Day 11 - ... what a difference a day makes .. la.la

First things first... engineer arrived to assess the steering damage and the source of the hydraulic fluid spillage. Not very conclusive... unable to assertain whether a new leak or the original leak some years ago that had been moved (disturbed) by the bouncing and banging of yesterday.


Quite sad to leave Grimsby... lovely little marina (funded and managed by the club members) and helpful harbour authority. Fueled just after 9-00am and headed straight for the lock and were 'penned' immediately out to the Humber Estuary. The lock was just big enough - as the gates closed the tender was touching the back gates and the bow had just a foot or so clearance of the front gates.

Would you 'adam and eve' it...... clear blue skies, an Inshore Water's Forecast that was accurate and slight sea conditions, yippee! We back-tracked along yesterday's inward route and two hours later we passed the place where we had turned around the previous day (what a lot of wasted time & fuel) Onward we motored at a steady 16 knots and enjoyed the flat seas and warm sunshine.

'Lazy Boy' ( a 40 foot mono-hulled cruiser) had departed the marina some hours before us but we passed them en-route, giving us a much needed lift after our abortive passage yesterday. The Norfolk coastline appeared to our right - flat but framed with beautiful golden sands. Wind farms appeared on the horizon like alien beings from an H.G.Wells novel. We could smell the land and our destination was in view - Lowestoft.

We radioed for permission to enter the harbour and were greeted with an East Anglian twang which reminded us how far South we now were.... more than half-way round the UK and at long last the weather is getting warmer !

Had time for a quick shower and a couple of swift pints before Dave Woods (Wavey Davey) arrived with his new girl to take us to dinner. A curry in the Red Rose Bangladeshy, where wierdly I bumped into a schoolfriend I had not seen since we were 12 - Lisa Dumbleton. I hope Lisa and her friend will visit the blog and perhaps even send a little sponsorship for our cause...

Relatively early night as Colin (Farklin.... wot?) has a cold, the blog needs to be posted and most importantly the skipper needs his 'scratcher'.

Night, night ... Dickie and Farklin xxx

Day 10 - all 6's & 7's

What a long day... Up at 5am to ensure we got the last bridge opening of the morning. Then had to wait 3 hours (moored along side a 6,500 tonne dredger) for the fuelling station to open. Took on 250 gallons of the red stuff and off we set. Good bye Whitby... hello cruel sea.

Col & I (the dynamic duo) were in high spirits as we passed Flamborough Head and Scarborough. Within 3 hours we had travelled 55 miles of the 155 planned... this was gonna be easy !! WRONG !! The North Sea dealt us it's normal hand of crap !! Force 3's & 4's soon turned to 6's and 7's and the sea took on a rather ominous character. 12 foot waves shook the the CAT by it's tail - 20 miles offshore and 35 miles passed Grimsby, there was nowhere to hide !

Following a set of three monsters, which pitched the boat 35 degrees front to back & ripped the seats off the bow rail and threw them over the top of the flybridge - we reached a point where a decision had to be made... we would not survive for much longer on our planned heading. After turning the boat downwind to steady her, some quick calculations and frantic surveying of charts offered only one safe course of action - turn back and motor Northwest back to the relative shelter of Grimsby. 35 miles in the wrong direction but potentially SAFE - I never thought I would be so pleased to see Grimsby.

On arrival we surveyed the damage to the boat... lost seats, missing falcon and most seriously - damaged hydraulic steering. There is red hydraulic fluid everywhere, so we are now stuck until we can find an engineer to repair the damage.

The only positives from today are that we raised £65 in the bar for A Passage of Hope, we will have no trouble getting to sleep and of course - we are still fit to fight another day...

Too tired to write much more... Tim & Colin xx

Day 9 - 'Jet' to Whitby it's bloody fangtastic...

Another day in gothic paradise (or is that hell?) I am learning a lot about this little shipbuilding and fishing port nestled at the mouth of the River Esk in North Yorkshire... This place is more Goth than Gotham City. With the constant drizzle, dark skies and the regular whistle of the steam trains from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Whitby could be the setting for any Tim Burton movie.

Whitby Abbey was founded in the seventh century on cliffs by the sea; its haunting remains can still be seen from the sea and are a testament to the Golden Age of Northumbria. The Abbey and its 199 steps down to the harbour were the inspiration for Bram Stoker using Whitby as the setting for his novel Dracula. There are plenty of reminders that Whitby is the place where Dracula came ashore all those years ago and there are plenty of museums dedicated to the neck-biting vampire. It is also a busy fishing and tourist town and if you’re a fan of Heartbeat (eh Bill?) you’ll probably recognise a lot of the places in Whitby as they quite often film parts of the programme here. The town itself is a former whaling port built at the mouth of the river Esk and rises steeply from the river on both banks.

