The Sailing McKale’s

23/11/2023

Looking forwards to catching up with everyone ⛵️

📣 A reminder to our berth holders that we are having a special 'Nautical Night' and end of season social on the evening of Thursday 30th November. Pie n Peas supper in The Lock and sailing chat from some of our mariners. £5 pp. Details on the poster. Book in advance at the Marina Office.

07/10/2023

Looking for delivery crew to sail James Cook from North Shields to Ipswich. It’s refit time. For details

http://www.oytnorth.org.uk/news/help-delivery-james-cook-to-ipswich-

08/09/2023

Warm welcome back from Royal Quays Marina ⛵️Thank you !

⛵️ We were delighted to see The Sailing McKale’s on board 'Laura' as they arrived back at Royal Quays Marina on a rather misty September morning. Since setting out from the Tyne on 4th June 'Laura' has visited many beautiful parts of the UK and has berthed in all of the 🔟other boatfolk marinas along the way 😮
🍻 Welcome back to Royal Quays 🎉
(You can catch up with their adventures on The Sailing McKale’s fb page)

08/09/2023

📢 Ahoy there! We're pleased to announce a special, limited-time offer for services in the boatyard here at Royal Quays Marina.
ℹ️ The offer is available to non-berth holders and visitors, as well as to berth-owners at Royal Quays. Get two weeks storage ashore for the price of one, plus save an additional 20% off the normal prices. Includes lift-out, pressure wash, set down in the yard, two weeks ashore and a lift back in to the water. Offer is valid until 30th October (T&Cs apply). To make a booking please contact the Marina office on 0191 2728282 or email [email protected]
👍 Ideal if you need to give your boat some TLC, or missed out on doing the antifouling earlier in the year.

05/09/2023

Tomorrow we say farewell to Dover and set off in the early hours with the tide on our last leg towards the North East and ⛵️ We’re taking advantage of the fine weather & looking forward to spending a few days at sea. Catch up soon ! ⛵️

05/09/2023

Essential improvement and maintenance projects  Piling: The piling project continues at a steady pace. As of 28th August pile number five was in situ

05/09/2023

Sunset over Dover

05/09/2023

Walk along the Coastal Path and the White Cliffs of Dover to South Foreland lighthouse. Beautiful 😍

05/09/2023

We arrived in Dover after a pleasant sail with a beautiful sunset and glimpse of the blue moon. Saturday brought a beautiful summers day but no wind so we motored in the morning in flat calm. On arrival to Dover we radioed Dover Port Control and received our clear instructions to enter the East entrance and make our way across the harbour to the marina. The currents across the entrance we really strong se we entered almost sideways, revving the engine but once in it became calm again and we found our way to our allocated berth on the new marina. Again, the currents were quite strong with the spring tides so a little bow nudge on the jetty 😬 but got secured then it was off for a dog walk & check-in ⛵️ ⛵️

01/09/2023

On our way again ⛵️ We’ve left Portsmouth after a good few days - caught up with friends old & new & a trip down memory lane for Rob. A photo of the Tank too for you old submariners. Good weather for leaving Portsmouth harbour but very busy as usual - avoiding ferries, tugs, police boats, hovercraft, yachts, dinghies and aircraft carriers ⛵️ Very interesting! Heading eastward now

31/08/2023

Issued today by Port of Tyne and shared for the benefit of Royal Quays Marina berth owners
Notice to Mariners No 28 of 2023: Safety Share - Use of Personal Flotation Devices
👍 Please take heed of this important advice from Port of Tyne.
ℹ At the recent RNLI Lifejacket Safety Clinic held at Royal Quays Marina, the RNLI Water Safety Team checked 14 lifejackets of which 12 had out of date automatic capsules and 2 had loose CO2 cylinders!!
All Port of Tyne Navigational Notices can be viewed here: https://www.portoftyne.co.uk/marine-information/navigational-information/notices-to-mariners

