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Wight Mistress’s Round Britain Trip
  • Steve and Barbara White,
  • Steve and Barbara White,

Wight Mistress’s Round Britain Trip

We have been thinking about this for some years and are now getting no younger. At 71 we have just decided to get on with it, so watch this space. For some odd reason Find Penguins has us in 'Woking.' Trying to sort this out as we are at home. Läs mer
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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär

    Wed 19 Aug, Tourists in Hartlepool

    19 augusti, England ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Spent the day exploring the Royal Naval Museum and HMS TRINCOMALEE over in the corner of the marina and short walk from Wight Mistress.

    https://www.royalnavymuseums.org.uk/visit-us/ha…

    If you ever come to Hartlepool, please do come and look at these; the folk looking after both the museum and the ship are doing a superb job. Very friendly AND they give discount on entry for Veteran IDs and Blue Light cards. The Hartlepool Museum is on the same site and access is free. Very interesting. We also found out why folk from Hartlepool are called ‘Monkey Hangers!’

    People from Hartlepool are called "monkey hangers" because of a local legend from the Napoleonic Wars. A French ship wrecked off the coast, and the only survivor was a pet monkey wearing a French military uniform. Because locals had never seen a Frenchman or a monkey before, they held a trial and accused the animal of being a French spy, eventually hanging it on the beach

    It seems the local rugby club has a soft toy monkey, called H’Angus, who is hung from their goal posts before a match.

    Moored next to the museum is a paddle steamer called WINGFIELD CASTLE. She looks quite sad and delapidated and we understand there is a team engaged in bringing her back to her former glory. Not sure of her future but we really hope she is presented as beautifully as HMS TRINCOMALEE, who, by the way, is afloat in her dock.

    On our wander around the marina we chanced upon another vintage vessel called ‘Watchful’ She is now a restaurant but during the Second World War she was active during Operation Dynamo, the extraction of the army from the Dunkirk beaches.

    Found a bar and sat in the sunshine for a couple of hours, watching the world go by.
    Hartlepool has a lovely marina – we haven’t ventured further out yet.    Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär
    LionheartLionheart

    Thur 20 Aug, Staying Put in Hartlepool

    20 augusti, England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    There is a F6 blowing outside and heavy showers persisting down, so we have decided to have a rest day and catch up with things like the blog, sleep, chilling etc.
    This morning while on a ‘constitutional’ Steve observed the Hartlepool Lifeboat being hoisted out of the water. Beautiful vessel.

    Moored next to us is a red yacht called ‘LIONHEART.’ Built from scratch over 21 years by owner Norman Brown, she is 42 ½ ft overall and has a ‘double wishbone A frame main mast and a similar mizzen mast, both made of carbon fibre. She has all kinds of mod cons and Norman plans to have her completed by the end of the summer, with the target of sailing her to South Georgia. What a project!!    Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär

    Fri 21 Aug, Lumpy Run South

    21 augusti, England ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    To take advantage of the southbound tidal stream and the winds from the north, we departed Hartlepoole just before 0700. A well lumpy swell, estimated 2m+ with sea abaft the beam and a Chesapeake Bay Reef again, we aimed for Whitby (25miles ish.) By the time we got close to Whitby, we called the Harbour office on the phone to ask them what the swell was like across the harbour entrance. They reported the swell was large and across the harbour entrance and that none of the fishing vessels were going out today. Command decision took us further south to Scarborough where we arrived at 1430. Parked astern of us is a Dutchman and a German and they are both heading across the North Sea to Denhelder tomorrow, a trip of approximately 55 hours. They are really hoping that the swell will have eased down and the winds will be slightly more agreeable. It looks like the weather might abate a bit tomorrow, but we will reassess in the morning. If all things are good, we may aim for Grimsby next. Now, breakfast!! Speaking of which, after a nap (becoming essential) we wandered ashore for fish n chips. The one recommended by the harbourmaster had a café (closed) and the chippy was queued out into the street. We found ‘The Golden Grid’. Excellent fish n chips. Move over Rick Stein 🤣. Watching weather, may stay a second night and do the tourist thing. tomorrow. Off to bed.Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär
    Wight Mistress on Marine Traffic
    Wight Mistress on Marine Traffic

    Sat 22 Aug Overnight Passage #1

    22 augusti, England ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Scarborough to Lowestoft (140 miles)

    After tummies full of fish n chips and a good night’s kip, we spent breakfast discussing our plans made for the trip down to Grimsby and on to Wells-Next-the-Sea, with the tides, tidal streams, entry times, exit times, lock times and so on.
    We did a lot of playing with the numbers and then went with our gut feelings when Barbara said ‘shall we just go direct to Lowestoft?’ Deliberations showed a 140 mile voyage which would take 28 hours at 5 knots, making a day and a night at sea. We had deliberately avoided overnight sailing so far, out of choice, but the additional call of home drew us inexorably (and very quickly) to the agreement to get underway and ‘just do it.’

