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After a couple of legs of the return trip (Bradwell to Walton on the Naze, Walton on the Naze to Lowestoft) I discovered problems with the rig of the boat whilst attempting Lowestoft to Grimsby and made the decision to pull into Wells. The roller reefing wasn't furling properly as it was very old and the tuffnell bushes were worn. This had resulted in the forestay fraying at the top and the sharp frayed bits had cut through the jib halyard which had dropped down the mast. Having found the problems but not yet seen the extent of the damage I was a few miles out into the Wash when the sky suddenly went black and I was hit by strong winds from the North which coupled with the strong spring tides made progress practically nil (I was doing about 1/4 of a knot over the ground). Unable to pile on more revs on the outboard which was new and still running in I had to give up on Grimsby. Wells it was but I had to motor there and it was going to take a couple of hours. Looking at the chart and reading the pilotage I decided it wasn't an entrance I was keen on attempting in the dark so I anchored up a couple of miles along the coast to the East and waited for dawn and high water.

I ended up staying in Wells for a lot longer than planned. It was hard to source new roller gear at a sensible price and I was let down a couple of times over a Plastimo 608 which was never delivered. In the end I got some assorted headsails from ebay and had a conventional  forestay made up. The mast was finally raised with the help of Steve and his big cat Mistoffolees - we used his spinnaker halyard to crane the mast up - thanks Steve and to the other guys who helped out. I made some good friends in Wells in the time I stayed and left after 48 nights.

A few days before leaving and whilst I was still waiting for bits to arrive from ebay I helped to sail the big cat from Wells to Hull and had a fast trip in nice but chilly conditions and I then returned to my boat for the trip up North. Leaving right on top of a neap tide I slipped moorings at 1.30 and made my way into the channel and out of Wells. I touched bottom a couple of times and felt the boat slow as she slid into mud. In one case I had to back out with the outboard and try another route. It would have been annoying to be stuck in the channel for a tide but not fatal as she is a bilge keeler.

The first thing I discovered as I was out by the clearwater buoy was that the brand new Raymarine Tiller Pilot didn't work. It had decided it's role in the game was to flash random rubbish on its display and permaently try to turn hard to starboard whilst beeping so Mailspeed will be getting that back. Other than that nothing broke. Crossing the Wash I had a grey sky and grey sea. The visibility wasn't as good as when I'd crossed on the cat a few days earlier and having left with the tide at lunchtime it was soon five o'clock and dark so I settled down with my flask and a roast chicken in a bag to snack on.  There were a few big ships to dodge crossing the Humber but it wasn't too bad. Dawn found me passing Bridlington. It was nearly low water so I decided I would press on a few miles and anchor up off FLamborough Head for a few hours of sleep. This is a very picturesque little anchorage although a bit exposed with a bit of swell. The main problem though was that someone had extensively lobster potted the place. After I had set my anchor I was worried about retrieving the gear as I realised that there was a pot very close by that I hadn'r spotted. So I slept there for a few hours then when I woke up I decided I would move round to Scarborough and have another rest so I upped anchor in the afternoon and moved further up the coast on the last half of the ebb.

Scarborough was a very peaceful place to anchor - I was in perfect flat calm conditions and so I set the anchor alarms and after I was sure I wasn't drifting I  crashed out for a long sleep. In the morning I had been planning to row into the harbour in the dinghy and get a couple of cans of fuel but when I looked in daylight I was anchored a bit further away from the mouth of the harbour than I was up for rowing so I checked the fuel stocks and decided I could safely press on to my next stop - Victoria Dock in Hartlepool - so I pulled the anchor up and set sail, punching a couple of hours of foul tide (fairly weak) before getting the tide behind me.

I arrived outside Hartlepool to be met by a profusion of red and green lights and it took a few minutes to figure them out and work out how to get into the dock. I got myself in a slight pickle on the pontoons as I jumped ashore holding my bow and stern mooring lines to discover that there were no cleats on the pontoons - just ropes permanently made fast o take back the other way. I'd also accidentally left the outboard slow astern and the boat started to trundle off slowly backwards whilst I figured this out but I managed to swiftly jump back on and sort things out. The hardest part of these trips seems to be getting the boat safely tied up at the end compared to the actual sailing. Anyway I got away with it. I'd been hopping to pop ashore for a pint and maybe get the fuel but I was faced by a locked gate and abrbed wire to get off or onto the pontoon so I settled down for the night sober. In the morning a very kind chap gave me a lift in his car to fill a couple of fuel cans and then I departed for Newcastle.

The inshore forecast was a bit inclement with 7's mentioned and the netbook battery had gone flat so I'd not been able to get a forecast from XC weather but it wasn't blowing anywhere near as much as forecast so I rigged my smallest headsail and set the main up reefed. In the end most of the trip wasn't too windy at all though it did blow up a bit as I entered the Tyne which may have been the most hair raising bit of the trip. The waves between the piers that guard the entrance to the Tyne were pretty big and as soon as I was in I discovered that the great big ferry to Holland was coming out so I had to go into a holding pattern in a shallow area until it had gone away. After that it was a motor through Newcastle's industrial heartlands until I arrived at the marina where I will overwinter.