good food, but I don't think the scales approve. 

I'll restart the blog when Chrissy and I return to Calviere II on the 25th July.  

In Whitby.

We put the first load in the washing machine before the morning shower. Unfortunately, someone beat us to the dryer, which took an hour and a half for each cycle, and we had two loads. 

I topped up the diesel tank and containers. After a chat with the marina supervisor, we moved Calviere II to a less used pontoon so she wouldn't be in the way whilst I wasn't going to be around. We are now moored next to the Fishery Patrol vessel. 

After a fortifying ice cream we set off up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey, which overlooks the town. In the bright warm sunshine it was necessary to stop for a sit down, which also gave us the opportunity to take in the views. 

We sat down in the churchyard and watched Whitby at play and at work below. 

The climb down the steps back into town was far easier. We rewarded ourselves with a pint in The Duke of York, watching the busy day trip boats picking up and dropping off their passengers. 

We prepared Calviere II for leaving her in the early hours of tomorrow. Our coach to London leaves at 07:00. 

Guest Blogger's Restaurant Review

 It is Sunday and I have stopped sailing, sadly, as Pete and I will be doing the boat hold chores tomorrow in preparation for going home on Tuesday.  I had had a superb time on Calviere II over the past fortnight, some good sailing - but not as much as I would have liked, thanks to the lack of wind/wind in the wrong direction etc but we have got around from Arbroath to Whitby in the time anticipated so that is something to be pleased with.

Pete says that we have been eating our way down the East coast and that may be very true.  I hate to think how much weight I may have put on but I could not get through the doorway into the first class en-suite bedroom (forecastle) when I started so I am not able to judge any gain or, hopefully, loss at this time.

If I were to rate the restaurants that we used in order of quality I would list them as follows:

1 - Greens in Whitby (probably one of the best Sunday lunches I have eaten for a long time).

2 - Loch Fyne in Leith.

 3 - El Torrero a wonderful authentic Spanish tapas restaurant n Newcastlek

4 - The Taj Mahal in Amble

5 - Krimo's in Hartlepool

6 - Zeeca in Amble (an Italian restaurant but did an exceptional Sunday roast beef)

7 - The Old Boathouse in Arbroath

8 - The Fisherman's Wife in Whitby where they served a most excellent fish & chips

I must add that coming no 6, 7 or 8 in my list does not mean it was not good, in fact they were all very good, just simply that the others had a bit more of an edge to them.

We did eat on Calviere II some of the time, where we had simple fare, simply prepared.

All in all I have enjoyed both my maritime and my gastronomic two weeks and would quite happily do it again sometime (if my sister-in-law ever allows Pete to do something like this again).

Good sailing to those that follow me and may Calviere II serve us all well into the future. 

Hartlepool to Whitby

It was a fairly late start as there was no point in leaving early as the bridge at Whitby only opened two hours before HW, ie 18:11

So we had the substantial full breakfast in one of the harbour side cafes at Hartlepool Marina, before locking out at 11:30.

We sailed for a short while, but most of the wind turbines off Middlesborough were stationary, so we put the genoa away and motored. 

Chrissy and I have visited Whitby many times and we always take a stroll out along the the harbour wall to the end. I have watched many small boats round the pier, wishing I could be there and today we did.

The hazy weekend sunshine had brought lots of day trippers to Whitby, so we had an audience when we moored at the yacht club pontoon to wait for the bridge. There were crowds of people on the bridge taking photos of the arriving boats. Just after six o'clock the bells started ringing and lights flashed. All the crowds left, and the bridge swung open, allowing us through to the marina. 

We were directed to a berth alongside another vessel. 

Shortly after setting our mooring lines we set off in search of fish and chips. Again, John found a good one, but there was no shortage of choice. 

After dinner we stopped for a pint in the Whitby Yacht Club, where we were made very welcome. 

