First of all - i must apologise for a rushed and poor performance on the blog last night - i was tired and past it - to such an extent that i got our final destination wrong - we did in fact sail to Hartlepool which is near Redcar but is not actually Redcar

Today was BETTER than yesterday

The forcast was stronger than yesterday - Force 5-7 with 35mph winds and was clearly a little hit and miss on whether we should go. On balance we decided that as the wind was off the land (westerly) we could sail in the lee of the land, meaning that the winds and sea would be less than out at sea.

After almost 2 hour journey back to lovely Hartlepool, having transvered the North Yorkshire Moors bathed in early morning sunshine, we arrived back in Hartlepool, and what a contrast that was.

The harbour master at Hartlepool gave us a wonderful send off with foghorns and a farewell over the very lound PA - Lovely guy - many thanks
We finally set at a little before midday with a reefed main and no jib because of the strenght of the wind

Having navigated our way past all the boat heading up the river to Redcar and left the stinking chimneys they were almost instantly replaced with, what we all later agreed, was the MOST beautiful scenery on our circumnavigation to date, closely followed by The Crinan to Caledonian Canal stretch

Huge cliffs, indispersed with tiny fishing villages, the Famous Robin Hood Bay and many others, all equally as amazing,kept us entertained for the trip.

Today was the second warm day of the trip, hitting 22degrees - Miracle, and on both days i have worn a shortie wetsuit, the first time since leaving Salcombe - and i loved it!!!

The wind was not only strong but it also came in fierce gusts, seemingly determined to try and uproot us whenever it could. I am pleased to say, for today at least, it failed.

We hit 17.8 Knots with just a reefed mainsail, no jib and 19.8 knots with jib also

At one stage a greay seal popped up next to Stuart and i, not noticing us for some time before finally diving and once again dissapearing from view - a lovely experience

I ripped the seal on my drysuit today - not my fauly - it happens, however it makes them wet and not really that safe to wear as they can fill with water if you end up in the drink.
Pete called Dad who has sorted a replacement with Crewsaver - Stuart has named my parents the 4th emergency service - Thanks both to Mum and Dad

We sailed into Scarborough at about 4 pm having covered 42 miles in 4 hours under a reefed main. I really enjoyed it, we were undercontrol (Mostly), warm and getting there - a really top day

The forcast for tomorrow is similar but a little less wind - we have to go to Grimsby, primarily due to the fact that there are so few ports or places to put into on this next section of the coast. I presume that is due to the fact that it flattens out and there are no natural harbours - or people who want to sail it!

We are all pushing hard to reach Wells Next the Sea on the North Norfolk coast by Friday. This will allow us to ease off a little and also enable us to take our second and final break next Monday for a couple of days - again to catch up with loved ones / Families and work.

So all going well for the time being, but being the sea it can all change in the blink of an eye

Finally i have posted LOADS of photos - sorry there are so many. We keep a little waterproof camera on Challenger and the RIB, on top of that both Charlie and i have a decent camera, so when i post photos of places that we passed some time ago, its because we only download the decent cameras every so often. I hope you enjoy them. I have so many to choose from, its really not easy! - And it takes an age - 2 hours tonight!! + the blog

lets hope tomorrow is as good as the last 2 days!

Till next time...............