What A Scorcher

On what was billed to be a scorcher of a weekend we enjoyed fantastic lovely warm weather over the bank holiday. 

With a gentle S.W breeze we were one of five vessels all from Goole Boathouse to pen out of Ocean Lock Goole, with four of us Hull bound and the other bound for the Trent. The Ouse was quite thick with floating debris between Goole and Swinefleet, but once past the tide gauge it had cleared substantially which enabled us to plane as it was slow progress at displacement speed against a strong flood tide. However we still had to be vigilant for rubbish in the river...as you don't want to hit anything at speed plus it was hard to see looking into the sun. 

Once we arrived at Hull we were allocated a mooring on BB pontoon as the visitor's berth was already very busy. At one stage the Marina was struggling to find berths for visiting vessels, however it was nice to see a lot of activity within the Marina. 

On Sunday morning Peter spotted his dad on Crambeck on his way back to Goole from Grimsby after his trip to Amble.

Incidentally, late on Sunday evening we were surprised to see the Trent bound vessel 'Pipe Dream' a Freeman 33 whom we had penned through Ocean Lock the previous day arrive at Hull Marina. The skipper told us he had got to Boston on the Saturday, and initially we thought he was joking, but after he had squeezed through the Lincoln bridges he had arrived at Boston at 23.00 hours. He then penned out of Boston Sunday morning and had a pleasant run up the Lincolnshire Coast taking advantage of the settled sea conditions, anchored at Spurn until the next flood tide then made his way up to Hull for the first pen in. Quite an epic round trip for a three day weekend for a semi displacement boat. 

After a thoroughly enjoyable weekend it was time to depart on the Monday morning. We enjoyed quick service through Hull Marina lock and planed to Goole once the engines had warmed up. With a bit of wind over tide in places we had an excellent run, however had to wait for nearly 30 minutes as the Dock Master at Ocean Lock was having control problems with the lower gates. 

With this run being the best so far this year weather wise on the Humber, this has certainly made a pleasant change.

Odd Weekend

Since Saturday was a write off where work was concerned this weekend, and Peter had Monday off we started our weekend on Moonshine on Sunday.  

Our kids are still on their schools holidays, and with one old enough to stay at home and just about to start University and the other also old enough but carted off to her friend, this would not be a wasted opportunity!  Once we had loaded our belongings onto Moonshine we made our way up to Pollington mooring as usual bottom side of the lock, it felt odd as other craft were departing we were arriving...is this what retirement feels like?

We spent a lazy Sunday afternoon reproofing the canopy seams, and of course a full 50 minute circuit of Pollington village to walk the legs off the dogs. 

We have also sorted all our recent holiday snaps which is a laborious task, and these are now on Facebook and are public if anyone wants to troll through them here is the link (I hope it works) ... https://www.facebook.com/helen.duckels

We are now looking forward to next weekend where we will head for Hull Marina yet again...it's not bad to say we are back off holiday that the pesky weather has now calmed down.!

Bloody Crab Pots!

Day 12&13.  Hartlepool.

It was a good job we got to Hartlepool when we did, as later on Tuesday into Wednesday the wind got up making sea conditions rough. Cefas Wavenet was reporting maximum wave heights off Whitby at 2.6mtrs at 9am Wednesday.

We will enjoy Hartlepool for a few days and see if sea conditions abate for Friday. 

Day 14.  Hartlepool to Scarborough.

We enjoyed a lovely calm run at sea despite a very early start. We completed the trip in under two hours. 

Logged 39.9 nautical miles.

Day 15.  Scarborough. 

We had a few relaxing days in Scarborough, putting in many miles of dog walking around the bays. However, we are now eager to make the final sea leg back to the Humber whilst the weather is nice and settled. 

Day 16.  Scarborough to Grimsby.