Around Hartlepool Harbour

We had a late start, followed by a late breakfast in the local Wetherspoons. We wandered around the shopping centre and market before going to the Hartlepool Maritime Experience. Here they have the fully restored HMS Trincomalee, built in 1817 in India. She has lots of small spaces down in the bilges to explore. This was followed by the Museum of Hartlepool which tells the story of how Hartlepool has changed and developed over the centuries. 

Lunch was a simple cheese, biscuits, olives with a glass of red wine in the cockpit, in the bright sunshine, watching the boats go by. 

Newcastle to Hartlepool

As Richard had promised, the bridge opened up at 08:30 and we left St Peters Marina. First, we headed upstream, against the tide, the mile and half to the Millennium Bridge for a photo from the water. After turning round, the tide carried us the nine miles to the sea. 

There was no wind, so we motored all the way to Hartlepool. The sea wasn't rough or choppy, but it did have a rolling swell, causing us to yaw a bit. 

When I'd switched on the instruments in St Peters Marina, the log and echo sounder hadn't come on. I took a quick look and found the screened wire to the transducers had parted. I'll repair it when we get to Whitby. 

Fortunately, we didn't need it as the approach into the lock at Hartlepool was straight forward. John is getting to be very adept at mooring.

The marina at Hartlepool is vast, we even got lost on the pontoons trying to find the exit. A real contrast to St Peters. 

Even in the lock, John spotted a restaurant which needed closer inspection. John's instinct for good restaurants proved to be very sound as we enjoyed an excellent meal in Krimo's. 

 

The Culture Vultures descend on Newcastle

We had a chat with Richard in the marina office about leaving tomorrow. High water will be at 06:00, and the marina cill is raised three hours after HW. So we should be able to leave at 09:00, except the office and the bridge doesn't open until 09:00. We could either leave this afternoon and sit on the waiting pontoon for the night or Richard agrees to open the gate half an hour early on his way to his morning shower. 

We caught the bus into town and stopped at a Whetherspoons for eggs benedict breakfast. After which we visited   The Great North Museum: Hancock, full of elephant, polar bear & dinosaurs. It also had a large and interesting centre display regarding Hadrians Wall. 

We passed through the campus for the Northumbria University where the bright young things were wearing gowns & caps for their graduation ceremonies. We stopped at The Hatton Galleries were the  art was rather stretching. There were also a number of studios where work was in progress.

We had intended stopping for a Newcastle Brown at St James Park, Terrace Bar, home of Newcastle United but it was closed for refurbishment. We found Tilleys Bar were we each tried one of the  160 beers in stock. 

We made our way through the China Town area, looking for suitable restaurant for tonight, it won't be a problem finding one, just difficult making a decision on which one. 

We spent most of the afternoon in The Discovery Museum. This houses Turbinia, the first steam turbine powered ship and a great deal more about the industrial heritage of the Tyneside area.

 

In the evening we returned to the Chinese Resturant we'd seen earlier and had far too much to eat.

Going hungry in Newcastle

Not a chance for hunger to strike. We caught the 09:30 bus into town and found an egg & bacon muffin for breakfast before we caught the open topped tourist sightseeing bus. 

We did the full tour and stopped for coffee, which was followed by a Newcastle Brown with a crab sandwich in a Michelin starred pub. John did have to buy a sun hat as the top of the head had caught the sun. 

We walked over the Millennium Bridge to the Baltic Art Centre, which had a spectacular view, but little else and The Sage.

We rejoined the sightseeing bus for a second circuit and then returned to Calviere II for an afternoon snooze. 

In the evening, after a second cooling shower of the day, we caught the bus back to the Quayside and had Tapas in an authentic Spanish restaurant. 

       

Amble to Newcastle

We had to leave Amble Marina fairly early to get over the cill. This meant that the tide was against us for the rest of the passage, but we did have plenty  of time as we wouldn't be able to enter the St Peters Marina until the tide had risen sufficiently. 

We motored through the mist, with no wind and barely a ripple. The whistle of the fog horn on Coquet Island was sounding and followed us after we passed on the inside.

