Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

Just to keep you all on your toes I think it might be OK to leave for Hull tomorrow. This evening the wind has dropped to almost zero and the sea state is completely flat. If it is the same tomorrow then I will head on to Hull. Yes, the wind forecasts for tomorrow is F5 I am not expecting that to effect the sea state much as it is northwesterly and I will have good shelter from the mainland.

The pressure forecast charts are looking hopeful for all of next week. High pressure looks like it will establish itself in the south and if I can get to Lowestoft in the next couple of days then I can make good use of the high along the south coast. If that high develops as forecast then I could be back in Plymouth this time next week.

It isn’t looking dreadful but I don’t suppose it will be a scenic trip as the rain continues in these parts but the wind is F3-4 this morning and F4-5 later.

Next stop Royal Quay Marina on the Tyne for fuel then on to Hartlepool for this evening.

Tomorrow was meant to be as calm as today but the forecast changed this afternoon so now they forecast f3-4 in the morning and F4-5 in the afternoon. I am planning on stopping at the Royal Quay marina on the River Tyne to fill up with fuel as Hartlepool has no fuel in the harbour and I don’t fancy the walk to the garage 2 or 3 times! Refuelling there will mean just a sigle visit to the garage

If I  fuel at Royal Quay then fully fuel at Hartlepool I will not need to refuel at Scarborough and can make it to Hull. I can even choose to skip the stop at Scarborough if the weather is good. A good option to have.

So, up early again tomorrow for a 6ish departure. That will give me plenty of time to get to Royal Quay then on to hartlepool and the issue of the tides that I had this morning won’t really worry me tomorrow as I am planning a much longer, and hence slower, trip anyway.

More tomorrow before departure for an update on the weather etc.

The weather here this morning is cloudy but calm and with the forecast at F2-3 all day it should be a good run to Eyemouth.

More info on arrival.

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.

The wind in Peterhead is gusting to F7 this morning and isn’t forecast to reduce until it would be too late to set out for Arbroath.

So Paul is now looking at leaving tomorrow, when the weather is forecast to be much better. He will set off on the originally planned journey to Eyemouth, sadly missing out on the Arbroath Smokies

The forecast for tomorrow is not good… F5-6 westerly. But as I am on the east coast, the wind is westerly and there are no dangers between here and Arbroath I am going to go out and see what it is like before I decide. If after a while at sea I believe that it isn’t sensible to continue then I will return to Peterhead otherwise I will continue on to Arbroath where I intend to stay one night before continuing on to Eyemouth.

I will leave as early as I can, after paying my berthing fees when the harbour office opens, so that I can do 6 kts for much of the way to say on fuel if it is rough. I expect I will be underway by 9.30am.

The high pressure that was developing from the south looks set to retreat again and yet more low pressure systems plague the north.

I was really hoping that I wouldn’t be delayed here in Peterhead but a first look at the forecasts suggests that a Wednesday departure is not indicated. There are F4-5 forecast but there seems to be a slackening from Thursday onwards as a weak ridge of high pressure develops over the north sea. If this continues to be indicated then I may delay departure from here until Thursday when the ridge has formed and F2-3s are more likely. One good bit of news though is that all the forecasts suggest that the wind will be westerly and that will reduce the likelihood of big waves from the North Sea.

More details tomorrow.

The weather here this morning is excellent with almost calm conditions and high cloud… altogether more quiet than of late. I am hoping that the sea has calmed enough for me to get to Peterhead today. I won’t know until I am out there but if it is OK then I will push on past Whitehills. If not then I will revert back to the original plan of stopping at Whitehills.

It is neaps and with calm weather I would like to take the opportunity to get past Rattray Head today. We will see.

Next report when back in port.

Looking at the weather this evening here there is almost no wind, even outside the marina, and the forecast is for it to go south westerly so if I get to Whitehills and the sea and weather looks good then I will consider not stopping at Whitehills and going straight on to Peterhead. It is only about 35 miles further on and I have plenty of fuel on board to go on. It would be a shame not to take advantage of good conditions and it will give me a chance to catch up a bit too.

I will call Sal and ask her to update the home page if I decide to go on.