Well the sea conditions would have been nice had Moonshine been a yacht, but with the S.E breeze and a swell still running from the north at sea it wasn't as calm a run as we had been expecting or hoping for.  It was most uncomfortable off Flamborough Head and the Binks, making crab pots very difficult to see at times. One particular crab pot marker nearly ensnared us just below Flamborough, we had milliseconds to react but did just miss it. This particular marker was covered in seaweed and with no flag it was well camouflaged! Once past Spurn we came off the plane so as not to be too early for the level at Grimsby, and we arrived just as the sun was setting. 

Logged 60.0 nautical miles.

Day 17.  Grimsby to Hull.

We departed Grimsby at 10am and planed to Hull in around 45 minutes.  The river was quite busy with shipping but river conditions were pretty good. Whilst in Hull Crambeck arrived (Peter's dad's Aquastar) enroute to Scarborough tomorrow. He is hoping to attempt yet again Amble and possibly Eyemouth if weather conditions allow, bearing in mind he has a displacement boat and considering his age this would be a big achievement. 

Logged 14.7 nautical miles.

Day 18.  Hull to Goole.

We departed Hull with a brisk W.S.W breeze against the tide.  We travelled at displacement speed to the No 23 light bouy as it was rather lumpy and then planed all the way to Goole.  We timed it just right as the coaster Amy was just departing Ocean Lock and the Dock Master had us on his return pen.
Logged 21.8 nautical miles.

Despite our very sudden change of plan to head north we have had a pretty decent holiday.  We would have liked to have visited more places such as Seaham and Blyth, however since we had such small weather windows we had to make significant progress whilst we could and miss intermediate ports out.
We have discovered that you cannot be complacent heading north as there seems to be a lot more crab and lobster pots scattered around where you least expect them sometimes in very deep water miles out to sea.
Prior to Moonshines outdrive overhaul last winter, she would have been drawing air into the raw water cooling system causing overheat alarms when in rough seas, and considering we have had only one calm run this holiday she has run perfectly and we have returned with no repairs to do.
At least we have made it back in one piece and haven't had to abandon Moonshine in a distant port so another successful trip.
Total logged 386.9 nautical miles

 

 

Ploughing Through Swells

Day 5,6&7.  Whitby

The weather panned out as forecast with two days of strong S.W. wind Thursday and Friday. We certainly did make the right decision to head north as the seas were very large off East Anglia. We are now waiting for the weather conditions to calm down at the weekend before heading to Hartlepool.

Day 8.  Whitby to Hartlepool.

We waited until early afternoon to depart Whitby after spending several very windy days in port, as the wind was forecast to die down then. 

Despite the 1 metre northerly swells off our starboard bow we were able to plane and did eventually have a pretty decent run to Hartlepool, hitting another thunderstorm which whipped the sea conditions up for a while off Tees Bay Windfarm. 

After a meal on board and nipping to the supermarket (as Peter had ran out of beer) to stock up, we went across to the fuel berth and fuelled up with 450 litres of diesel. 
Logged 27.3 nautical miles.

Day 9&10.  Hartlepool to Amble.

We departed Hartlepool after an early lunch. We let Moonshine's engines warm up for five minutes then planed from The Heugh breakwater all the way to Amble harbour entrance, which we covered in exactly two hours. Sea conditions were ok despite a large ground swell running from the north, with chop from a fresh S.W. breeze blowing off land. We encountered another heavy rain storm from Newbiggin Ness all the way into Amble.  We passed to the east of Coquet Island and then kept well to the north of it to avoid Pan Bush Rocks as there was still a lot of swell running. Amble Marina were very organised (as we had phoned ahead) and sent a staff member out in the heavy rain to take our lines. 

Since we visited five years ago a lot has changed such as a development of apartments next to the Marina, and a tasteful development of the Fish Quay. 

This is as far north as we are heading. We would have liked to have visited Eyemouth had the weather been in our favour but it is not to be this year.  

We intend on staying tomorrow and will head back to Hartlepool on Tuesday as strong wind is yet again forecast for Wednesday. 

Logged 49.2 nautical miles.

Day 11. Amble to Hartlepool.