    1235 saw us depart Scarborough. Filey and Flamborough headlands seemed to take an age to wave goodbye to us but eventually we were suitably offshore (Starlink conveniently acknowledged this and cut the connection for a while.)

    The wonderful things about sailing overnight, especially when the wind and sea are a bit nicer is that we could enjoy the sunset, the night sky, and the amazing lights of the wind farms as we passed through the wide channels between them.

    The North Sea is absolutely awash with derelict rigs and wind farms and all the associated paraphernalia that supports them. Plenty of marker buoys flashing white lights Morse * * - (U = You are standing into danger) marking the dying remnants of a bygone era. Plenty to navigate by and keep safe.

    When I mentioned the wind and sea being ‘nicer’ call that not enough wind to maintain our 5knots Mean Line of Advance (MLA) so we motored most of it……again) BUT it was a comfortable night.

    We arrived in Lowestoft the following day at 1715, 28 hours 20 minutes after leaving Scarborough. The curved coast around Norfolk goes on FOR EVER!!! Moored in the marina owned by the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club, our friend and fellow Fisher owner Charles Morland contacted us. Charles lives close by and is a very experienced sailor. Knowing the typical needs of seafarers, especially after a bit of a long-ish trip (and both in our 70s) he very kindly offered to run us to the supermarket to stock up on essentials (y’know, chocolate, biscuits, tea bags, cake and a few other bits and pieces.) Charles is a brilliant engineer and fix-it person and he is keen to fit a furling system to his mainsail, so allow him to continue sailing well into his 9th decade. Delighted, we invited Charles onboard in the morning.

    Just after securing alongside, chap happened along to admire Wight Mistress (like so many folk do.) Anyway, a bit of a natter and we ended up in the bar (big surprise) for just a couple of glasses of something, then pulled stumps and stumbled back for well-earned kip. We might have eaten something, but as I write this after the fact, neither of us can remember.    Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär
    WM in her berth at RN&SYC
    WM in her berth at RN&SYC

    Sun 23 Aug, Arrived Lowestoft

    23 augusti, England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We arrived in Lowestoft the following day at 1715, 28 hours 20 minutes after leaving Scarborough. The marina is well protected if with a bit of the swell through the entrance.
    The curved coast around Norfolk goes on FOR EVER!!!

    Moored in the marina owned by the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club, our friend and fellow Fisher owner Charles Morland contacted us. Charles lives close by and is a very experienced sailor. Charles is a brilliant engineer and fix-it person and he is keen to fit a furling system to his mainsail, and he wanted to see how our set up work. A furling mainsail will help him to continue sailing well into his 9th decade. Delighted, we invited Charles onboard in the morning.

    Just after securing alongside, chap happened along to admire Wight Mistress (like so many folk do.) Anyway, a bit of a natter and we ended up in the bar (big surprise) for just a couple of glasses of something, then pulled stumps and stumbled back for well-earned kip. We might have eaten something, but as I write this after the fact, neither of us can remember.    Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär
    Royal Norfolk & Suffolk YC
    Royal Norfolk & Suffolk YCCharles visits usMet up with Kel and Jackie again

    Mon 24 Aug, Catching Breath in Lowestoft

    24 augusti, England ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Shortly after breakfast, who should knock on the ‘door?’ You may remember, dear reader, of our sojourn in the Caledonian Canal, where we stopped and ate at the Eagle Barge Restaurant (Friday 17 July) and we met up with Kel and Jackie onboard their motor cruiser ‘Boisterous Mistress?’ Yep, they had been on their own journey and had just arrived here too. We spent a lovely couple of hours nattering and comparing experiences. They had had some engine problems (not good for a motor-cruiser.) Kel had very kindly donated us a 5 ltr can of engine oil when we were in the Caledonian Canal, so it was a real pleasure to donate to them a (nearly) full bottle of diesel bug cleaning additive (like Marine 16 but called something else.)
    It is lovely when a charitable act can be returned isn’t it.

