16 August, 2009 - Bridlington
Back to index
Next article →
15 August, 2009 - Scarborough
← Previous article
20 August, 2009 - Grimsby
16 August, 2009 - Bridlington
I knew I had to be in Bridlington by 10:30 AM on 14 August in order to arrive at high water when there would be plenty of depth for Arty as we had to hoist first me and then her out. Bridlington is a lovely harbour but it dries, something you cannot let a carbon fibre boat with a bulb keel do! We left Scarborough at just after 5:30 AM and were soon cracking along at about 5 kn.
As we started to come out of the bay the wind direction shifted towards the South, as it had been predicted to do. With short, choppy waves she was soon stalling as I was trying to point too high into the wind. My speed overground dropped right down. Having been told many times to stick to my course, I tried to do just that, so I was hugely relieved when advice from SUB came which allowed me to come off the wind a bit and my speed soon picked up again. Thanks to Huw I now have my "Course Made Good" (CMG) displayed on my Raymarine C80 chart plotter. This tells me how fast I am going towards the next point I am aiming for on the chart at any time which is incredibly useful. It's particularly useful when you want to know whether sailing two sides of an imaginary triangle is faster than sailing a direct line from A to B.
I came round Flamborough Head with the tide pushing me and suddenly it was like being a cork shooting out of a bottle! It was great to get the reward of sailing with the wind coming from one side so that Arty and I were on her fastest point of sail. We arrived pretty much bang on time and the ground team did their usual great job of hoisting me out in my chair.
The original intention had been to hoist Arty out using the big travel lift, but the car park had filled to the point where we couldn't have got her out of the lift onto her trailer. This meant lifting her with a smaller crane which only had one lifting point. Toby, Sean and Huw did a great job of attaching two big straps, one in front and one behind the keel. These joined onto the crane's hook. The crane driver did an excellent job Whilst I sat there terrified as he hoisted her up a very rusty corrugated iron wall and, with the wet crew, guided her into her trailer. I breathed a huge sigh of relief once she was safely on land.
The Bridlington Lions gave us a great reception and had tried to put a banner up, but the wind had blown it away! They were incredibly helpful, whilst understanding that the whole team had only had a few hours sleep and needed to catch up. Helen and I went off shopping for patches for Toby's dry suit, which has a small tear in it. We ended up in a wonderful cycle shop, Hilderthorpe Cycles, who not only allowed Helen to have a go on an electric bike, but also a unicycle! Having allowed us to have a good half hours fun they then generously gave us the patches and glue we needed for nothing. Thanks for giving us both so much pleasure and laughter, guys.
The Lions from Thorn Rural, which comprises Lions from around Bridlington, came up to the Royal York Yacht Club on the evening of our arrival. They had travelled up to 80 miles to see us. It was a privilege to meet them. I was presented with their banner and they made an extremely generous donation to the "Dream Trust". Most importantly though, they Were great company.
Bridlington Lions turned up in force yesterday, along with District Governor, Janet Weatherill. They also presented us with banners, and Janet gave me her personal pin. We also received another extremely generous donation on behalf of the "Dream Trust". Yesterday evening they were kind enough to treat us to a meal in a restaurant just around the corner from the harbour master's offices.
We plan to leave tomorrow at around 15:00 which, after we have lowered me into the boat is bound to be a little later! The harbour master, Chris, all the people who work in and around the car park we are staying in and the local Lions have been fantastically generous. I never cease to be overwhelmed by people's willingness to help the whole team.
Sadly, Sean had to leave today to go back to Ireland. It's been wonderful to have him around. He and Huw made some changes to my seat so that my straws are less vulnerable when we are hoisting me out of the boat. We also have cooked up lots of new ideas for the next generation system which, if it comes to fruition which I am pretty certain it will, will make it much easier for me to control more functions on the boat. Thank you for all your help, Sean. You will always be a member of the RBD team - there is no escape! :-)
Page last updated on 16 August 2009 at 17:35