POOH BEAR REPORT - East Across the North Sea Starting: Whitby, England - 27 June 2003 Ending: Espevaer Island, Norway - 14 July 2003 Hello family and friends, The first Pooh Bear Report began in London and ended as we and Southern Cross approached Whitby. While the voyage up the east coast of England and Scotland was really a means to an end (get from London to Norway via the Orkney and Shetland Islands), travel in company with Southern Cross made that segment a memorable one; good traveling companions and enjoyable sightseeing. We encountered no really bad weather, just a near gale or two, and these occurred while in port. With only little wind on most traveling days, we motored a lot. In fact, we put 58.5 hours on the engine between Whitby and Norway. Continuing from the last report, both boats arrived off Whitby's strangely configured breakwaters well ahead of the required tide state and scheduled bridge opening. And that was in spite of deliberately sailing as slowly as possible the last few hours, a mode of sailing normally requiring no effort on our part. Back and forth we tacked for an hour. While disappointed that none of our Whitby friends would be greeting us, the dock master remembered us. And we renewed acquaintances from our month long gale-enforced stay last year. In particular, we enjoyed talking with Mike Coates aboard a magnificent Hans Christian 38. Mike and his wife were also cruising to Norway where we hoped to meet (and did). Judy and Lee shopped and, with Judy as tour guide, revisited the historical sights seen last year, but compressed into a day and a half. Our adrenalin was pumped up Sunday afternoon when the Dutch boat, to which we were rafted, made ready to leave. While they had mentioned their plans to leave, no definite time was set. Fortunately I was aboard and heard their engine start. Clearly they were leaving; and leaving right then. I hit our starter button, and even as the Perkins was cranking they were casting off lines. As they came away from the pontoon, Pooh Bear still had one line to them and one to the pontoon. The flood tide was rapidly carrying us onto nearby moored boats. Thanks to some fast work by Joe on the dock, alerted by all of the shouting, our shoreline was freed, someone on the Dutch boat threw off the remaining line joining the two boats. I jammed Pooh into gear and pulled away from the moored boats. I was livid; and undoubtedly shouted some not so nice words across the widening space between us. Certainly, my perception of the Dutch as fine sailors was quickly revised downward. Whitby is a fascinating town. We would liked to have spent more time there, but the season was ticking away for both boats. On the final day of June, at 0530 (remember what I said concerning the timing of all fair tides), Pooh Bear and Southern Cross motored through the Whitby bridge, through those strange, but very effective breakwaters, back into the North Sea, and laid a course north for Amble, a favorite stop of last year. Though only a day trip from Whitby to Amble, a forecast of deteriorating weather emphasized the importance of not being late on the falling tide at the Coquet River bar and the Amble Marina cill. This was especially critical for Southern Cross, which draws six inches more than Pooh. Although pushing a bit all the way, we did manage a sail before Coquet Island drew abeam. Amble Marina, being quite small, asked that we hold at sea until Southern Cross was fueled and in a berth. We found the marina still neat and friendly with Allan and Karen, the owners remembering us from last year. And most important, Karl's Kitchen, on the main street of Amble, still served a superb English breakfast for only $2.75! Pooh Bear was at Amble far longer than planned - eight days - partly by choice, partly by necessity. Tops in the "by choice" part was visiting with Harry and Sandy Taylor. We found great progress on one of the granddaddies of DIY projects, restoring their 1800s manor house. Also by choice was sightseeing in the Northumberland area. Ever the gracious hosts, the Taylors drove both crews around the countryside and had us to their home for a most pleasant meal and evening of visiting. On the 4th of July, the Brits joined the Yanks aboard Pooh Bear to celebrate the Independence of the Colonies. Judy and Lee put together a typical US picnic menu of hotdogs, homemade buns, baked beans, potato salad, and chocolate cake. And also "by choice" was our day in Edinburgh. Joey Gough, a retired RAF fighter pilot and sailor we met last year on the Classic Malts Cruise, offered the loan of his charts of Norway. With charts terribly pricey, it was an offer we couldn't refuse. But, how to pick them up? Ahhh! What better excuse for a trip to Edinburgh where we could visit with Joey, pick the charts, and while there, do a bit more sightseeing. Harry drove the crews of Southern Cross and Pooh Bear to Alnmouth where we caught the train to Edinburgh and met Joey, who had driven down from Rumbling Bridge (don't you love the names). The weather was warm and dry as we spent the afternoon wandering the city, then rode the train back to Alnmouth and the local bus back to Amble. A fine day. The "by necessity" part then extended our stay at Amble. I did a repeat of the middle ear thing from a couple of years ago. I rocked and rolled even in the calm of the marina. When it became clear Pooh was not going to be sailing for a few days, Joe and Lee, facing some time constraints of their own, reluctantly sailed north for Inverness and the Caledonian Canal. We regretted Southern Cross motoring out alone, but the two boats would have been leaving separate wakes beyond Peterhead in any case. For two days I stayed close to the boat while my balance unsteadily improved. Then one scary incident. Judy and I were strolling the marina pontoons one Sunday evening when I had a terrible spell and began lurching all over in spite of Judy trying to hold me up. She called for a man we had met earlier on a nearby powerboat. Between the two, they got me back aboard Pooh and in my bunk. We called daughter Karen, an RN and Nurse Practitioner in Dallas. She suggested that, under the circumstances, those circumstances being no doctor readily available, I take an antihistamine. I did and really did get steadier, though I slept much of the following day. Two mornings passed and I awoke quite steady, at least so long as I didn't lay my head way over to