Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

Well, except for the fact that my boat was hit several times during the past couple of days by other boats I have had a fabulous time here in Lowestoft.

The airshow was excellent with appearances from the RAF’s latest fighter the Typhoon, The Battle of Britain Flight, Fairey Swordfish, and my particular favourite the Vulcan bomber. The last time I saw a Vulcan flying was about 1974 and I will never forget that day at the Biggin Hill Airshow I think it was… the noise made my stomach wobble!

Yesterday evening was a real treat. Paul, the Deputy Launching Authority (DLA) of the Lowestoft Lifeboat, invited me along to a visit of the Gorleston and Great Yarmouth Lifeboat Station for a tour. It was a visit organised for the members of his berth holders club at the Lowestoft marina and I was made very welcome. I was picked up by one of the members and driven to Gorleston where we all met up. Paddy, the Lifeboat Mechanic gave a superb tour of the station and boat and I would like to thank both Paddy and the club members for a great evening.

Today should have started with meeting a member of the RNSYC staff who was to assist me with finishing off the refuelling by driving me to the local petrol station but I overslept! So my first appointment was with Mike Richford, the Lowestoft Lifeboat Station Press Officer, who wanted to have a chat and get some photos for the local newspaper and station records. In the end we discussed all aspects of the trip and lifeboat life in general and I drunk many very welcome mugs of tea which I have particularly missed on my trip (no fridge so no milk!). One particular story Mike told me was of his dog, a young Labrador, who likes to swim underwater! I have never heard of any dog swimming underwater but it must have given them a bit of a scare wondering if they would need to rescue their dog! Eventually though, at about 4.30 in the afternoon, we said our goodbyes and it was only then I remembered that I had still to finish refuelling! Whoops!

So to finish off this afternoon I took a trolley from the marina and walked the half mile or so the the nearest garage to top off two of my 30 ltr outboard tanks.

I would like to thank the RNSYC, the Lowestoft Lifeboat Station, Paddy at the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station and everyone else here in Lowestoft for making my stay here so welcome.

If you go to http://www.rnsyc.net/news.php then not only will you find yourself on the excellent website of  the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club, you will also see Stargate left of centre in the foreground, looking rather little next to a Broom motor cruiser.

A weekend in Lowestoft, airshow, powerboats, sunny weather… what more could I want?

Well, it wasn’t such a good idea as it turned out. I am the very first boat that people see when they enter the marina and so far I have been hit twice on my berth. Once yesterday by a rib and once in the middle of the night. Both, in my opinion, through bad boat handling and poor planning and both completely avoidable… again, in my opinion.

The damage is not too serious… I hope… a bent bow roller fitting, so much so that I cannot use the anchor so it needs fixing before I can go to sea. Also, the yacht in the night ran his bow anchor along my starboard guardrail and possibly stressing the mountings. I will have to have a close look at that today.

I am not a happy bunny right now as you can imagine especially as I have had to stay up for the rest of the night on boat watch in case some others want to have a go at my little boat.

With the weather still no good for departure to Scarborough I decided that I would take the day out for a sightseeing trip to Newcastle by train so off to the station at 9.30 i went.

I didn’t know if I could even get a train to Newcastle at that stage but on arrival I was delighted that they were hourly. A 15 min wait and on to the train. I was expecting the ticket price to be ridiculously pricey but again I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only £7.10 for a day return. Pulling out from Hartlepool station I had a great view of the coastline and it was patently clear that I had made the right decision… the waves were crashing on the shore and boats were partially disappearing out to see below the swell.

50 minutes later we were pulling in to Newcastle station. I have never been to Newcastle before and I had absolutely no idea of what to expect and even before I left the station I was feeling at home there. The city is just wonderful! It is a modern, cosmopolitan metropolis with a super mix of the ultra modern and the historic. I didn’t get any sense other than a city that was making a big effort to be a great place to live and to visit and in my opinion, based on this one day visit, I believe they are succeeding.

I decided to just walk and see where i ended up and so I walked downhill on the basis that it might lead to the river…. it did and I found the Quayside which has a fabulous walkway all along the riverside. The River Tyne is the strangest colour… it is a chocolate brown! I wonder why?

I had seen the Gateshead Millennium Bridge from the train on the way in to the city and seeing it as I approached the river I walked towards it. It is a superb piece of modern bridge design similar in initial appearance to the Millennium Bridge in London but on closer inspection it is very different indeed with a curved deck. I think it is beautiful and took quite a few pics. I stopped at the bar on the Newcastle side for a beer while I admired.

There are many bridges over the River Tyne that are notable one of which was designed by Stevenson and it is still fully functional. It is a superb river to walk alongside and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Returning to the station I noticed the Life Sciences centre and being very interested in all things science I investigate and found an interactive exhibition on human and bio sciences and not being able to resist I went in. The £8 entrance was a bit steep but it was a great museum and exhibition and one I do recommend especially for kids.

