June 26 – Whitby to Grimsby

By | June 27, 2012

Currently safe and sound in Grimsby after a 86 nm trip from Whitby. The original plan had been to do the 160 nm to Lowestoft: the conditions changed so we to decided to use our bale out card and head into Grimsby.

Our start from Whitby was via the first bridge opening at 07:00. It seemed like the whole local angling fleet were leaving as well, much like being on a grand prix start.

The scramble to get through Whitby bridgeThe scramble to get through Whitby bridge

Leaving the main harbour was as exciting as arriving, with the large cross tide pushing us off track. A gentle motor-sail down past the picturesque village of Robin Hoods Bay took us towards Flamborugh Head where the sea began to get up followed by the tide turning foul. Speed now reduced to 4 knots with the wind on the nose made the next 6 hours pretty uncomfortable.

Leaving Whitby in a strong cross tideLeaving Whitby in a strong cross tide

A series of slow tacks into the bay, to avoid the worst of the tide took, us the 35 miles down to the Humber entrance: dodging dredgers, guard vessels and pot-buoys all the way. We noticed that north of Flamborough Head the pots were well marked with flags, whereas to the south of it they were near invisible balls lurking below the surface in the tide. The visibility had reduced and the wind and the swell were keeping us company. So faced with another 24 hours of this we diverted to Grimsby.

The trip into the Humber estuary was exciting. There were far more ships going in and out than we had seen in Aberdeen. It was easy enough to go along the outside of the shipping lanes and then cross the strong cross tide to the marina at Grimsby. We arrived at 23:00 and crashed out.

Now (Wednesday morning), showered and having had breakfast, Craster kippers, things are looking much better. The bad news is the weather has broken again so we need to wait for a better wind direction before crossing The Wash to Lowestoft.

Passage Stats

Whitby to Grimsby: 86nm / 16 hrs

Sailed: 0 hrs / motor-sailed: 16 hrs

Total distance run since start: 1422 nm

Whitby to Grimsby

 

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3 Comments

Jon Somers on June 27, 2012 at 5:36 pm.

You two seem to bee eating far too many Kippers to be spending any tiime in polite company!!

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joebarrett on June 27, 2012 at 5:41 pm.

Jon – we are short on polite company! – Joe

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Bryan on June 27, 2012 at 10:02 pm.

Ever since Dave told me about your trip I have been following you every day. Loving the posts, the pictures and blog takes me to a more relaxed pace of life I need reminding as its that time of year APM countdown ;) nuff said…..However after you posted about Skye I am off to some climbing on Cullins next week.

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