Blyth

Sunday dawned overcast and not as warm but the forecast was for WSW 4 occasionally 5 so we decided the time had come to move north again to Blyth. We knew that Blyth harbour was very industrial and not a pretty place to go but it is home to the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club who had been highly recommended as a friendly hospitable crowd. The RNYC clubhouse is also the oldest floating wooden lightship in England and we were told does a mean Sunday Lunch so the challenge was to get to Blyth in time for lunch!

We locked out of Hartlepool into what felt like a F5 so we set the sails but reefed them down quite hard. As soon as we had rounded the headland it became clear that the wind was a bit more than 4 occasionally 5 and I was glad we had shortened sail early. The wind instrument showed a consistent F5/6 with occasional F7 gusts the sea was also building into a short sharp chop which can get quite wet! The advantage was that the only water we were seeing on deck was spray and not rain! 

We did talk for a while about cutting the trip short and heading into Sunderland if the winds got any stronger but as the hours passed the wind slowly moderated to a steady 5 and by the time we passed the entrance to the Tyne (our second alternative destination if the weather turned worse) we were sailing nicely in the predicted 4/5. 
Passing the entrance to the River Tyne


Closing on Blyth harbour the wind dropped even further and we ended up motoring the last 1/2 mile as we didn't want to miss lunch! 

We tied up in Blyth marina at about 1.45 and made it into the lightship by 2pm (last orders 2.30!) where we were treated to a monumental roast dinner which neither of us could finish at a price that couldn't be dreamt of in the South!

Later that evening we went back to the bar for a drink and were promptly invited to join a group of RNYC members on a members boat for drinks and pizza we eventually ended up playing a Spanish game involving lots of dice and probability all a bit much for me but the skipper and his partner won the game! - My partner and I cam last! We had been told they were a hospitable lot!


Sadly we had decided that we would only stay one night in Blyth as we wanted to push on as the weather was looking better but we had a great time!

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