We had a very gentle last day’s sail from Hartlepool yesterday, calm sea and warm breeze.  We had to leave early to get through the lock so we had an unhurried motor-sail to Runswick Bay, where we dropped sails and had lunch.  The bubbly was cold enough by then so we were able to leave the engine off and enjoy a delightful broad reach sail home to Whitby.  The first highlight of the day came as we left Runswick Bay, when I got a text telling us to look behind, and we could see Mike and Wendy waving from the headland;  I couldn’t believe they had arrived just as we were sailing by.  The magic continued all the way into Whitby, it turned out to be Whitby Regatta and both sides of the river were thronged with people so we had an amazing, accidental welcome  –boats dressed with flags, people cheering, truly incredible.  The bridge was open so no waiting and the harbour master squeezed us onto a pontoon berth so friends could come aboard.  Lucky, privileged, emotional, humble  - I could keep going with how I felt but in truth there are no words to describe it.  Thank you to everyone who turned out to meet us or sent messages of congratulations, you all made the day so special.

Statistics now – we travelled 1581 nautical miles and were away for just over 3 months, or 102 days.  We thought we would travel over 2000 miles but realise the shorter distance was because we sailed across bays and estuaries rather than into them.  We had 50 stops along the way and our longest passage was 63 miles around Cape Wrath and along the top of Scotland, from Kinlochbervie to Scrabster.  Along the way we’ve raised £305 (plus gift aid) for the RNLI – if you’ve enjoyed the blog and haven’t already done so, please consider making a donation www.justgiving.com/Catherine-Gledson (this link is also on the first page of the blog beside the map).

All good accounts finish with acknowledgements, so here goes:  Firstly, thankyou to Juniper.  She has tackled each passage with enthusiasm and tolerated our many mistakes with good humour – she’s a stalwart and a credit to Hunter Boats.  Thank you to all those who took our lines or gave us the benefit of local knowledge to help us on our way.  Thank you to all those who came to meet us and share a meal as we travelled round the country.  A special thank you to those who gave us a bed when the weather was rough.  Above all, thankyou to all of you who’ve been following this blog, sending us messages and encouraging us along the way – people make journeys special and you have all been amazing.  Enjoy the photos (courtesy of Wendy, Liz and Ginny) and now there can be only one ending – ‘Yacht Juniper out’.