Scarborough to Hartlepool 53NM
We left Scarborough the Next day with still strong wind forecasts, north to northwest 5-6, the sea had moderated from the previous day but it still meant an uncomfortable beat up the coast. The wind was forecast to change to variable 3-4 occasionally 5 but all we found was that it varied between N and NW. This leg, considering the conditions was completed in a good time of 11 hours but then had a 2 hour wait to get into the marina, but at lease it wasn’t raining.
Hartlepool to Amble 46NM
The next morning at 5.00am we left the safety of Hartlepool Marina for the trip up to Amble, a beat all the way but this time in light winds of NW 3-4 and a reasonable dry day with only the occasional shower. The unscheduled stop at amble was to pick my son up, Matthew, who was due to join us at Inverness on this day but now 2 days behind had to rearrange things. Working in the railway industry he had decided to get the train rather than fly, first class of course, and so we kept in touch on the phone to co-ordinate the best pick up point which turned out to be Amble. So good wasthe planning that he only arrived an hour before us!! Getting into Amble Marina was a close call just scrapping in over the bar on a falling tide. The marina was extremely friendly and helpful.
Amble to Inverness 315Nm
We left Amble at 22.00 again punching in to a NW force 5. This was to be our first really long leg compared to the previous so we soon settled down to 4 hour watches with Copsey Bros and me and my Son, Matthew. There was no need to register with the coast guard our intensions as they are still taking industrial action over pay and conditions! We had looked for bolt holes along the way but decided that this would be done in one leg to make up for lost time. The first night soon passed although the progress was slow with the wind turning north which meant that we could not even make Aberdeen without putting in some serious investment tacks as Pete called themJ By 1300 the next day the wind backed more to the west which gave us a favourable tack up past the Firth of Forth and on past Dundee towards Aberdeen.
Some 40 miles of the coast of Dundee we had our first problem which had to be resolved before nightfall, the autopilot decided to pack up, absolutely refusing to steer in the right direction the simple answer to this was to replace it with the older one which was still wired and ready for use but first the problem one had to be removed and disconnected before we could put the older one in service so my comment to the crew “2 ticks we will have it up and running in a tick” turned out to be an hour hove too! The other big problem in this North Sea swell was keeping the boat stable enough to cook. Although, generally, simple meals, soup out of a tin, could be cooked at an angle but more adventurous meals like the Sheppard’s Pie had to be prepared whist heave too. You cannot imagine what calm and peace came over the boat when hove too even in this bad northerly swell it was like being at anchor. So for meal times we hove too set the table and enjoyed the rest that it bought.
Later this day in early evening we saw our first dolphins that seemed to enjoy playing with Locomotion, leaping along side of us and then disappearing under the keel and coming round again to show off. This only lasted for maybe 15 min before they disappeared again. It was not until 2300 that we had another display. This was harder to watch as it was almost dark but never the less a remarkable site.
By 0800 the next morning we had turned the corner heading for Fraseburgh. The n
ext 12 hours was we enjoyed light variable wind and some sunshine. At one point we even put the spinnaker up, which was a gesture more than helpful as we only had about 10 knots of wind but at least we can say we never had the wind on the nose all the way round! At about 1900 I decide it was time for the evening meal as we only had 10 knots of breeze on the quarter. Remarking to Mathew that today has been good with some sun and a rest bite from the wind when all hell let loose the wind veered round to the west and increased to 20+ knots. Dinner was put on hold while we sorted out the boat ready for another night of head windsL
What a trial this was pushing on into the Moray Firth putting in more investment tacks until finally we reached the Chanonary beacon and the final approaches to Inverness at about 0230. It took another 2 hours to get to near the road bridge when we decided enough was enough and dropped anchor on the lee shore at 0400. Just as well as the Longman’s Yacht Haven just inside the River Ness had now become the Inverness Marina and was not opening until October! At 0800 we was up and on our way into the Caledonian Canal, by 1030 we was tied up in the Sea Lock Marina.