Who's heard of Whitby Jet ? (no not the local basketball or american footbal team). All you old buggers will have - because your parents probably hankered after some of it, or may even have been fortunate enough to own some (usually in the form of jewellery or ornaments.) Whitby Jet is known the world over for its beautiful soft texture, dense black colour and very high polish. The Victorians were apparantly great 'mourners' and the black art of mourning was symbolised by the wearing of jet - usually in the form of broaches or pendants. There are two theories how jet was formed. The first is that jet is a form of carbon - a coal, not unlike lignite. The second, more widely accepted theory, is that in the days of the Saurians, the Dinosaur, Tyrannosaur and others, trees grew to great heights and the sap from some of them flowed down the trunks and filled hollows nearby. Covered by earth, leaves and other natural debris, these seams of sap hardened over millions of years until they were exposed as jet or amber.

The Cook Museum recalls the life and times of Captain Cook, the explorer who lived here from 1746 to 1749. There are a few slot machine arcades, but nothing too tacky. The end of this walkway opens out onto the jetty, which curves out to sea to protect the harbour from the elements. On the top of the cliffs there is the famous Whitby landmark of two whalebones made into an arch.

I am now running the risk of sounding like that flowery shirted, white suited, Lawrence Llywelyn 'big cuffs, girlie hair' Bowen. But with no boating again today, I feel compelled to give you my impressions of Whitby and what has made this place so popular over the years.

I shall sign off now as my brother Chris is due to arrive any second to take me for fish and chips... (last of the big spenders). Very kind of him to pop-over as I have been companionless for 24 hours now... Forecast is improving tomorrow... here's hoping. Speak soon.... Tim

Day 8 - Blow the wind southerly...

How frustrating, to be holed up due to gales in the North Sea? Due to Force 7 & 8 gales we have had to abandon any plans to get underway today. Tomorrow is looking like an impossibilty also. Nothing for it but to secure the boat and wait... and wait...

Sad to see my crew leave today (not sure if they abandoned ship or whether it was a mutiny ?!) - Dave Pedley & Andrew Smales have run out of time and have headed back home for work tomorrow. It has been great having them aboard - Dave has been a great help with navigation and helming, whilst Andrew has been a constant reminder for the rest of us to 'eat and sleep' !!!

Colin has had to shoot back to Oswestry as his dog is not well.... I hope the vets can work their magic and I look forward to the return of my most loyal and trusted crewmate !!

Whitby is a lovely Yorkshire seaside resort, which retains a huge amount of historical charm. Count Dracula rated it very highly and every Goth in the country has it on their 'Places to visit before you die' list - so who am I to argue ?

Again very disappointing not to have clocked up any miles today, but reading the weather and making decisions on when to 'make way' and when to 'run and hide' is part of the challenge of boating in the UK....

Hope you are all enjoying the blog and I will speak to you all tomorrow....

Looking forward to seeing you at the Safe Return Party @ Oswestry Cricket Club on 29th June !! Tim

Day 7 - Heading nowhere

Andrew again. Tim is fully enjoying our enforced day off, which for him is well earned, and due back shortly after a hearty meal and drinks. Thankfully we made it the mere 20 miles round to Whitby this morning, setting off at 6.30am having taken turns to ensure the boat was safely moored against the shipping wall throughout the night. A much more salubrious place than Hartlepool. Rather beautiful actually. Doesn't Stray Cat look great from this angle. Who'd have thought that Yorkshire could look like the Adriatic? Actually, that IS the Adriatic, and that ISN'T Stray Cat. Well we couldn't disappoint you with another grey rain and wind filled picture could we. Besides, the combination of no shore power and failing cameras and 'phones has made the photographic task a bit difficult. Must try harder! Mr Kodak we ain't, despite all the electronics we have on board.

Very VERY windy here, and glad to have found shelter in a nice little marina. At 09.42 UTC Humber Coastguard posted an All Ships 'Securite' ... Humber severe Force 9 soon. The weather shows no sign of abating, and it is unlikely we will leave this place "this place" tomorrow. The locals are walking round in virtual gale force winds this evening in shirt sleeves and blouses, and we are cold in our full weather gear. This begs the question - who is the toughest of them all? Definitely the inhabitants of Whitby.

So all in all, a lazy day. Watched the Grand Prix in a pub and must bide our time to make an exit into the sea as soon as the gales have gone. Again, it's not glamorous, but it is a adventure. But we all have itchy feet to get back out to sea again. Not before time though. We'll sign in tomorow, and keep you updated.

Still, on the plus side, Tim has had time to shower to his heart's content, and no longer smells like a goat. And this crew member is about to crawl under his duvet for a very very long time indeed. Goodnight all. Don't worry about us. It's a tough life living on only seafood and Guinness, but we'll cope...