    Charles arrived a little later and had a good look around Wight Mistress, especially at her ‘’behind the mast’ mainsail furling system. He lives close by and is a very experienced sailor. Knowing the typical needs of seafarers, especially after a bit of a long-ish trip (and both in our 70s) Charles is a brilliant engineer and fix-it person and he is keen to fit a furling system to his mainsail, so allow him to continue sailing well into his 9th decade. We talked things Fisher and had a hot drink and then Charles very kindly took us to the supermarket to stock up on essentials (y’know, chocolate, biscuits, tea bags, cake and a few other bits and pieces.)

    Dropping us off outside the yacht club (The one way system in Lowestoft is horrendous) we accidentally bumped into a low flying ice cream parlour on the front.
    Fighting off the shy talks, we braved the sunshine and view and consumed our ice creams. There was one young’un standing there, giving us the shy-talk version of the ‘evil eye’ (they really don’t teach their young to beg in a nice way, do they?) We ignored the little darling.

    Spurred on by the overnighter, which we did with comparative ease, we decided that the next leg would be Ramsgate (72 miles, crossing the Thames Estuary) just another long day really), where Mike is joining us again and where Steve and Mike are heading off to see an old navy mate, Dick Joy, who now lives in Maurice House, the Royal British Legion (RBL) home in Broadstairs.

    We went into the yacht club with Kel and Jackie, had drinks and dinner with them and nice chat. However, with the prospect of an early start tomorrow, we made our farewells quite early we headed off to bed and set a couple of alarms for the morning. Just before settling down, and with the wind howling, Kel came by and asked us if we were really going to set sail in THAT? Our reply was that we reserved the right to decide in the morning, and we went to bed.    Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär
    Ba enjoys a wrap snack
    Ba enjoys a wrap snackSizewell C Reactor1Guess what these are

    Tue 25 Aug, Lowestoft to Ramsgate

    25 augusti, England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Woke at 0430 to find the wind had eased a little, but as with the North Sea, we discovered that the swell had a mind of it’s own. Working on the principle that the nasty bit should abate once off the shallow bits, we braved the…….things that sailors brave, and took off like a scalded cat. True, getting out of Lowestoft Harbour and around the narrow channel between the shallow bits was a tad lumpy, true enough, as soon as we arrived in deeper water the whole world settled down a bit and we settled down into our 72 mile passage, along the Suffolk and Essex coasts and across the Thames Estuary, dodging the wind farms. I don’t know and am not bothered by your opinion, dear reader, of offshore wind farms and I am not about to share ours, BUT in a peculiar way, they are actually quite beautiful.
    The sunshine was wonderful, we had favourable winds and very carefully calculated use of tidal streams and we sailed all the way to Ramsgate. It was one of those sailing passages (a bit like a good golf shot) that makes you want to do it all again and makes you (temporarily perhaps) forget the bad ones.

    Mike was there, video’ing our entry into Ramsgate and then meeting us on the pontoon after ‘legging it’ round from the light house’s vantage video’ing point to the marina (quite a jaunt.)

    We were all quite tired, us from the voyage and Mike from public transport, so we inhaled a spaghetti Bolognaise and hit the sack.    Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär

    Wed 26 Aug, the Final Leg, or is it?

    26 augusti, England ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    We had thought about a stopover in Eastbourne, Brighton or Shoreham, but looking at the speed-time-distance, optimised by best use of tidal streams available, and therefore the sort of time we would be approaching such venues, we decided to press on to Island Harbour in one go. I think the heightened desire to get home had something to do with this decision, however from a navigational point of view it all made sense to do this.

    This trip of 124 miles comprised, in broad chunks: Ramsgate to Dungeoness (30 miles), Dungeoness to Beachy Head 30 miles, Beachy Head to Selsey Bill (40 miles, spookily the longest leg) and Selsey Bill to Island Harbour (24 miles.)

    (Officially we closed the Round Britain loop at 0253 as we passed the point where we turned back just before Beachy Head in a horrible easterly blow on 20 April. Ran back to Brighton for a couple of days.)

    Departed Ramsgate at 1440, made Dungeoness at about 2040 (6 hours,) Beachy Head at 0220 (5 hrs 40,) Selsey Bill at 1005 (7 hrs 45), were between Horse Sand and Nomansland Forts at 1145 and alongside in Island Harbour, shut down at 1337 (3 hrs 35.)