the left. With a good weather forecast it was time to go. We set a course for Peterhead and I made certain I avoided laying my head way over to the left. The Peterhead passage was a little over a day; mostly motoring in light airs, though we did enjoy blessed silence for six whole hours. We had pictured Peterhead as "oil field industrial" where yachts, while tolerated, might not be welcome. Maybe our picture was true at the north end of the harbor, but certainly not at the south end. The marina, very well protected, had all of the amenities desired including fuel, good showers, nearby restaurants and groceries. And the harbormaster could not have been more friendly and helpful. He even loaded me into his personal car for a drive to the Calor propane gas station. Upon our arrival, we quickly met two couples. The first was Anne and Brian Crawford. Brian was making final preparation for a cruise aboard his thirty-foot sloop around the top of Scotland via the Orkneys. Two hours after our arrival, he and a friend departed in force 6 increasing to 7 (around 25 to 30 knots) southwesterly winds. Rugged coastline, rugged weather, rugged sailors. In the following two days Anne drove us to the supermarket and to the Bullers of Buchan, a bird refuge and nesting area south of Peterhead. Only feet from the pathway, sheer cliffs with arches and tunnels carved by wind and water housed puffins, guillemots, shags, and gulls, then dropped down into crashing waves of the North Sea. The second couple was Johannes & Aud, Norwegians, on Tari. They were on the return leg of their cruise of the British Isles. As experienced cruisers, they were a wonderful source of information about Norway and the best routes across the North Sea. That evening Judy and I realized how the season was slipping by. If we were to see Norway, really our main objective for the summer, it was time to revise our plans. Reluctantly, we did what cruisers must often do - change our itinerary to eliminate the Orkney and Shetland Islands and instead sail directly from Peterhead to Norway. With a favorable weather forecast, at 0500 on 12 July we slipped our lines twelve hours behind Tari (again the best tides were at a ghastly time of the morning). Following the advice from Johannes and Aud, our destination was Espevaer, a tiny island on the west coast of Norway. Except for a bumpy first six hours where the seas rolled the almost nonexistent wind out of the sails, we had a wonderful two days and two nights passage across the North Sea. To make reasonable progress, we called on the services of the Perkins for assistance all of the first day and into the night. Our course was selected to avoid passing through any oil fields, although within sight of two fields. This does not mean there was no evidence of the North Sea oil field activity. We sighted numerous supply vessels and workboats, but none close enough to be a problem. However, on the afternoon of the first day, we made a detour of many miles to avoid a covey of tugs moving an offshore oilrig. Then came a good omen when a pod of very large dolphins played around Pooh for an hour. Later we encountered a strange looking ship either laying or burying a pipeline. Twenty hours out of Peterhead, the seas had become slight and the westerly wind had backed southerly and built to the point we shut down the Perkins and sailed on with just the sounds of water against the hull. We even let Monty do the steering thereby eliminating the ehhhh ehhhh sound Otto (the autopilot) makes when at work. The wind held south to south-southeast between 8 and 15 knots so steadily we felt no need, as is our normal habit, to put a reef in the main at nightfall. During our second day at sea the southerly faded a bit, but for eighteen hours a fair current boosted our speed towards Norway by 0.8 knots. We sighted lots of ship traffic to and from the oil fields, but again none caused concern. As our second sundown approached with a crystal clear sky and near smooth sea, Judy and I were treated to a sight few people experience. In fact, some say it is not real; it is our imagination. But 12 years ago we saw it several times when crossing the Pacific. I am speaking of the "green flash" that occurs under just the right conditions at the moment the sun disappears. It is not really a "flash", but more a green cap that appears over the sun for only a fraction of a second as the sun slips below the horizon. We think of the "green flash" as a tropical phenomena, but as that second night at sea approached, without expecting it at all, Judy and I both saw the flash, not once, but three times. How was this possible? I believe the explanation is that while the seas were quite flat, there was a small swell running. We saw the first flash as Pooh dropped towards a trough, again as we rose out of the trough on a larger than average swell, then again as we came off the swell. We were both speechless for a moment, then both talking. As an encore, not long after, to the south, a great moon hung as if painted on a blue-black background. Night watches were a pleasure. Only three weeks past the summer solstice with a latitude above 59 degrees, the night watches were almost in name only. The sky off our port side never became completely dark. It was fascinating watching the light blue and orange area of the sky slip from northwest to north to northeast before the sun once again rose. And rise it did on the 14th over the mountains of Norway. The sight was too beautiful not to be shared with my off watch mate. I awakened Judy. As the sun rose, the wind faded, and Pooh Bear motored to a landfall in Norway, as planned, at the island of Espevaer. Our log recorded we hoisted the Norwegian courtesy flag at 0740 on 14 July, Norwegian time. In the only harbor on Espevaer, we found Tari. With Johannes and Aud, we toasted our arrival in Norway with coffee. A bit later, alone, Judy and I looked at each other and voiced a common thought, "We're here. Now what"? We did spend the next seven weeks cruising Norway. We had a wonderful summer and will report on Pooh Bear's adventures in Norway in our next report. End of PB Rpt 2003-5 East Across the North Sea Bob & Judy (aboard s/v Pooh Bear in St. Katharine Haven, London, England) NOTE: PLEASE address all e-mail to: W5TFY@amsat.org. DO NOT hit the "Reply" button, even if incoming mail shows a different "Reply To" address. DO NOT address to RobertBail@aol.com. THANKS.