A fellow Westerly, Forever Autumn, was doing strange circular manoeuvres off Blyth, we gave him a call on the VHF. He was following a pair of dolphins, so we went across for a look, but by the time we arrived, they had lost interest in the game and were heading north. 

We entered the Tyne and motored through the harbour to St Peters Marina. The bridge was lifted for our arrival and we went straight to the visitors pontoon. 

We took the bus the short journey into town for a fish & chip supper. 

Rest day at Amble - Guest Blogger, John

My first week with Peter and Calviere II started quite simply at King's Cross station meeting Peter in good time for our 2 pm train to Arbroath.  It started badly when the train failed and we had to rush across to another platform and another train.  That accomplished, we journeyed without further incident to Arbroath.
Wind stopped us from putting out of Arbroath on the Sunday, but we did put out for Edinburgh on the Monday. Utilising the services of two different marinas/harbours we experienced Edinburgh as proper tourists taking the tour bus in the morning and being canny sailors, if not Scots, we utilised our bus ticket for a second time in the afternoon.
The highlight of the first week was not Eyemouth, despite it being quite an attractive area, as most of my electronic bits and pieces stubbornly failed to work there. The real highlight was sailing to and arriving at Holy Island. We were greeted by two slightly irate fishermen whose mooring we were trying to utilise and they advise us what to do with our yacht.  We did as they suggested and anchored in the bay. Laying at anchor, having a meal on board and sleeping in the silence and delight of Holy Island accompanied by the occasional snorting of the seals was a true delight.
I am writing this from Amble whilst preparing for the sail tomorrow to Newcastle where the delights of the second week will show themselves.
I joined Peter last year for the South coast leg from Lymington to Brixham and I can say with certainty that this leg, so far, is much more enjoyable.
John

Lindisfarne to Amble

It had been a still and beautiful evening and a quiet night. I'd rigged the anchor ball in the rigging and set the anchor light, but I don't think it was ever dark enough to warrant it. I unplugged the light at four o'clock so I could plug in my phone charger. At that time in the morning all you could hear were the seals snorting as they surfaced nearby. 

We left shortly after low water, and carried the tide past the Farne Islands. For a fair proportion of the the journey we were able to sail, but again, like yesterday, the wind dropped.  We motored in to the marina and moored alongside the fuel pontoon. 

Shortly after arriving, it all got very busy. The Amble lifeboat towed in a small boat where one of the crew was unwell. They were accompanied by the Inshore lifeboat and were met on the pontoon by the Coast Guard, and shortly later, an ambulance crew. After much toing and froing, the casualty was taken off to hospital. 

I set about repairing a spit in the dodger whilst John went into town for provisions. 

In the evening we enjoyed a rather substantial Indian meal in a local restaurant. 

Eyemouth to Lindisfarne

I should have taken a picture of my breakfast this morning. Our last 'Full Scottish' with haggis and black pudding and it was all very tasty. Sorry, no pictures. 

We left Eyemouth with far less wind then when we arrived. We also didn't use the main sail and we just ghosted out on the genoa. We made some good progress for a couple of hours, but as the wind dropped, we were always two hours away from our destination. The speed written in the log continued to drop, 3.5 knots, 2.5 knots, 1.5 knots. The 1.5knots was really too slow that the engine had to be started. 

6.0 knots and half an hour later we arrived at the entrance into the natural harbour at Lindisfarne. We first picked up  a buoy close to the quay, but a fishing boat came out and asked us to move. We motored further into the harbour and dropped the anchor. 

We became the centre of attention for the seals. There must be hundreds around here, and they queued up to take a look at us, but they kept their distance.  

The anchorage is very quiet and peaceful, which is where we will be staying tonight. 

Granton to Eyemouth

I was a bit apprehensive about leaving the security of Granton.

The Met Office issued a strong wind warning, but the wind was blowing in the right direction, and we would have a favourable tide, so we left. 

We did experience some short showers, and at times in the gusts I considered a second reef, but we did make some good progress and have an exciting days sail. 

