£4 an hour

Ooh look - the anchor ball

Last night we arrived at Scarborough when there still wasn't enough tide for us to get into the harbour, and took the decision to anchor for an hour or so in the pretty bay. There was no wind but an ugly rolling swell which made it extremely difficult to cook a pan of boiling pasta!  The three of us ate our bowlfuls of food in the cockpit, to the incongruous sounds of church bell practice, which came floating across the water. It was a calm blue evening, and four teams of red-faced rowers passed us, having a close race.

At nine-thirty we set off for the inner harbour, creeping in warily and watching the echo sounder like hawks, under strict instructions from the harbourmaster. Once safely in, we had showers and a brief drink in the welcoming Yacht Club next to the lighthouse, which has a cracking view of the bright lights of Scarborough.

Scarborough Bay

The cost was 28 pounds for our brief berth for the night. We arrived at 10pm and left at 5am. We worked it out that we were paying 4 pounds an hour for the privilege of sleeping in the marina!

0430 in Scarborough Harbour

The early start was designed for us to get into Grimsby Fish Dock, 65 miles away, when the lock was open. It was another 12-hour day of motorsailing, with no wind and virtually nothing to see en route. But there was plenty of fun, with David there to talk to, and a stream of cod Yorkshire accents echoing through the boat.

And briefly, Lesley and David saw a different sort of cetacean from our usual dolphin friends - larger by far, with black backs and a single fin, each animal curving up briefly and dropping back into the sea without any interaction with the boat. We guessed they might be minke whales.


At last we turned the corner at Spurn Head, reached the Humber and encountered only three large ships emerging from the docks there. Lesley helmed the boat across the main channel between the ships, into the Fish Dock and the marina beyond, where John the berthmaster from Humber Cruising Association was amazingly helpful.  He even ran us to the shops in his own car. By then it had started to rain. Cats and dogs, stair-rods, monsoon weather. 

It's still drumming on the coach-roof. But Nic has cooked a curry and we don't set off again until tomorrow afternoon, so who cares?