We departed Amble just after lunch, and after looking at the sea conditions earlier and with a light northerly breeze forecast we thought we would be in for a pretty decent run back to Hartlepool.  However in reality sea conditions were still quite lumpy all the way with a swell from the north with added chop on top from the N.E. However we were still able to plane and after rounding the Heugh it was lovely and smooth and we enjoyed quick service through the lock and we were once again moored on the visitor pontoon. 

Logged 45.9 nautical miles.

This past week has given us a mixed bag of weather but Moonshine has excelled herself once again in ploughing through the swells. It has not been easy at times in these conditions trying to navigate and see through dense visibility to avoid the crab pots which are littered around the coast line.  The boat heater and waterproofs have had to be in use over the last few days but hopefully after Wednesday's strong wind has passed we can move on to Scarborough on Friday whilst giving the sea an extra day to calm down.  

It is nice to know we are lucky enough to still have another full week to get back home, let's hope the wind eases and changes direction to the west again. 

Being Indecisive!

Day 1&2.  Goole to Hull

After booking in with Goole Docks with our timings for penning out on Saturday morning, we had to quickly sort ourselves out as five other boats were waiting at Ocean Lock very early on the tide. Since the Dock Master wanted his logged in pleasure craft in one pen, I had to quickly throw my clothes on and with unclean teeth assist with the ropes.... not a good start to the holiday!

As the weather was looking unsettled for the next few days we decided spending two nights in Hull was a much better option before hopping across to Grimsby where the kids were concerned.

 At this stage things are still looking unsettled at sea the further down the coast you go, and we are a bit indecisive deciding whether to miss Wells out at the start of the holidays as the webcam photos show boats rafted three deep (it is not easy to get three dogs off several times a day),  or should we head straight to Lowestoft when the weather looks more clement.

Logged 27.1 nautical miles.

Day 3.  Hull to Grimsby

We waited until high water Hull to depart to give us wind with tide conditions for a smoother ride to Grimsby. It was very lumpy blowing sw 4-5 until we reached the Lee of the Lincolnshire bank where it was considerably smoother. When we got to Clay Huts we thought we were were cutting it fine to get in on the level at Grimsby traveling at displacement speed, so we planed down to Grimsby at 22 knots and were surprised to see the lock gates shut 15 minutes before the end of the level. When we penned in the Dock Master informed us he had shut the gates to retain the level as a large vessel had been pulled out on the slip and as it was only neap tides this enabled them to get the vessel out, however he told us he would not charge us the £10 fee as we were there in plenty of time. Forever on Seawings watch we noticed 'Odin' from Farndon a newer 355 was visiting Grimsby, however he was also waiting for the weather to head south. As the weather is looking good tomorrow we intend on moving off to Lowestoft. 

Logged 15.6 nautical miles.

Day 4.  Grimsby to Whitby!

Whilst in Grimsby waiting for the level for us to depart, the wind whipped up more than what had been originally forecast. After checking the weather reports and forecasts again it was looking quite rough off Skegness and The Wash, however we needed to make a decision to leave today or potentially be stuck in Grimsby until the weekend. Since the wind was sw 4-5 we decided we had to move today. So at the eleventh hour literally (as we were leaving at 11.30am) we decided to scrap our ideas of heading south and made an about turn and head north as the sea conditions were much more favourable. It was calm in the Humber, lumpy off Spurn and calmish off the Holderness coast, then a large thunderstorm hit off Flamborough Head where it chewed the sea up a bit and we lost visibility due to the heavy rain...we always know when it has been rough as the toilet brush and the alarm clock go AWOL, which they didn't today! 

When we turned to head up the coast past Flamborough conditions improved significantly and we had a very enjoyable run to Whitby. 

Originally we all saw this change of plan as a major disappointment, however since only Peter has been this way on our previous boat back in 2012 whilst I port hopped in the car, we can cast aside the disappointment and say we have all done it, as it is very pleasant up North plus you get shelter travelling close in to land. As ever we are waiting for the next few days of weather to pass before heading further up the coast as we still have another two weeks. We are finally on holiday and now very much looking forward to this trip. 

Logged 85.4 nautical miles.