We covered the 42 nautical miles to Eyemouth, passing on the inside of Bass Rock, in just over seven hours so we averaged a little less than six knots, which is pretty good for a twenty six foot sailing cruiser. 

We finished the day with a Chinese Take away on board. 

Rest day in Edinburgh

We used the showers in the Royal Forth YC, whilst the sausages were cooking in the oven for breakfast. Then we headed into the city centre on the bus, despite the driver not accepting John's English bus pass. Here we found a city tour bus with live commentary and climbed aboard. 

We alighted at Edinburgh Castle where we caught the end of the changing of the guard. We didn't go into the castle, and returned to the tour. HM the Queen is staying in Holyrood Palace, so the royal standard was up and security was tight. I had a scotch pie for lunch and we continued on the tour for a second circuit. We had the story about Greyfriars 'Bobby' twice, and John disbelieved it each time. 

We also saw the Scottish Parliament building and it is a memorable building, not necessarily for the right reasons. 

In the evening, we took the bus along the prom to Loch Fyne, where John had the haddock and I had the cod. Both were very tasty. 

Port Edgar - Granton

We set ourselves up for the day with a 'Full Scottish' in the Port Edgar Yacht Club. After topping the tanks with 27litres,  which had been used since Peterhead, we set out. A light breeze from the SW helping us under the two bridges. 

The wind did drop off a bit, so the engine was on for the final half hour into Granton, where we moored alongside the visitors pontoon.

After paying our mooring fees in the yacht club, and a visit to the local shops for supplies, we caught the bus to Leith, where the Royal Yacht Britannia is moored. She is a beautiful vessel and I can understand why the Queen was so upset when she was decommissioned. Boats are not like cars, they are part of your family. She and Prince Phillip were involved in her design & decoration. How can we call ourselves a 'maritime nation' and not have a Royal Yacht?  

After eating back on board Calviere II, we went along to the Royal Forth Yacht Club for a quick drink. I retold the story how Eddie had applied to The Palace asking if QYC could become The Royal Queenborough Yacht Club and how he received a very nice letter, saying 'no'. We ought to have it framed in the club. 

Arbroath to Port Edgar

After our snooze yesterday, we crossed the road to the Homemade Ice Cream Parlour. Having made our purchase, we crossed back over road to look at the boats, a seagull swooped down, taking John's ice cream, leaving him with just an inch and a half of cone.  John wasn't happy and now set traps for the gulls. 

The other excitement occurred around nine o'clock. John and I were chatting to the fellow Westerly Owner on Auk, an Ocean 49, when we were hailed by a rowing boat, in the outer harbour who wanted to come in. The tide was high enough, but the harbour master had shut the gate at the end if his shift at 20:00. 

These two guys in the rowing boat had left Arbroath in the morning and are taking part in a Non Stop Round Britain Rowing Race. 

http://www.gbrowchallenge.com/

They are in the lead in the two man class and are ahead of the record holders. They are on the final downhill stretch to Tower Bridge, but they had left Arbroath in the morning and had rowed four miles against the wind, only to return to the shelter of Arbroath. 

The owner of Auk, who is also sailing Round Britain, out of Portsmouth, contacted the harbourmaster, and he returned to let the two lads in. They did look tired, and their boat was still shut up for the night when we left at 09:00. 

Auk left shortly before us, heading for Eyemouth. They need to return to Portsmouth by the end of September, having set out in May. Nearly the same route as me, but in more comfort. I'm pretty sure they had a heater on board. 

For the first three hours we had a cracking sail, but once we had rounded the point at St Andrews we had the wind on the nose, so the engine went on. 

I had originally planned a stop at Anstruther, but as we were going well, so we carried on towards Granton. We were nearly there, with the tide starting to carry us along. We changed destination for the third and final time, passing under the Forth railway and road bridges to moor in Port Edger. 

We stopped to admire a beautiful Westerly Griffon, Ilex, much cared for by her fellow Westerly Owner. He gave advice on gate codes and local restaurants. Both proved to be sound.