So back to the station. Waiting for the train I couldn’t help but feel that Newcastle was a city I wanted to return to so that I could discover it with the time it deserves. One thing I would say though… it is quite expensive to live there as far as I could see. Accommodation is quite pricey and food seemed so too and I think that the city has a slight London feel (only much better in my opinion) and has London prices but if someone has something that people want then I suppose they  can charge for it.

All in all a great day out and the image that Newcastle left with me for one I loved and I want to return.

Click here for pics…

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.

Owing to the windy weather today I have had an extra, unexpected, day in Peterhead. It has been very windy here today with strong gusts I reckon were easily F7 possibly F8 at times. It has all calmed down a bit now to a F4 and tomorrow is forecast to be light at F2-3. Unfortunately the extra day means that I will not now stop at Arbroath and tomorrow I move on to Eyemouth. The Wee Wife (!) says I could probably get some "Arbroath smokies" here but I wouldn’t be surprised if I can order them mail order over the internet… you can almost everything else nowdays

This afternoon I took my collection money from The Eastgate Centre in Inverness and Asda in Peterhead to the bank and I banks £200 from the Eastgate Centre and £251 from Asda. Thank you to those establishments for allowing me to collect and most importantly to the people of Inverness and Peterhead for supporting the RNLI and my trip. Thank you to Marion and Michael in Inverness and to Sheila and Brian both for running me around and helping with refueling.

So, tomorrow I leave the marina at about 7.30am for the 120miles trip to Eyemouth. This is a long run, probably my longest on the entire trip is I stay inland Ias I expect to so I am hoping I get some reasonable flat water at times so I can get a bit of speed or it will be a late night tomorrow evening! Weather for tomorrow if looking very good with a F2-3.

So, more news tomorrow before I leave.

I want to say a very special thank you to Brian and Sheila of Bon-Accord Training for their fantastic support, hospitality and assistance while I was here. Brian and Sheila were both here to welccome me when I arrived and they have done everything I could possibly want to help and to make my stay here not only easier and more enjoyable but they facilitated the collecting I did today at Asda.

I you ever want any industrial or commercial driver training done and you can possibly get to Aberdeen then I really do recommend that you give them serious consideration. They also do training at your premises if that is more convenient. They are clearly very professional and capable in what they do and a nicer bunch you could not possibly meet.

Also a big thanks to the staff at Asda Peterhead again for making me welcome and allowing me to collect there today.

Today has been good. I decided to get a bit of exercise and walk into peterhead town centre this morning. It isn’t really that far but when you are on the boat all the time just a walk into town can be good for the legs. I had an excellent coffe and a cake in a coffee shop before going in to a keycutting place to try to get a spare key for the boat door. I have just one key and for the entire trip I have been concerned that if I lost it then I wouldn’t get back into the boat. He thought he did but I had to return to the boat to try it and then return to pay and get a second spare cut.

So a walk back to the boat for a 2pm appointment with a photographer from the Aberdeen press and Journal local newspaper and an interview by phone. That done it was then back to the keycutting shop to confirm that the key worked. He wouldn’t accept any money as I was doing the trip for charity… wonderful fellow.

This evening was fun too. Firsly Alf (Divemaster1 from ybw forum) was doing a bit of barnacle removal on his boat and when he had finished he showed me round his boat. Later I met up with Jack Daly. He is taking a Corribee 21 round Britain for Sailability. He is going the other way round so we share info on the places we had been to already. Good luck to Jack.

The wind is picking up here in advance of the weather coming in tonight. I am hoping it clears tomorrow but I am not that optomistic it will.

Tomorrow I am collecting at Asda just outside Peterhead. I will be there 10 to 4 (or when my legs give out!). If you get a chance please drop by and say hi.

Having gone over half way round Britain to arrive in NE Scotland it would be a shame not to stop at Arbroath and sample the famous "Arbroath Smokies" - haddock smoked over wood chips. Besides, the leg from here to Eyemouth is over 100nm and Arbroath would break it up making for two much shorter legs.

I will fuel up here in Peterhead to get me to Eyemouth so I don’t have to refuel in Arbroath.

I am really looking forward to Arbroath and with westerlies forecast for Wednesday at the moment I would be happier making for Arbroath than for Eyemouth with a F4-5 forecast. I will decide if I go Wednesday or Thursdayuon Wednesday morning as usual.

If anyone knows of a good place for me to try the smokies then please post on the blog or email me… ta.

I have been to Oban several times before but I didn’t know about McCaigs Tower - a Romanesque folly on the hill overlooking the town.

 I was walking through the town today when I looked up the hill, away from the harbour, and I saw what looked a little like the remains of a roman amphitheatre. I decided to investigate and walked uphill where upon I discovered Mccaigs Tower. I didn’t know what it was as there are no signs or information boards that I could find but I looked it up on the web on return to the boat.

It was built by a philanthopist in the late 19th century and nothing to do with Rome! More info at Wikiapedia.

See my photos here.