June 24 – Amble to Whitby

By | June 25, 2012

Sunday morning arrived with calm winds at last. The previous days 40 knot gusts had disappeared. It was pouring with rain, but all was serene.

Leaving Amble marina at 07:30 would allow us to get to Whitby, 65nm away, by evening. Whitby is the jumping off point for the next long leg, 160nm, across The Wash which is a large area of sand and currents without anywhere for a yacht to take shelter.

An hour after leaving Amble the sun shone and the wind was such that we could fly the cruising chute. This is our downwind sail and it meant we could sail rather than motor in the light winds. It had not been flown since leaving Tobermory on Mull!

Joe checking the Cruising chuteJoe checking the Cruising chute
Dawn Treaders cruising chuteDawn Treader’s cruising chute

We could see that Bella Rosa was just leaving Newcastle and we were about 6 miles behind and out at sea. The race was on. Could we overtake them using our chute? In fact no because the wind died. Anyway the chute looked great while it was flown and we made 7knots while was up.

The rest of the journey was spent getting soaked by passing showers plus the odd thunderstorm. After 12 hours at sea we entered Whitby harbour.

The next thunderstorm - WhitbyThe next thunderstorm – Whitby

There should have been a classic photo of the view of Whitby with the abbey on the hill, but it will have to wait until we leave. The cross current on the entrance between the pier heads was such that no camera work was possible. At one time we were steering 45 degrees off to maintain the ground track!

Swing bridge Whitby harbourWaiting for the bridge to open – Whitby Harbour

After waiting for the swing bridge to open we proceeded to a pontoon berth. There followed an exploration of quaint old Whitby, which is full of character and old sea going charm. Then a meal and few pints in the town. This rounded off a very good day’s sailing. Here until waiting for a weather window to leave for Lowestoft. Looks like Tuesday morning but that may change …

Today’s passage stats

Amble to Whitby: 65 nm / 12 hrs

Sailed: 3 hrs / motored 9 hrs

Total distance run: 1336 nm

 

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