Grimsby to Scarborough to Hartlepool to North Shields

13/14/15/16th July
Our day off in Grimsby was wet, rainy and grey. A fitting day for spending time
in a grey and dilapidated town. The marina is in a corner of the old fish dock
which is now sad and unused due to the demise of the UK fishing industry as a
result of the quota system. The pubs are full of out of work fishermen talking of
the days you could walk from one side of the dock to the other over the hundreds of boats moored there. Now sadly deserted with acres of empty dockside with a
good crop of weeds and surrounded by crumbling buildings, some of which still
contain the odd fish business hanging on by it's fingernails. This business was
in evidence as we approached the previous day as we could smell it down wind.Pete and I met up with Rachel and Rick in the White Bear pub which was notable for it's Friday lunchtime karaoke - yes Friday lunchtime - being performed by a bunch of guys, none under 60, who were doing the best pub singing I have heard since Vic Reeves. Hammynoo shaugh, seroopee, hay love hyoooo. Fantastic stuff. I wanted to listen but Pete said that if I laughed I'd get my head kicked in - which was probably good advice.That evening we had a good meal in the only restaurant in town, a Chinese, a good
walk away from the boat.Another early start the next morning to get the tide through the lock and
screamed down the Humber on a broad reach and a huge fair tide, encountering some
really confused water off Spurn Point, but nothing that Gamaldansk couldn't cope with. The wind got up as we turned North and we reefed and reefed as the sea and
wind got stronger and bigger. Rick soon revisited his breakfast cup of tea and
spent the next few hours looking decidedly green and being surprisingly quiet
(for a change). But he was smiling through the carrots! It was all a bit of a
battle - again - but later settled down to a reasonable beat into Scarborough in
the sunshine. Once again we had a deadline as the entry to the harbour is shallow
and we had to be there before low tide so the engine went on for the last couple of hours. The harbour guys were great and talked us down on the radio, once more
getting in by the skin of our teeth.Scarborough is an old fashioned "Kiss me quick" type seaside town. Candy floss,
speedboats round the bay, amusements arcades etc. We ate at Chez Caskey who
whipped up grilled chicken breast with a chestnut and sausage stuffing, tomato
salad, potato salad followed by mixed berries and clotted cream all washed down
with a good Chateau Stella or Valle de Strongbow. Reasonably early night as all a
bit knackered.Sunday dawned bright and still. Again constrained by the tide until 1.30 for
leaving and a need to go up the mast again to once and for all sort out the
cables which had stubbornly refused to stay inside the mast.The plan was made to
disconnect from the top and pull them down taking a cord with them so they could
be pulled up again. Once out they were all taped together so they would be to big
as a whole to slip out again. By the time they were back in place I had been up
the mast in a harness for about an hour, my legs had gone to sleep and I was in
agony from the straps round my legs. I was glad to get back down. It's a long way
up and anybody moving about on deck, or a passing boat's wash, rocks the boat,
which is amplified to quite a swing when 14 metres up.My sister Jenny came up for a visit from Hull with the kids Alex and Kate.They
stayed for a pizza lunch and waved us off from the harbour wall as we finally
left at 1400 in the grey and overcast which had now come in. The sea was flat
calm and no wind, so with sails down we motored into the cold, damp, murk which
then turned into a steady rain. More like October or November than middle July.We didn't make very good speed against the tide, crawling past Whitby and huge
granite cliffs at 3 to 4 kn, so we were pleased when the wind got up and we could
sail and motor. Our ETA at Hartlepool was now about 2300 and Having spoken to
Mike Fellows - a fellow circumnavigator and Hartlepool local - we realised we
wouldn't be able to get into the marina until about 0230 and would have to hang
around somewhere. Both Mike and Harry, the lock keeper at the marina, advised us to tie up somewhere in the adjacent Victoria Dock, Hartlepools commercial port.What they didn't tell me was to ignore the advice given in the almanac and NOT call the Tees Port Control. Being a good sailor I called them to advise them of what I was doing and they informed me that there would be a small charge of
between 70 and 100 quid! I thought I'd ignore them and carry on but they
obviously had me on radar and basically told me to bugger off or be charged a big wad of cash. So we went back out into what was now a big swell and 20kn of wind and put the anchor down in the dark just off the marina entrance. The anchor bit and held well despite the boat being tossed about by the now huge waves and wind. Gamaldansk took it all on the nose which is more than could be said for the crew who were not enjoying the motion or driving rain at all. So I bit the bullet and
called the dock Uberloitnant jobs-worth and told him we were coming in and would pay what it cost. Getting the anchor up was somewhat traumatic in that sea, wind and rain. Lets just say that Caskey and I were lucky to come away from the operation with a full 2 sets of fingers, the only damage was to the GRP on the bow and the teak rubbing strake from the huge pressures on the anchor chain. Asit came out of the water we saw that somehow the shaft of the anchor had been bent through 90 degrees (see photo). I have no idea how, but it shows what enormous forces were at work. We sheltered in the harbour for a couple of hours and finally made it into the marina and the friendly face of Harry at 0235,
dripping wet, cold, hungry and very relieved once again to be out of the
elements.After a deserved lie in next morning, interrupted, I should add, by the people on the boat next to us broadcasting the 0600 weather report to the whole
marina,there were a few jobs to do - write this, get the anchor fixed, showers
and dry out all the stuff from our adventures the previous night. The boat looked
like the pikeys had moved in as it was covered with drying oilskins, towels and
assorted garments. I took the anchor off to the marina to try and get it bent
back into shape and Alan in the office said his mate Brian would sort it out,
which he did and charged us nothing for it. Many thanks guys. Mike Fellows came
to visit and joined us for a lunchtime beer and gave me a guided tour of his
lovely boat, a steel hulled Van de Stadt called Kes, in which he has sailed many
miles including his trip around Britain last year. It was great to meet Mike
having spoken to him on the phone and internet. A really good bloke and a great
laugh. I'd sail with you anytime Mike. Why eye bonny pet.So re-fuel and re-gas and off at about 1530 for North Shields from where I write
this. We actually had the first good sail today as we left Hartlepool. Sun, both
sails full, no engine and a broad reach. I doesn't get much better. But it only
lasted about half an hour. The wind dropped to 4 knots and we put the sails away and motored all the way to the Tyne, which wasn't foggy. I really wanted it to be so I could claim ownership. The very Geordie lock keeper at Royal Quays marina was probably the happiest man I've met on the trip so far. He positively enthused a welcome to us and I expected to see him start dancing on the lockside in his joy at seeing us. What a great welcome. A lovely sunset to accompany a fab Cottage pie from Chez Caskey. This is what I signed up for.We've seen a variety of wildlife so far - dolphins across Lyme Bay and a quick glimps of one yesterday, a couple of seals have come to say hello - we think they look like labradors so they've become "sea-labradors", and a myriad of seabirds which we can't identify so Rachel is going to buy a book tomorrow. As we come further north we are starting to see more and more puffins, something we don't often get off the coast of cornwall.Must now get this uploaded. Love to all and keep checking this site.