I can honestly say I have no idea what the day or date is without an outside reference point. Today we made Scarborough only to encounter the start of a big north sea race – impeccable timing on our part. Another day of crashing into head seas and falling off waves – the Scarborough lifeboat came out just as we surfed through the habour entrance with me hugging the mast to try and get some control over the mainsail. The lifeboat had been out to scatter ashes, but afterwards seemed to have a wake of their own which rapidly travelled the few yards to throw us every which way too. Seemed unnecessary, but there’s nowt so queer as folks!
However the real; entertainment started when we entered harbour. We were initially banished to the town quay while they cleared the race which was fine and we shared drinks with a German boat moored alongside us. We were all asked to move to the visitors pontoon – simple enough you would have thought – NO!
The German boat fuel pump choose this monent to die leaving him drifting towards a concrete slip. The harbour master stood and watched as did a large group now gathered watching the stricken yacht. Now Goodwill is not a boat to forsake others in their hour of need so a very efficient rescue was executed and the boat towed to the safety of our pontoon where upon Rod and Malcolm set about fixing the broken bits. It is rare in marine circles to encounter such unhelpfulness, but we found it in Scarborough harbour!
Now to add to our problems we have gales of 6;s and 7’s forecast from the South East. That is on the nose and not a practical proposition for going anyway! So looks like I@ might be ship wrecked here for the weekend. \Hey Ho!!
