The next crew, son number 1 Warren and his old friend Tim, arrived by train on Friday afternoon. There they are, with the rucksacks.
It was great to welcome them aboard. After a late lunch, off we set on Friday afternoon on the short 15-mile journey south to Blyth. Both Skipper and Mate had been looking forward to these two strapping lads joining us to give a hand with crewing the boat ... or so we thought.
The youth of today just don't seem to have the stamina that our generation did! Never mind, they redeemed themselves a little later by catching our supper: four large mackerel.
Blyth is not the most picturesque of harbours although the 9 wind turbines positioned along its breakwater do have a certain kind of beauty. The marina at Blyth is run by the Royal Northumbrian Yacht Club; their clubhouse is a converted lightship, complete with bar in the hold and shower and toilet facilities on deck for members. Quite excellent!
Saturday was the perfect day for sailing: warm(ish), sunny and light breeze from the south-west. As the distance to our next port of call was not far, we decided to sail north a little way to Newbiggin Bay where we anchored for lunch. This is the site of the Sean Henry sculpture Couple, which is situated on the new breakwater - two figures about 5 times life size and cast in bronze - an amazing sight. Some horses were being given a swim in the bay and seemed to be enjoying it but none of our crew felt inclined to follow suit unfortunately. Just a little too chilly for us humans!
We then enjoyed a splendid sail down the coast towards Newcastle, our next port of call. The crew was keen to try its hand at fishing again. Slowing down to about 2.5 knots, out went the lines and within 30 minutes we had four more large mackerel in the bucket. Lucky we all wanted fresh fish for supper again!
Warren even managed to overcome his squeamishness and clean the second day's catch.
By 18:30 hours that same evening we were dodging bulk carriers and huge car transporters emerging from the River Tyne just as Follyfin was entering it. We had a good view of the actual Newcastle as we did so. That night we berthed in the Royal Quays Marina, 2 miles up river from the harbour entrance.
Yesterday, Sunday 22nd July, we needed to get to Hartlepool in order for our crew to catch their train back to London. There was no question of not going out on the water, even though winds of force 5-7 were forecast. [In fact, the highest wind speed recorded on our instruments that day was 34.2 knots, force 8, whilst the maximum boat speed was 8.7 knots with 2 reefs in the mainsail and 50% of jib reefed ... not bad going!] So with two reefs in the sail we set off south. It was what one might call a lively sail and kept us all alert between trimming the sails, helming, reefing the jib and preparing drinks and food below. Staying upright in the galley was quite a challenge. On the way, we enjoyed a grandstand view of various aerobatics at the Sunderland Airshow. We were especially entertained by the Red Arrows display.
Despite being kept waiting for about 25 minutes outside the lock into Hartlepool marina, we made it in time for the train which is the important thing. Although it was sad to see this final crew depart, our feelings were tinged with a frisson of excitement at the prospect of several days at home on 'holiday'. Hartlepool is where we have decided to leave Follyfin - who also needs a rest of course - and go back to Follyfoot which is only an hour's drive away. So there will be a temporary hiatus in posts to this blog until we return to sail on south to London. We hope to get to St. Katherine's Dock by early-mid September before bringing the boat north again for the winter. The intention is to publish the itinerary for this final 'leg' of the Tour before we set off again, so anyone who might be near to the coast where we will be at the time, please do get in touch to arrange a rendez-vous. In the meantime though, it's 'au revoir' from Skipper and Mate. Over and out for now!
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