31/08/2023

💥 This weekend we have some of the highest and lowest tides of the year. The lowest tide is on Saturday 2nd at 12:07 (0.08 m). Even Thursday's low tide (0.31 m above chart datum) gave a timely reminder of why not to ‘cut the corner’ when approaching the Royal Quays Marina.
Please take extra care when locking in and out around low water. When approaching the marina from either direction keep to the starboard side of the main channel until abeam of the Mill Dam Buoy (red port channel mark) before turning following a direct line to the lock entrance keeping parallel to the quay wall on your port (south) side.
ℹ️ The big tides will continue over the weekend and into early next week, and you are likely to experience a much stronger current than usual. (Hopefully you will have it with you!) You might want to take account of this when planning your passage.
If you're heading out on the water over the next few days then we wish you fair winds and following seas.

30/08/2023

Goodbye and thank you and hello ! Bit of a bumpy ride out of Cowes harbour with strong currents but a great trip over the Solent. Beautiful day so quite a bit of traffic and we had to dodge a bit of traffic at one point. Wind dropped right off on approach but typically picked right up with strong gusts just as we were heading into our berth. We blew in & I got an ‘excellent’ from the first mate - mooring without incident 👍

30/08/2023

29/08/2023

Here we are in Cowes now - a short trip over from Hamble yesterday. Not much wind for the trip over but strong currents at the entrance to Cowes Harbour. Passed the chain bridge and got safely into our berth at ⛵️ Once secured we went on a walk and over the chain bridge into Cowes for a wander about & a few drinks. We ended up staying later than expected after meeting Sam & Simon from Southampton who had just decided to pop over in their motor boat for a pint 🍻 Hope they made it back safely - thanks for the chips guys 👍

29/08/2023

Enjoyed a 12k run along the beautiful Hamble River and a trip on the pink ferry. Such a picturesque place with lovely villages 😎Ready for Sunday lunch.

29/08/2023

We had a brilliant 2 night stay at Burlesdon on the River Hamble. So picturesque and peaceful, despite the many boatyards, marinas and thousands of boats of all different shapes and sizes. Lovely walks to great pubs too 😍

28/08/2023

After a short stopover in Poole we were off on our way again, heading along The Solent and up the Hamble River. It was busy but calm leaving Poole Harbour but then once out of the harbour it became very lumpy with dark clouds looming. We managed to stay dry and skirt around the rain clouds although the currents were very strong passing The Needles and we got tossed around a bit! We found out later that there had been a waterspout off the coast of The Isle of Wight - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-66632419. Check it out ! Once in the central Solent, the wind dropped off, the sun came out and we had a busy but pleasant trip. It was great seeing racing yachts with their colourful spinnakers in the wind. We turned into Southampton Water, passing the Disney cruise ship coming out of Southampton and turned up the river Hamble to Deacons Marina. There is a double high tide at Burlesdon where we were headed and so we had clear instructions to time our entry to the marina between the two high tides to avoid the strong currents. Thanks to that, we arrived at our allocated berth and moored safely without any problems. Many thanks to Alex

28/08/2023

We said goodbye to and had a pleasant sail along the Dorset coast , past Swanage Bay and Old Harry rock formations into Poole harbour, past millionaires row at Sandbanks & past the chain ferry. The wind really picked up and the harbour was as busy with leisure and commercial traffic. We got blown into our berth in Poole Quays. Full astern to stop bumping into the jetty! Got tied up safely and time for a few drinks at the Jolly Sailor on the quayside and fish & chips Friday takeaway back on board. Perfect !

28/08/2023

Just so you don’t think we only go out in sunny weather 😂 We had a lovely walk up to Easton in Portland & the heavens opened ! Absolutely drenched 😂

28/08/2023

I've received 200 reactions to my posts in the past 30 days. Thanks for your support. 🙏🤗🎉

24/08/2023

Sailing around the Uk & calling in at all 11 marinas in the boatfolk group 😍⛵️

24/08/2023

Advance notice from Port of Tyne of an exclusion zone on the south side of the Tyne on Sunday 10th September 2023
That will be Day 🤔 Wonder who the "fast jet flying display" will be 🔴🏹s?
⚠ NAVIGATION NOTICE NO 8 OF 2023: South of River Tyne Exclusion Zone - Sandhaven Beach to Frenchmans Bay Area.
"Notice is hereby given that there will be a fast jet formation flying display at South Shields between 1340 and 1415 BST on Sunday 10th September 2023. An exclusion zone has been created for the safety of the public and display crew." Vessels are requested to stay clear of this area.