We left Scarborough the Next day with still strong wind forecasts, north to northwest 5-6, the sea had moderated from the previous day but it still meant an uncomfortable beat up the coast. The wind was forecast to change to variable 3-4 occasionally 5 but all we found was that it varied between N and NW. This leg, considering the conditions was completed in a good time of 11 hours but then had a 2 hour wait to get into the marina, but at lease it wasn’t raining.
Hartlepool to Amble 46NM
The next morning at 5.00am we left the safety of Hartlepool Marina for the trip up to Amble, a beat all the way but this time in light winds of NW 3-4 and a reasonable dry day with only the occasional shower. The unscheduled stop at amble was to pick my son up, Matthew, who was due to join us at Inverness on this day but now 2 days behind had to rearrange things. Working in the railway industry he had decided to get the train rather than fly, first class of course, and so we kept in touch on the phone to co-ordinate the best pick up point which turned out to be Amble. So good wasthe planning that he only arrived an hour before us!! Getting into Amble Marina was a close call just scrapping in over the bar on a falling tide. The marina was extremely friendly and helpful.
Amble to Inverness 315Nm
We left Amble at 22.00 again punching in to a NW force 5. This was to be our first really long leg compared to the previous so we soon settled down to 4 hour watches with Copsey Bros and me and my Son, Matthew. There was no need to register with the coast guard our intensions as they are still taking industrial action over pay and conditions! We had looked for bolt holes along the way but decided that this would be done in one leg to make up for lost time. The first night soon passed although the progress was slow with the wind turning north which meant that we could not even make Aberdeen without putting in some serious investment tacks as Pete called themJ By 1300 the next day the wind backed more to the west which gave us a favourable tack up past the Firth of Forth and on past Dundee towards Aberdeen.
Some 40 miles of the coast of Dundee we had our first problem which had to be resolved before nightfall, the autopilot decided to pack up, absolutely refusing to steer in the right direction the simple answer to this was to replace it with the older one which was still wired and ready for use but first the problem one had to be removed and disconnected before we could put the older one in service so my comment to the crew “2 ticks we will have it up and running in a tick” turned out to be an hour hove too! The other big problem in this North Sea swell was keeping the boat stable enough to cook. Although, generally, simple meals, soup out of a tin, could be cooked at an angle but more adventurous meals like the Sheppard’s Pie had to be prepared whist heave too. You cannot imagine what calm and peace came over the boat when hove too even in this bad northerly swell it was like being at anchor. So for meal times we hove too set the table and enjoyed the rest that it bought.
Later this day in early evening we saw our first dolphins that seemed to enjoy playing with Locomotion, leaping along side of us and then disappearing under the keel and coming round again to show off. This only lasted for maybe 15 min before they disappeared again. It was not until 2300 that we had another display. This was harder to watch as it was almost dark but never the less a remarkable site.
By 0800 the next morning we had turned the corner heading for Fraseburgh. The n
ext 12 hours was we enjoyed light variable wind and some sunshine. At one point we even put the spinnaker up, which was a gesture more than helpful as we only had about 10 knots of wind but at least we can say we never had the wind on the nose all the way round! At about 1900 I decide it was time for the evening meal as we only had 10 knots of breeze on the quarter. Remarking to Mathew that today has been good with some sun and a rest bite from the wind when all hell let loose the wind veered round to the west and increased to 20+ knots. Dinner was put on hold while we sorted out the boat ready for another night of head windsLWhat a trial this was pushing on into the Moray Firth putting in more investment tacks until finally we reached the Chanonary beacon and the final approaches to Inverness at about 0230. It took another 2 hours to get to near the road bridge when we decided enough was enough and dropped anchor on the lee shore at 0400. Just as well as the Longman’s Yacht Haven just inside the River Ness had now become the Inverness Marina and was not opening until October! At 0800 we was up and on our way into the Caledonian Canal, by 1030 we was tied up in the Sea Lock Marina.
has a pontoon with a 2m dredged channel which allows you to stay afloat but is not accessible 2 hours either side of 