Day 6 - heading south

Where do I start ? Left Peterhead (North East Scotland) @ 9.30 having taken on approx 250 gallons of diesel. Fully fuelled and blessed with a blue sky and calm seas we turned the corner of Scotland and headed due south on a course of 180 degrees. We were making good progress and our destination of Amble, Northumberland seemed well within our reach. So much so we decided to try and save another day (as poor weather was forecast for the following day) by pressing on to Whitby, Yorkshire... we had plenty of fuel, daylight and confidence to tackle the North Sea.

We were encouraged by the Inshore Waters forecast which promised light winds from the south and slight to moderate sea conditions. What is it with the bloody Met Office....? all those satellites, computers and gadgets and they can't tell the difference between calm conditions and a Force 6 with 10 foot waves ? We are surely due a formal apology from the Met Office (along with the residents of Sevenoaks) as we found ourselves 25 miles offshore in the most challenging of seas. Well past Amble and some 20 nautical miles short of our target - Whitby.

As the conditions worsened and the seas started to pound Stray Cat at 2 second intervals, I asked Dave my navigator and relief helmsman to look for a safe haven to cut and run to..... the only place with unlimited access in the vacinity was Hartlepool. A quick telephone call to confirm they had room for us, followed by a radio call to Humber Coastguard to change our 'traffic`routing' and we altered course for the beautiful coastal town of Hartlepool (yuck!!)

Our day was about to get worse, on arrival at Hartlepool Marina they informed us that the harbour entrance was only 19 feet wide. No matter how we tried we would not get Stray Cat's fat arse into the entrance. As the Jennifer Lopez of the boating world we have a massive 21 foot beam... no way !!

The only place they could recommend was in the commercial dock next to a 100 foot container ship and downwind of a petrol refinery. No pontoon, no shorepower, just a concrete and timber wall with a rusty ladder. And here we are now.... taking turns to do 3hr watches so that we don't destroy ourselves bouncing of the dockside....

I hope you're all enjoying a good night's sleep and hopefully we'll still be afloat tomorrow to continue our blog. This is the crew of Stray Cat signing off for today....

Day 5 - flying low

It falls upon me, Andrew, the latest crew member to write today's blog entry. Arriving last night, I was greeted by a somewhat bedraggled and soaking wet group of beaten men. In Tim's own words "I smell like a goat". Having already negotiated half of the Caledonian Canal in horizontal rain, the weather abated and we set off this morning from Fort Augustus at the western end of Loch Ness. Blessed with sunshine at last, we negotiated the final few locks to exit into the North Sea. Despite the sunshine, and relatively calm sea conditions it certainly lived up to its viciously cold reputation. Having said that, I had arrived endowed with clothing more appropriate for a tropical climate than biting wind and the occasional shower. Have been wearing six T-shirts , a fleece and heavyweight jacket all day, but still feel like I've been lying naked in a chest freezer for several hours . Mid afternoon, we saw a Navy Sea king helicopter approach us. "RAF Rescue to Stray Cat. We are on exercise. Can we put a man on board?" Readily and excitedly agreeing, we were approached by what can only be described as a flying detached house. At one point it was no more than 30 to 50 ft directly above us, and the noise and down draft were astonishing. After following us at what felt like arms length for a mile or two, the tender boat was nearly ripped from its fittings by this flying goliath, so we had to politely decline their kind offer to crash onto the boat and watch them peel off into the sunshine. The rest of the journey has been blessed with sunlight, but biting wind and cold. We now find ourselves in a sleepy, but sheltered harbour in Peterhead. Weather reports look favourable for perhaps the next 36hrs, so we intend to push on to Amble in Northumberland tomorrow, some 160 miles from here. The moral of today's trip? Never eat yesterday's leftover Frutti Del Mare seafood pizza cold. Not exactly gourmet food, and possibly more likely to prove our undoing than the sea.

Day 4 - Dead deer and drizzle...

Great night's sleep in Corpach Basin inside the first lock of the Caledonian Canal. Due to take on fuel at 9.00am - but due to a dead dear floating in the lock and an unhelpful Yachty who berthed infront of the fuel pump.... no fuel til 11.00am. filled all four tanks and emptied the British Waterways fuel reserve ! 900 litres of red deisel (fox piss as it is known by the French)

When at last underway, we had one lock to Negotiate before heading to the foot of Neptune's Staircase (8 locks rising 80ft) The flight of locks took about 1 hour 20min to climb before setting off north east towards Loch Lochy. The speed limit on the canal sections is just 6 knots - so progress seemed very slow in comparison with earlier in the week. Once on Loch Lochy we opened the engines up and within minutes we were at the end of it... By this time we were all soaked and very cold. A real shame that due to the low cloud and rain we didn't see Ben Nevis or much above 200 ft.

