It was a shame club power members missed out on the trip up to Sunderland on Saturday 27th July as it was such a beautiful day. The sea was amazingly flat which is a rare thing at Hartlepool. Mike Walker is to thank for organising the trip and arranging a visit to Sunderland Yacht club for lunch. I wasn't so sure that the tides were good for it, however Mike had it all sorted out and we left at about 11am as the tide was going out. Most of the marina also seemed to be heading up to Sunderland also. A steady stream of craft had been leaving the marina all morning which had kept the Coastwatch duty officer busy recording the vessel, number of occupants and general direction. The sea was smooth all the way up and it was pleasing to be able to ski most of the way to Sunderland for the first time.
At Sunderland there was a small flotilla, probably about 50-60 vessels of all shapes and sizes. Yachts,powerboats, jetskis, trawlers, even the DFDS ferry had come along to take in the show. As soon as we stopped the fishing started, Lawrence and Nick in competition for Mackerel. In the end they had about nine by the of the day.The Red Arrows came along at about 1pm and put in a thrilling show of flying skills with many of their trademark manouvres. Close formation flying, split second turns, diving, climbing and smoke trails kept the crowd entertained for half an hour. There were some great displays from the Navy and Army Air Corps in the Lynx and Apache performing frightening manouvres. The BBMF flight was also great to see with the Lancaster accompanied by the Mk PRXIX Spitfire and a MK IIc Hurricane.
We departed about 4pm from Sunderland as the sea state was beginning to change. Suffice to say it changed considerably by the time we returned to THYC and we were all pretty damp and shaken up from a rough ride home! A great day out though!
