The final push to Whitby

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Rose
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Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:55 pm
Location: Plymouth, at the moment

The final push to Whitby

Post by Rose »

Lowestoft to Scarborough and Finally Whitby.

Sometimes I surprise myself. After the decision had been made to attempt most of the final leg in one 33 hour trip, our longest by far, including 2 nights at sea, I expected to be terrified. In actual fact I wasn't. Nervous, yes. Apprehensive, certainly, but not terrified. I realised that I now felt relatively confident in our ability to passage plan safely, to make plans for unexpected conditions and to handle the boat under an array of conditions. We waited for a window and watched the weather eagerly. Our chance came. Not the best wind but fair weather and seas and more importantly it could be our last chance to make it in reasonable time before the wedding. Jeff began to get stressed. I could tell because he talks more when he is stressed. It appears like he is talking to me but in fact I think its more that he is talking to himself out loud; checking his decisions with himself to make sure they sound as sane aloud as they do in his head. When I get stressed I go quiet. Jeff talked. I nodded. Jeff asked questions. I nodded. Team work! He watched me, waiting for me to change my mind or panic but although I felt stressed I was excited and confident in us.

On the evening of September 2nd, at 5pm and after Jeff had put in a full day of work, we left Lowestoft and I took first watch so Jeff could attempt to relax after a hard day. In reality I don't think either of us got much rest or relaxation for the next 2 nights and 1 day we spent at sea. I felt calm on my own as Jeff and Lunar snuggled up safe down below. The sunset turned the sky fiery orange and the Milky Way shone above; the sheer number of stars mind blowing. I was even treated to a spectacular fireworks display that lit up the skies over land. I felt so at peace that Jeff made me jump when he called my name and came out for his turn on watch. I didn't sleep but after a coffee I felt refreshed enough for my next watch and managed to time it just right to see the glorious sunrise. We took turns on watch for the whole trip, three hours on three hours off. We sailed, we motored, I read a brilliant book, I saw puffins and Lunar got cross at an oil rig that scared her. For a large part and for the first time I remember we were at sea without sight of land. We were alternately thrilled, bored, tired, nervous, excited, stressed and content. By the early hours of Saturday morning I was on watch and only mildly hallucinating. Fishing buoys were jumping out at me trying to take me by surprise but I was too quick for them. Just as I convinced myself I could hear voices off the starboard side Jeff came out to pilot us in to Scarborough whilst I had a quick refuel of Mars bar and coffee before attaching ropes and fenders. By 2am we were moored and although beyond tired we cracked open a bottle of wine. Well it would have been rude not too! We rocked!

We were also completely knackered. The next morning we woke (well I was dragged awake by Jeff who informed me that I needed to get up at a "normal" time so as not to get the equivalent of jet lag or whatever) in sunny Scarborough. Very much beyond surreal. At once familiar and strange; the shops and streets and sights we were so used to from our childhood found a new dimension from our view from the marina. Sneakily when Jeff's mum rang to see where we were we told her we where still in Lowestoft as we wanted to surprise her. A check of the weather and we realised the next day would be good for our final hop. We rang our families and to say they were surprised at our imminent arrival may be an understatement. As they collected themselves and began to tell friends of our plans Jeff, Lunar and I spent the day as tourists in Scarborough.

At 9am on Sunday morning we set off on our last leg. I felt both excited and sad. The phone didn't stop ringing with family keen to know our ETA. So much so that we had to tell them to stop ringing as we had some sailing to do. As we approached I realised I felt a little apprehensive and possibly a bit embarrassed that so many people were planning on greeting us in to the harbour. I am quite shy at heart! I prepared a bit of lunch, mostly just to keep myself occupied as Jeff was in charge on deck. As I raised my fork to take a mouthful Jeff shouted, "I can see the pier ends!" I almost choked.

The last hour or so was a bit of a blur. One minute I felt numb, then excited, then I cried, didn't want to go in, couldn't wait to get in. As we rounded the Bell Buoy I began to clearly make out our family and friends waving various random flags and cheering. A little boat zooped out to meet us with three of Jeff's parents friends aboard all cheering, smiling and congratulating us. I was at the helm and trying to wave, smile, steer and avoid crashing into other boats so it all went by in a bit of a muddle for me. As I turned into the wind for Jeff to take down the sail I saw my mum running along the front waving at me. She followed us all the way up as we hailed the swing bridge and it was opened for us. I have walked over that bridge so many times and waited both patiently and impatiently for it to close again in order to get to the other side of town but never expected to be in a position to have it open for me to pass through. Finally we were greeted by Whitby Marina and we moored up. I think I was shaking. We secured the ropes and before I knew it Jeff had popped a bottle of champagne and glass in hand we kissed; congratulations, relief and such a sense of achievement. It wasn't long before our very own personal welcoming committee joined us with more bottles of fizz, paper cups, words of congratulations, appreciative back slaps, questions and much excitement!

We had done it. We had done good!!
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