23/08/2023

Another beautiful day - just a short motor for us from round to ⛵️

22/08/2023

The picture postcard village of Sutton Poyntz 💕

22/08/2023

Had a great walk today - along the promenade at Weymouth then a loop up to the Osmington White Horse, an image of a horse and rider in the hills. It was 11miles round trip but such a beautiful day and fantastic views from the top.

22/08/2023

Moving on ⛵️! We left Plymouth and had a leisurely sail along the coast to Weymouth. It was a bit lumpy at times when the wind was against the tide but mostly plain sailing ! We made a big loop around Portland Bill to avoid the races there but made good time and arrived too early for the bridge to lift in Weymouth. We popped into Portland Marina for a few hours and refuelled there, then continued on to Weymouth and motored slowly into the beautiful harbour. There is a waiting pontoon just before the Town Bridge and we had 10minutes before the 10am bridge lift. It was a lovely morning and so there were 8 boats queuing to come out and then it was our turn. We were ready to go straight through so the bridge could be lowered quickly and got safely tied up in our allocated berth.

19/08/2023

We arrived in Plymouth for the finale of the International Fireworks Festival- best seat in the house 🥰

19/08/2023

Sunset over Lands End and sunrise over Plymouth breakwater. We said farewell to Portishead and had a lovely sail around the Devon and Cornish coasts into Plymouth Harbour. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Scilly Isles as we were again keeping ahead of the strong winds we’ve had the last few days. We entered at 07.00hrs having had very useful information emailed about our berth number. There was even someone there to catch our ropes - at 7am ! Thank you for such a warm welcome. ⛵️

15/08/2023

Lovely day out in Bristol yesterday- Clifton Suspension Bridge, SS Great Britain, Banksy, Observatory and Giants Cave. Recommend the delicious cake & coffee at the 360 cafe at the Observatory 😍

15/08/2023

I never tire of watching lock gates - fascinating ! Love these ones at Portishead Marina as the entrance completely dries out at low tide.

11/08/2023

Bye bye Penarth & hello Portishead. Lovely sail across the Severn Estuary today ⛵️

10/08/2023

Wanders around Cardiff Bay & Penarth

10/08/2023

Some photos from my trip to Caernarfon. Fantastic day out - thoroughly recommend going to the castle. Very interesting & informative as well as great fun ! It’s like a maze with lots of towers and turrets to climb and you can go pretty much everywhere.

05/08/2023

Successful fishing trip 🎣- dog bed retrieved from the marina ! (no dogs were harmed during this exercise) 🐶

05/08/2023

Cardiff Bay Barrage - so pleased to see you !

05/08/2023

We made it to Cardiff ! Safely in Penarth Marina after a very bumpy 41 hour sail from Conwy. We made the decision to go for it and set off on Wednesday before more gales are due to arrive tomorrow. We had the sails up, fully reefed, also motored to try and make the trip a bit more comfortable 🤢 Winds were force 4-6 and sea moderate to rough pretty much the whole way. We made good speed though - 12kts with the tide. Great job Captain Rob ! We did ponder the question ‘why do people buy yachts’ 😂 We were so pleased to get into the lock at Cardiff Bay Barrage and then a welcome berth and shower at Penarth Marine. Ready for fish & chips and an early night ⛵️

31/07/2023

Well here we are, still delayed in Conwy due to these very strong and unpredictable winds. Even in the marina we have really felt these gusts over the last few nights. Hopefully we’ll be able to get on our way by the weekend 🤞In the meantime we’re enjoying beautiful Conwy and the surrounding area. Many thanks to all the friendly and helpful staff for letting us stay and making us welcome!