Lowestoft to Newcastle

Following the family wedding and a couple of rugby games, it was time to return to Hejira on the Spring Bank Holiday Monday. Andrew Gosling very kindly drove all 4 of us to Lowestoft and we are all extremely grateful for his kindness.

The crew for this leg was Peter Hoade, Bob Haywood and Tom Witham, all significantly older than most of my earlier crew.

Our lunch time arrival enabled a meal in the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club and victualling in the nearby Asda. A 3am departure to facilitate a ‘top of the tide’ entry into Wells next the Sea, 56 miles up the coast demanded an early night. It would have been better, when I called the Harbour Master, first thing in the morning, if I had remembered that we were in Lowestoft and not Great Yarmouth but we managed to sort that out between us but with me feeling a bit of an idiot – well it was very early! Dawn saw us romping up the coast with a fresh wind behind the beam and it was to be an enjoyable sail. Although it was ‘tide assisted’, we recorded a satisfying 9.8 knots at one stage! Luckily we had a phone signal and I received a phone call from the Lowestoft Yacht Club informing me that I had not paid the full fee for berthing and I was able to make a credit card payment for the balance over the phone – another embarrassment! Entry into Wells is somewhat tortuous and with the neap tides, it would not have been possible without the variable draft capability of the Southerly. Once safely within the calm channel, off the beach huts, we opened a nice bottle of red wine to breath on the saloon table, ready for our arrival. We didn’t expect to be overtaken, at speed, by a wind farm service boat which threw up such a wash as to tip the bottle onto the cabin sole, what a waste ! We enjoyed an excellent meal ashore in a restaurant run by the wife of a local fishermen – whelks will never be maligned again. Wells-next-the-Sea was a very enjoyable stop-over with helpful, friendly harbour staff. The visitor pontoon was meant to be ‘all tide’ but we actually grounded the bow onto a rough bottom which did inflict some damage, apparently dredging is ongoing… It was a delight to be paid a visit by my brother Hedley (formerly a regular crew member) and his family who live nearby and we enjoyed ‘catching up’ with them all.

The following day the high tide was at midday and with over 100 miles to Whitby, we would have to sail overnight. With the wind on the beam and gusting to F7 it was a lively but hugely enjoyable sail with 2 reefs in the main.

The proliferation of wind farms all along this coast is remarkable and the AIS is really helpful as we were able to identify the support vessels and call them to establish the extent and regulations regarding the farms under construction. There were little more than stumps sticking out of the sea but we had to stay well clear because of divers apparently operating in the area.

Our impressive speed saw us off Whitby before dawn and a call to the Whitby watch-keeper identified that it was again necessary to lift the keel to clear the shallows at the entrance. Moored off the bridge waiting pontoon, we resisted the appeals to enter the marina upstream of the bridge explaining that we intended to leave before dawn the next day.

The fabled Whitby Abbey ruins and grounds were very charismatic at the top of the hill and apparently the inspiration for Bram Stokers Dracula novel. We enjoyed our short stay and it is definitely a must when making passage along this east coast, I wish we could have spent longer absorbing the friendly atmosphere.

The crew this week have been blessed with ideal sailing conditions and our 50nm passage up to Newcastle was a close reach in flat water. Entry into the Tyne between North and South Shields was straightforward and although we were expecting to see wholesale industrial dereliction, it was surprising to see apparent vibrant commercial activity all along the Tyne. The regeneration of the area around the Millennium Bridge where we moored is impressive in that they have retained many of the old buildings and integrated new buildings to produce an original feel to the ‘Old Town’.

Visiting the ‘Crown Posada’ pub was like going back in time with the stained glass windows and even records playing on an old gramophone.