Circumnavigation complete!

With the weather looking dodgy we made it back to Portsmouth in two 60 mile hops from Ramsgate via Eastbourne.  We had a slight disaster on the trip from Ramsgate to Eastbourne, we slipped our lines at dawn and must have been a bit groggy because we didn't discover until halfway through the journey that the rear hatch was not properly shut.  Normally this is not a problem but the heavy seas...

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Progress slowed at Ramsgate

Leaving Ipswich on a blustery Saturday morning we sailed the 10 miles down the River Orwell to Harwich and moored at Halfpenny Pier, just inside the edge of the harbour.  During the afternoon strong wind and rain blew in for a few hours making the short exposed pier rather bumpy. Harwich, Halfpenny Pier These conditions were forecast followed by a reasonable Sunday and storms into the start...

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Lowerstoft, Southwold and River Orwell

Leaving Wells in far calmer conditions we motor sailed into Lowerstoft and moored for a couple of nights at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club situated within the harbour. Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club Sunday was a hot day and we took a walk along the promenade followed by a large lunch in a seaside pub.  We awoke on Monday to thick fog, planning to depart at 11am to catch...

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Scarborough, Grimsby and Wells-next-the-Sea

We finally left Whitby last Saturday, the weather was still pretty dull but the fog had lifted so we risked a shortish sail to Scarborough and then on to Grimsby. Scarborough Harbour A rest day was spent sampling the delights of Cleethorpes a short train ride from Grimsby. We've just spent a couple of wonderful days in Wells-next-the-Sea (North Norfolk), the entry into the harbour was pretty terrifying,...

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Fogbound in Whitby

Just before leaving Seaham we took a look at the impressive WW1 sculpture on the cliffs, the piece was on loan but the town and local council have raised the funds the keep it (See BBC news item). 'Tommy', Seaham Friday we went on to Hartlepool and spent Saturday catching up on laundry and a quick look around the town.  Not too much to see in Hartlepool, very large marina and a good view...

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Blyth, Newcastle and Seaham

On the last blog update we had just arrived into Amble, our first English harbour on the return journey down the East coast.  As if to prove we were properly in Geordie-land, Rob saw Robson Green as we were enjoying a coffee on a hot and sunny Sunday morning.  Katie thought he was making it up but we later heard he was filming in the harbour! Later that day we caught the tide south and...

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Stonehaven, Arbroath, Eyemouth and back into England

We left Peterhead (Saturday 30th) with full fuel and water tanks, it was cold and wet - much as it had been during our whole stay.  Once outside the harbour the weather improved and we had a pretty good sail down the coast for a couple of hours, then as we were passing offshore from Aberdeen the skies darkened all around, the wind suddenly doubled and it poured with rain.  Rob was on the...

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Wick, Whitehills and Peterhead

A good couple of days, clear blue sky (if a bit chilly) and we've made good progress from Wick to Whitehills (50 miles) and onto Peterhead (40 miles). In Wick we saw the worlds shortest street, just one door, we had Sunday lunch in this restaurant, well cooked roast beef but no green veg. Ebenezer Place, Wick - World's Shortest Street We passed some oil (or gas) rigs on the Moray Firth but not...

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Cape Wrath, starting to head south

After our extended break in Kinlochbervie due to bad weather, we took a chance on an improvement in the strong northerly winds and set off on Thursday just after midday, to reach Cape Wrath at slack tide. Good sail up the coast towards Cape Wrath Cape Wrath is the most north westerly point on the UK mainland, famed for treacherous seas and a key milestone on our adventure.  The seas were...

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