Two night watches and one day watch later we arrived early morning – still in the dark – at Newcastle. With Storm Benjamin lurking threateningly only a short distance to the south it was felt sensible to wait it out. The entrance to Royal Quays Marina is a lock and not a lot wider than the Tecla, so it took some fairly masterful boat handling to get in, up against the jetty off to one side and then back out the other side to moor up. Once in a very welcome breakfast was served and, while the rest of the crew made plans to explore Newcastle, I decided that I would head home from here …. A much easier final journey than the longer and more convoluted one through the Netherlands. The end of what has been an amazing trip through some of the harshest and yet most beautiful landscapes around. Landscapes formed by forces beyond our imagination and yet people have made them their homes for many centuries despite the clear hardships they have had to endure.
Herring drifter to Newcastle
