The plan was to go down the Tyne with the tide, it's 7 miles and seems a lot longer! The snag was that the ebb started in the afternoon, which didn't leave much time to get anywhere after the run down the river. I decided to drop down to the mouth of the Tyne in the afternoon, then drop the hook off Herd Sand, South Shields, for the night. We could then set off south early the next morning.
So, extra gear loaded, I said my goodbyes to the excellent staff at St.Peter's marina and we headed off downriver.
The engine still had the occasional miss-fire, but nothing unusual....
The wind was behind us, so I had the sail up as soon as possible, sailing is what I was there for! With the tide ebbing, we were soon at South Shields and dropping the anchor.
The pilot book had warned of the chance of the anchor fouling on the bottom there, so I buoyed it just to be on the safe side, we were only in about 2-3 metres of water, but I didn't fancy having to jump in to free the anchor if it got stuck!
The wind and tide were conspiring to cause the boat to shear about, so I tied a line onto the chain, let a few more metres out, then took the other end of the line back to the cockpit. With this pulled in, the boat sat at a better angle to the wind and the shearing stopped.
We eventually settled down to a peaceful night's sleep, but I wanted to be up early as Runswick Bay was the target, and in a straight line it was 35 miles away...
Up at around 5am, I got the boat ready to go, then went forward to pull the anchor back up, half-expecting to have problems. Despite the pilot 's warnings it came straight up, so the chain, anchor and still-attached buoy were dropped into the anchor locker. Something I'd regret later....
Out between the piers and the sailing was perfect, the wind was from the west and about F3. Marsden Grotto, Souter lighthouse, then Sunderland were soon behind us.
As Seaham came abeam the tide was against us, and it seemed to take forever before Hartlepool came into view. The wind wasn't helping much either, having gradually backed and increased all morning until I was hard on the wind with the seas building to 3-4ft. Uncomfortable.
Due to the early start, Ali had still been asleep when I left the Tyne, and as the bouncing and slamming increased she was reluctant to sit in the cockpit, so stayed below, reading.
A while after passing Hartlepool the wind backed more, and was now a S/E F5 with some stronger gusts. Tacking with the tide against us didn't seem to be getting far, I worked out that it would be dark long before we reached Runswick Bay, somewhere I didn't fancy entering without some daylight.
I made the decision and started the engine. A little later I dropped the sail as it wasn't helping a great deal!
After an hour or so the wind was up to F6 and the seas were getting bigger. I thought about a change of plan and consulted the pilot book. Hartlepool would have been easy to reach, dead downwind, but the pilot strongly advised against entering in a strong S/E....
I hoped that if I stayed well inshore, once we'd passed Middlesborough we'd get a bit of shelter from the coast until we reached Runswick Bay. So on we went.
For the next few hours the wind stayed at F6 and S/E, this meant that we were pushing into 6-8ft seas by the time we reached the shipping channel into the Tees. There was a fair amount of traffic here, so it meant a bit of hanging around for a good gap before I could cross. As soon as I started I could see a couple of large tugs on their way out, but guessed correctly that I'd be across the narrow channel safely before they reached my position. A bit of added stress I didn't really need though!
As we approached Redcar and the coast, I realised the shelter from it was going to be minimal, at least the seas were down to 4-5ft...
This didn't seem to help Ali much, she was suffering from seasickness and I couldn't persuade her to come out of the cabin.
Anchored off Redcar, right where I wanted to sail, was some sort of floating platform, enormous - oil rig scale. A bit of research tells me it was the "Tog Mor" http://www.allseas.com/uk/59/equipment/tog-mor.html This meant I had to get a little closer to the beach than I'd planned, it gets a bit shallow here. At one point the depth showed less than 1m below the keel, with the wave height still at 3-4ft I was more than a little nervous!
Salt Scar is a long reef off Redcar, and I had to head out to sea to make sure I cleared it, but once past that, the way was clear to Runswick Bay, still another 12 miles away.
We passed Skinningrove, a place I'd like to visit in better weather, then were amazed to see half a dozen or so swimmers off Staithes! In wetsuits, probably surfers, they seemed to be having fun as I shivered, wet and tired past them....
Port Mulgrave, or what's left of it after being blown up to prevent the Germans invading North Yorkshire, still held a few small fishing boats. I've no idea how they manage in any northerly gales!
Eventually, after 7 hours on the engine, bouncing around the cockpit, being drenched in saltwater, aching all over, I could see into Runswick Bay. Relief!
I motored into the S/E corner to get as much shelter as possible, then, in about 4m of water I cut the engine and went forward to drop the anchor. I dropped it overboard along with the buoy I'd tied on at South Shields. I let out some chain, no idea how much really, I was absolutely shattered. We'd left the Tyne around 6am, it was now about 9.30pm. I'd had nothing to eat or drink all day, and felt like I'd been on the wrong side of Mike Tyson...
Ali was still ill, so I ate something - no idea what, a lot of this evening is a bit of a blur.
I'd been keeping an eye open on our position until I dropped off to sleep, we seemed pretty much static, so the anchor must be fine I thought.
Around 4am I woke up and had a look around. The cliffs that had been fairly close last time I'd looked were different somehow, more distant. Out of the other side, the village wasn't there at all.
I jumped out into the cockpit to discover we were drifting gently out to sea!!!
It was fairly calm and we were still in the middle of the bay, so luckily in no immediate danger. I went forward and pulled up the anchor. There was a lot of chain out and I couldn't work out why we'd dragged. That was until I realised the buoy I'd tied on at South Shields was the problem. It was on about 5m of line, plenty for where we had been when I needed it, but as the tide had risen at Runswick it had lifted the anchor out!
I untied it, then went back to motor us back into the bay.
I dropped the anchor (without buoy!) and went back to bed, although I couldn't sleep after that scare.
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