    ‘I love it when a plan comes together’

    As we approached our berth a load of Island Harbour sailing friends were onboard their boats, sounding their horns and generally raising up a storming welcome.
    Wight Mistress was lightly adorned with the courtesy flags of all the significant places we had visited and stepped ashore.
    The 6 P’s had flipped to the fore, as we ‘just happened’ to have a case of champoo in the fridge. Our lovely friend Lyn brought around one of her famous cheesecakes and we enjoyed a couple of hours of boisterous chat and bubbles.
    At some stage we retired, tired and emotional, to bed.

    So. In summary (after the first trawl back through a very thick logbook and I reserve the right to amend the figures where I find errors (and to protect the innocent.)::

    10 April, left and headed east
    22 April, headed back from Brighton to Island Harbour ( flying along all the way downwind on a Chesapeake Bay reef - did 51 miles in 8 hours with good favourable tidal streams, even though only Neaps +1 - you will remember the very strong and persistent easterly winds?)
    7 May, departed Island Harbour heading west
    27 August, arrived back in Island Harbour

    For the statistically minded:

    Total mileage 1906
    Total days 140 inclusive
    Total days at sea 65
    Total days alongside 75 75
    Total engine hours 306 306
    Total diesel consumed 933 ltrs 933
    Average fuel consumption 3.05 ltrs per hour 3.05
    Total spent on diesel this trip £793.62 £793.62
    (NB we started with full tanks, total 414 ltrs)

    Barbara and I hope you have enjoyed this blog. Please keep an eye on it for a while as we have a lot of photos to upload and now we have time to do it properly.

    Our thanks go to all those lovely people who engaged with us during this wonderful experience. In particular:

    David and Kerry, our son and daughter in law (and next door neighbours) who looked after our home while we were away, stocked the fridge, managed the window cleaners etc etc.

    Steve and Rachel Morgan, old friends from the RN, who took us up homers for a BBQ and to meet their friends. Steve is a volunteer on the vintage Brixham trawler ‘Pilgrim’,

    Mike Smyth CF28 EX-REA of Fisgard (and Steve’s brother from another mother) - our video expert, webcam spy and provider of weather snippets, rude comments and general banter, as well as joining us for the passage from Dundee to Berwick upon Tweed and again from Ramsgate to Island Harbour. And for generally leading Steve astray!!

    Sam (Steve) and Ellen McLeod. We met them in Campbeltown. Sam and Steve served together years ago. and Sam is also a retired submariner. It was really lovely to see them.

    Catherine and Steve Bunn F35 PJ Fisher. Catherine joined us at the top of the Inverness staircase to lend a hand, then Steve and Catherine invited us home for a break, do laundry, go sightseeing, buy provsions etc. THEN they sailed in PJ Fisher in company with us up, across the Pentland Firth and into Scapa Flow in the Orkneys and spent a bit of time with us there too.

    David and Christine Dawson F37 Lunga. They drove all the way from Ullapool to Culloden (55 miles) to pick us up, takes on a tour of the highlands and back to their house in Ullapool for a lovely meal, THEN drove us all the way back. Another lovely experience.

    Charles Morland, F30 Hedda, who came to see us in Lowestoft and took us shopping.

    Alan Ward F30 Northeaster North Star, who maintained comms with us and kept us up to date with Fisher Owners Association while two of the flag officers swanned off Round Britain.

    Steve and Steph Rodgers, our friends in Plymouth. They took us home to ‘sleep in a real bed for a bit.’ A lovely sojourn in Plymouth.

    Kel and Jackie, Broome 37 Boisterous Mistress, who we bumped into along the Caledonian Canal and again in Lowestoft (small world.)

    Richard Brockelsby, Colvic 32 Ketty II, who we met in the Crinan Canal and again in the Caledonian Canal. Richard was sailing single-handed around Britain, raising funds for a Parkinsons Disease Charity. Last time we spoke he was on his way from Yarmouth to Poole. We wish him all the very best for a safe return to Plymouth

    I am sure I have forgotten key members of this lovely bunch of people so as advised by St Francis of Assissi, I beg your forgiveness. I will continue to update and correct for a while before committing this to the god of blogs and get it printed.

    Yours aye

    Steve and Barbara White
    SV Wight Mistress    Läs mer

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  • Steve and Barbara White,Wight Mistress’s Round Britain TripResenär

    Back in Island Harbour

    28 augusti, England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
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    27 augusti 2026