Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

With a weak low pressure over south east England for the next couple of days there is almost no pressure gradient and so it is likely that with the hot sun during the day we will have onshore breezes and that they will be the dominant wind at the coast. So F2-3 is forecast and calm sea should mean I can push on over these two days and possibly make it back to Plymouth Monday or Tuesday.

My intended destination today is Eastbourne but if it turns out to have more of a sea running than I expect then I will still use Dover as my alternative port.

More when I arrive.

So now the weather improves… just as I am getting towards the end of my trip. The past few days have been glorious, warm, sunny and today with little wind. I suppose that I could look upon the fact that the weather has been so lousy as a blessing as it has made the trip very challenging and even more difficult than I had imagined but if I were to be honest I would have given up a few of the challenges for some F1s and 2s and a bit more sunshine.

The next few days look very good for my final few legs. Tomorrow looks like F2-3 variable with similar on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are a little less certain and less promising with F4s forecast but even then it might be fine to continue on towards Plymouth if no significant weather systems are forecast. We will see.

Tomorrow is a long day so I am leaving early, at daybreak, to beat the sea breezes and to give me the best chance of getting to Eastbourne in daylight. If all goes to plan I should be rollong in to Eastbourne at about 3pmish… watch Live Tracking to follow be across the Thames esturary and round the corner to start heading west at Dover.

More tomorrow before departure.

The weather is yet again quite unpredictable but it looks like Sunday may be a possible for my departure to Dover. In fact the wind may well calm on Saturday or even later today but with it being easterly for a few days now here the sea may take a while to calm down so Sunday is the better day.

This all assumes I get my bow anchor roller fitting fixed!

If I go to Lowestoft today then it will be another 120 mile leg but the forecasts today are all good and offer a F3-4 although the direction of easterly to south-easterly isn’t so good but they are fairly light so hopefully it won’t kick up much of a sea. At least with the high pressure coming in it looks like it could be sunny for a change and to welcome the better weather I have put on my shorts… perhaps that might scare it away… I hope not.

Departure here is going to be with the tide so I am not bashing into a 2-3kts tide all the way down river so I will leave here at about 0930hrs. That will give me about 45mins of foul tide before it starts to ebb and I will have the tide with me all the way down river.

I won’t decide to go on to Lowestoft until nearer Wells but if fuel and conditions look good then I will miss Wells and go directly to Lowestoft.

More when I arrive.

The sea state and weather is much better this morning with the clever wave height buoy in Hartlepool Bay showing 1.25m, wind is F2 and partly cloudy and it is a lot warmer .

I am going to leave early today and see how it is. If it is good and is getting better and I can see that I can make Hull then I will continue past Scarborough but I will not make that decision until when I am nearly at Scarborough in the same way that I bypassed Whitehills. On the other hand, if I decided to go to Scarborough today I may have to find somewhere to anchor up for a few hours as I can not get into there until about 5pm. I think it is worth the potential hassle to get to Hull today as I can then make use of the building high pressure to the south.

More when I arrive at whichever port I end up at!

The wave height metre is still showing the wave heights in Hartlepool Bay at 2.5m so it is still too high to go but the forecast is such that I would expect that to be well down tomorrow morning. If it is then I will be leaving for Scarborough at about midday getting there about 5pm or after (the harbour has access 3 hours either side of HW).

The forecast is still showing a high building over the south with is then forecast to drift eastward clearing the UK by the end of the week. I am hoping to have the opportunity to put together several days of consecutive movement and this might be my chance. My fingers are crossed!

More tomorrow before I leave…

While the south of the country enjoys sunshine, gentle winds and high temperatures, in Hartlepool it is cold, very windy and cloudy. In the marina office there is a Wave Height meter, put there to help the construction team of an offshore wind farm. It is showing 3m waves outside the harbour. So Paul is staying put today and has caught a train to Newcastle to spend the day there sightseeing.

The wind is blowing an absolute hoolie here in Hartlepool and is showing no sign of relenting. I have spoken to some of the lifeboat crew and I have decided to leave it at least until Tuesday before departing.

Today there was a sizable swell… probably 2-3m. The wind is NW’ly but is forecast to go round westerly again either Tuesday or Wednesday.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if I have to push it back to Wednesday so don’t be too surprised either please. This is all I can do… I go with what I have and what the forecasts suggests and make my decisions accordingly but both change hourly and so I have to change those decisions accordingly. I realise that it looks like it is chopping and changing but it really isn’t… I am doing nothing more than the forecasters…. changing my plans based on the weather as it and the forecasts change! Sorry again but believe me, no one is more put out than me!

Well this is a surprise… woke up this morning to a steady F5 with big gusts to F7 in my opinion. It is partly cloudy and quite cold too so not a nice summer day.

In view of this weather I have ruled out going to sea today at all. I will shift that same plan… Hartlepool to Scarborough… until tomorrow but I might leave quite early and assume that I have to run quite slowly. I won’t be able to enter Scarborough harbour until about 1615hrs so there won’t be any point in running fast if I leave early.

So, another day off listening to the radio! Can’t complain

Tide times at the moment are very awkward especially for a direct run to Hull from Hartlepool. Both Hartlepool and Hull are locked marinas which mean I can only get in or out at certain times… Hartlepool is shut 1 hour either side of LW and Hull is only open 3 hrs either side of HW. Couple with that the fact that it is a long journey at over 100 miles and there is little scope for me slowing down if I hit bad weather. Taking everything into account it is going to be better to break the journey at Scarborough as originally planned.

So I plan to leave Hartlepool tomorrow as soon as the lock opens after LW at about 1315hrs. I will then have a 40 mile run to Scarborough where I can access the harbour 3 hrs either side of HW which is at about 1830hrs so I can enter after 1530hrs or there abouts.

Hull is a further 80 miles on from Scarborough and so I am expecting to leave Scarborough early on Monday morning to give me plenty of time to get to Hull before the lock closes at midday’ish. More on that leg tomorrow but for now I will update you tomorrow morning after the forecasts are out and I have had a chance to walk over to the harbour wall to look at the state of the sea.