Scarborough


Saturday morning was fine and sunny with not a lot of wind but following a chat with the folks from RYYC we left the harbour at about 10.30 - basically as soon as we were afloat - for the passage up the coast to Scarborough. The weather was almost idilic with a SSE3/4 which left us running with the genoa. Flamborough Head looked beautiful with the blue sea and sky and although we kept the motor running just in case we rounded the point with no drama at all.



The cliffs in this part of the world provide some of the most dense breeding grounds for seabirds anywhere in the UK and as we sailed across the bay I was happy with my binoculars spotting Guillimots, Razorbills, Puffins and perhaps the most beautiful of all Gannets. It is a shame this beautiful bird has a name with such bad connotations. Just watching its mastery of the wind currents was breathtaking. We also spotted the now obligatory seals who seem to pop up just about anywhere. I had been told that going close in to the cliffs would result in us being bombarded by territorial puffins and guillemots but sadly the wind direction meant that this wasn't an option but I was quite content watching the hundreds of birds bobbing around in the water close to the boat.

As we sailed on the wind began to veer and fill and soon we had the main up and were bowling along at a steady 5 knots.  We arrived at Scarborough with plenty of tide to spare and were met on the pontoon by our friends from the RYYC who having a bigger boat and having seen all of the seabirds before pressed on ahead. Saturday evening saw us cracking open the booze locker for an evening of convivial chat swapping sailing stories. Thats the great thing about sailing everyone is keen to talk about their experiences and share them over a drink and after a while you have met and made new friends - albeit transient ones!



We had never been to Scarborough before so were looking forward to having a look around. Initially it was a little disappointing as the expansive yellow sandy beach was bordered by chip shops and amusement arcades however after a couple of days in the town it is possible to see the grandeur of the place beyond the chips and ice cream!

We spent a couple of days there having a look around and also taking advantage of the wide pontoons and close proximity of the hosepipe to give the boat a bit of a clean. On Sunday morning we visited the local Baptist Church  - a very small but friendly congregation with an amazing preacher. Surprisingly this church has a steeple - very unusual for Baptist Churches - which we were told is visible quite a long way out to sea and was used by sailors in the days before GPS to take bearings  when approaching the harbour. On Monday after a massive cleaning session we climbed up to Scarborough Castle for some amazing views out to sea, an interesting walk around the ruins, and also a visit to the grave of Anne Bronte in the church next door to the castle. It also gave us a chance to see the more elegant and less commercial North Beach with its sweep of very grand houses and greens leading down to the beach - in  a way I couldn't decide which part of the town I preferred the regency splendour of the north beach or the brash friendly south beach. 




Tuesday morning saw us heading off towards Whitby but I have an inkling we may return to Scarborough again but maybe by road!

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