August 25th 2013 - a great day's sail to Spurn Point

All our sailing had been either around the area near the marina, or up river.  We wanted to sail down the Humber to Spurn point and have a bit of time in the open sea and the weather and tide times were ideal today.  Kal the cat was delivered to his big brother Gareth's home and Andy (Sam's stepdad) joined us, complete with his recently acquired fishing rod!  We penned out of the lock at about 1130 and found near ideal force 3-4 wind from the NE, giving us a good beam reach most of the way.  The combination of wind and tide saw us making our fastest SOG to date, with 10.6 knots being achieved.  We overtook two other yachts and enjoyed a great sail, with such ideal conditions.  I would normally allow about 4 hours to get to Spurn, but we made it in less than two and a half hours, sailing close by the Bull Sands Fort which is a fascinating structure from the Frist World War, built to guard the entrance to the Humber.  Whilst rather derelict looking, it is still an impressive sight and well worth a look.  We sailed on past into the open North Sea, Phira going like a dream.  We decided to anchor up for lunch and went back to the sheltered area in the bight of Spurn Point, which is a popular anchorage for small craft.  In 2.8 metres of water, Andy manhandled the anchor and chain and it soon took hold on the sea bed.  It was a beautiful day and sitting at anchor, eating bacon butties was a wonderful feeling - one of those 'this is what we do it for' moments.  Andy got his fishing rod set up and with some bacon fat bait, cast into the water.  It wasn't long before he got his first bite! We watched in anticipation of a fine cod, or such like.  Up came the line, with a small crab on the end!  Tenacious little devils, he finally gave up his grip on the bait and fell back into the water.  Andy cast again.  A couple of minutes later, another bite.  Another crab.  This process was repeated about half a dozen times, sadly all crabs being way to small to eat!  Upping anchor was trickier than we expected - we don't have a windlass and it took a lot of heaving to release the anchor - well done Andy, you'll have muscles like Popeye after doing this a few times!  It was 1615 and we set course back towards Hull, again sailing well, spotting a seal close by, and keeping out of the way of some vast commercial shipping.  A few motor boats came by near the exit from King George dock, seemingly unaware that the huge Pride of York ferry was just emerging.  It was quite scary seeing them 'buzzing' around the ferry like flies round a bear, obviously oblivious to where they should be on the river.  We arrived at the marina just in time for the lock opening and were back on our berth at 2000.  A great day's sailing, with a few firsts to chalk up.  Well done Sam, for helming most of the way back and learning to read the chart and thanks to Andy for the winching and heaving!