To Scarborough

We had been hoping to Leave Grimsby at around 10am on friday, however we didnt know you have to book in to the lock, and major maintenance was in progress, stopping us getting out.


It was gone 4pm when we finally got locked through, and then spat out into the busy Humber. After another 3 hours, motoring against the tide, we reached the mouth of the estuary, where we were then greeted by a very confused sea. 

With the swell coming from at least 3 different directions, the two boats were rolling violently, and just getting the main up proved to be a challenge, when the halyard got twisted around the spreaders.


Soon enough it calmed down though, leavikng us with a flat sea, and unfortunitely no wind. We were still against the tide, and although relitively smooth, the swell, and power of the tide worked together to drag the crab pots 2 or 3 feet underwater. This makes spotting them even harder than normal, especially when it started to get get dark. At this point, my auto pilot broke, so I spent the rest of the trip (12hrs?) manual steering. This means you can't leave the helm for even a second, and I had to concentrate on the same latch of water, without moving. 


At night, seeing crab pots is almost inpossible, and extremely tiring, as all your focus must be directed infront of you searching the water (which you can barely see). As well as this, you must also keep up your navigation, and keep a good look out for ships/fishing boats, whilst steering. 


I had great fun, and really enjoyed the night as I haven't done much solo costal overnight sailing before. Its still new and exciting for me I guess, where as for dad, its a long slog against the tide! The wind farms look completely different at night, and turn into alien spaceships as it gets dark! 


At sunrise, we were passing Flamborough head, and the tide was now with us! We had a lovely sky, and view of the puffins, gannets, and other sea birds as they started to wake up.


By 7.30, we were approaching Scarborough, and are now all safely moored up for the day!


Oh, also, there were seals EVERYWHERE and they look like crab pots so its really hard to tell which are which. Up close, they are actually quite scary, and it seems like they could easily sink your boat if you wanted to!


Sunrise off Flamborough Head

Sunset behind wind farm off the Humber









Locking out at Grimsby

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