Loch Oich was beautiful and at long last the rain ceased and the cloud began to lift... what a beautiful stretch of water. We are now safety berthed at Fort Augustus for the night. At 9.30am we will be first through the locks to enter Loch Ness. Can't guarantee to get a picture of Nessie but we'll do our best !!

Same time tomorrow.. ?

Day 3 - Salt water to fresh...

Spent the morning recovering from the excesses of last night. What compels sane people to drink double whiskies all night when in Scotland ?
Decided a walk was a good idea and set off on foot to explore the Island of Kerrera... windy and wet but fantastically unspoilt - no roads, just a track from one end of the island to the other.

Back on board, we waited for the wind to drop and set off at a steady pace (keeping pace with the wind which was from behind) We only had 30 miles to cover today, so the pace was relaxed as the most beautiful scenary opened up in front of us. As we made our way NNE up the Sound of Jura, we begain to understand the geography of the Western Isles and Lochs of Scotland. At the northern tip of Jura we passed the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan, a very narrow stream of water rushing into the Sound from the Atlantic squeezed between Jura and the tiny island of Scarba. The volume of water rushing through the Gulf creates a whirlpool some 60 metres in diameter which has claimed many a boat inrecent history.

As we cruised up Loch Linnhe the feeling of solitude was very real, we saw no other boats all afternoon and were suprised and dissapointed to arrive at Fort William just short of 3 hrs after leaving Karrera.

A short leg, but surely the most beautiful of the trip so far !

Day 2 - Pushing North

Force 9 overnight, felt decidedly unsafe lashed to plastic pontoons in Port Ellen. Waves breaking over pontoons, throwing boat around like a cork. Needless to say -'night watchman's sleep' - wind died at 5-00am (time to sleep).... 8-00am knock on hull - 'Do we need diesel ?' .... yes but need sleep more !

Arranged for fuel bowser to arrive at 3-00pm at quayside... giving us a few hours to visit the LAGAVULIN distillery on Islay.... Donnie (ex-manager of distillery and RIB skipper) invited us to take a ride with him to the Distillery.... top banana, top bloke, top tour - BUT too many tasters !!!! Phoned Dad (Brian) to wish him a Happy Birthday... present to follow, unless we drink it !!!!

Left Islay @ 4pm after refuel and picked our way up the Sound of Jura towards the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan (very large whirlpool). Sea state was 'confused' to say the least, but great to be tossed around - so close to land !!!!

Arrived Island of Kerrera @ 8-00pm... just in time to catch launch to Oban. Four pints and few whiskies later back on launch to Stray Cat for a long awaited and well earnt SLEEP.... (12 hours please)..... Ooops forgot BLOG.. sleep can wait !!!

Speak soon...... comments please !

Day 1 - Beat the storm...

Departed Pwllheli @ 8.30am after bacon sandwiches.... made good progress to Bardsey Island to get our first view of the Irish Sea. Not calm but do-able!

Set course for Carlingford, Ireland and pushed on at 20 knots. Made good progress into a head sea and decided to try and make up some lost time - by pressing on to our second day destination (Glenarm, N. Ireland) a calculated risk but supported by Inland Waters Forecast from Belfast Coastguard.

The Irish Sea showed a glimpse of it's intentions - but we pressed on in moderate seas. The forecast for later today and tomorrow was of concern. A dilemna - make for safety in N. Ireland and risk being holed up for a couple of days whilst the depression passed or endeavour to navigate the North Channel into Scottish Waters (potentially making up more time and averting the likelihood of a two day wait for the front to pass)

The North Channel seemed passive at the outset, but soon developed a cheeky complexion.... Passing Ailsa Craig & the Mull of Kintyre bolstered our spirits as we visited the waters of our fourth country (in one day).

After 11 hours of diligent perserverence and a little good fortune we arrived (rather wet and tired) at Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland (having beaten the storm by a matter of minutes)

At present, whilst writing this blog we are bouncing around in the full force of a Force 9 Gale, happy in the knowledge that we have made 3 days progress on our first day....

Nothing to do but sample the numerous whiskies on offer .....

Signing off now..... same time tomorrow ?!?

Tim, Colin & Snotman xxxx

GALES IN IRISH SEA DELAY DEPARTURE

Due to Gale Force winds in the Irish Sea our departure has been delayed. We were hoping to depart Pwllheli, North Wales today - however 'Mother Nature' had other ideas !

The sea state in the Irish Sea for the next 2 days is going to be rough (15-25ft waves) so we will wait until the crossing is possible. I am hopeful that this will be on Sunday or Monday. Our progress will undoubtably be slow, but once we are across we should be able to hug the east coast of Ireland and have a more comfortable pasasage. We will be updating the blog every day from now on... so put it in your favorites or even set it as your Home Page for the next few weeks.

The adventure is about to begin - Rule Britannia !