We motored out of Grimsby dock at 04:00 at first light. The passage was to be 20 hrs which would get us into Lowestoft before midnight when the tide at Lowestoft was due to turn against us.

Sunrise over the Humber Estuary

The day started off well with a watery sunrise over the Humber, good visibility and enough wind to motor-sail against the tide. The success of this 100 nm trip relied on us achieving an average of 6 knots so it would be motor sailing the whole way.

The Wash is a busy place, full of ships buzzing about building the various new wind farms. At one point we had 8 ships all zooming down on us, like a swarm of bees, heading for their wind farm nest.

We threaded our way through the channels and the various sandbanks of the Wash and arrived off the north coast of Norfolk. We had the opportunity to take in the glamourous Norfolk coast around Cromer at first hand. Including the huge wind farm at Sheringham.

The corner where it goes south down to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft was where we expected to have the most trouble; with the potential of head to wind and wind over tide! It was not to be. Our plan to pick up the tide for the last 4 hours worked and we shot down the inshore (Cockle channel) at 8 knots.

Sherringham Wind Farm

Then past the enormous wind farm on the Scroby sand and into Lowestoft by 22:30.

A rest day is planned for Wednesday plus time to provision for the next part of the trip. We will be exploring the East Coast rivers for a few days before setting off accross the Thames estuary for Ramsgate. Only 380 miles to go to Dartmouth now!

Passage Statistics

• Grimsby to Lowestoft: 106 nm / 18 hrs
• Sailed: 1 hr / motorsailed: 17 hrs
• Total distance since start: 1528
• Distance left to Dartmouth: 380nm

Grimsby to Lowestoft

Seaside fun in Cleethorpes

We have another potential window to leave tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 06:00. So more tomorrow once we have left for Lowestoft.

I expect you are all as fed up reading about us being stuck here as we are …

The weather window did not happen. Our escape plan relied on meeting lighter winds on arrival at lowestoft tomorrow (Monday). It is now forecasted to be F5/6 and from the south. Meeting this lot on the nose for the last 30 miles, with the shallow water and sandbanks would be very bad.

So we are erring on the side of safety and look to be here for a few more days. Another low is about to cross the UK so we will be watching and planning.

It's getting really tedious checking the weather forecast every hour or so, just in case it has changed. The good news is that there appears to be a window to leave on Sunday afternoon. We plan to fuel up and leave Grimsby at 14:30. The wind is forecasted to drop to a F3/4 W to SW overnight and the same, but swinging S, on Monday morning. We plan to be in Lowestoft by midday Monday.

The friendly Humberside Cruising Association clubhouse

Yesterday's trip to Hull was worth while. Even though it entailed a one and a half hour bus journey each way. It lashed down whilst we were there so a quick retreat to the Hull Maritime Museum was in order. The museum is primarily a tribute to Hull's whaling history, as Hull was where many of the Whalers' in the UK were based. The museum is well worth a visit.

A quick look around Hull marina confirmed that we were better off stuck in Grimsby as Hull would be harder to leave from as well as being another 2 hours up river.

Beware of the defences at Hull Marina!

Back in Grimsby marina an offshore racing powerboat, Bananashark, came alongside us which is currently on its way around Britain. Somewhat faster than we are. They left straight into today's high winds and expect to be back in Salcombe in two days (Sunday)!

BananaShark in Grimsby Marina

Our third day Stormbound has so far been spent on boat jobs. Joe has repaired and serviced the loo (again) as well as fixing other minor defects.

It looks like there maybe a window in the weather on Sunday afternoon to escape Grimsby. This would have us in Lowestoft by Monday afternoon. Fingers crossed.

More tomorrow …

Posted with Blogsy

Dawn Treader in Grimsby Dock Marina

Will be catching a bus to Hull today to explore. More on our discoveries later …

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 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 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 Abbey

Today was spent exploring Whitby. A real gem of a tourist town. A walk up to the old Abbey – a ruined Benedictine abbey overlooking the East Cliff above Whitby. The abbey was used in the Dracula story and we could see why.

More after we arrive in Lowestoft …

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 chute

Dawn 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 – 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!

Waiting 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

Croquet Island from Amble

The plan is to head south to Hartlepool, or even to Whitby, if we are making good progress. Tomorrows evening high water is right for either of them.

Off to find food and a pint…

More tomorrow when hopefully we can tell of our escape.