When I was still operating, I used to tell my trainees that 'a plan is a very good basis for changing your mind'.  I visited the facilities early and checked the latest weather forecast from the Met Office: this now called for F3/4, sea state moderate, so I was optimistic that we might not have to stop at Hartlepool after all, and might make it to Whitby.  Whitby had always been one of the target visits for this trip. We had been there by land a few years ago and really loved the ambience, so our plan was to take a day off here irrespective of the need to get ourselves home on time.  So we left the harbour at 0620, with extraordinary rolling surf coming through the entrance, waves still hammering the breakwater and still plenty of rock'n'roll in the sea, though not as bad as yesterday. We were close to Hartlepool by 0900, which would be decision time, checked crew strength (well rested and no longer queasy, though not yet up to pizza for breakfast), and called Whitby by mobile phone to check our depth for an entry around 1430. HM confirmed we would be OK and also that he would find us a berth, so we pressed on. Visibility was very poor much of the time, and we deployed radar and nav lights, especially rounding yet another crowded anchorage off Tees entrance.  The wind did freshen up to 22-24k by 1300, enough make our approach to Whitby harbour interesting, but we were thrilled to see the hazy outline of Dracula's Whitby Abbey appearing out of the mist on top of the East Cliff. We had one additional hazard to negotiate: a large cruise ship was anchored right in the fairway to the harbour entrance, and was loading and unloading passengers to go ashore in ribs. We circled round this obstacle, only to be met by a flotilla coming out, with ribs bound for the cruise ship, fishing boats, jetskis,  pleasure craft out for rides round the bay, a fully decked out pirate galley, and the Captain Cook Experience, a trip in the original Whitby lifeboat, crammed with trippers, all watched by huge crowds of holiday makers thronging every inch of the harbour walls in what was now a very pleasant sunny afternoon. Quite a welcome, we thought!  Access to the upper harbour and marina in the River Esk is via a swing bridge which opens every half hour for 2 hours either side of high water (1430 today), so we called the bridge and marina (they both communicate on channel 11), and held station mid river waiting for the 1430 opening, watching the throngs of animated day trippers amd holidaymakers.   There was a real carnival atmosphere, as if the whole world had come to join in the fun.  Our HM later said this was just a normal day and we should just wait and see what the mayhem is really like on Whitby Regatta weekend, just coming up. The marina is sited on two long pontoons on the west side of the river, and the HM was waiting for us and squeezed us into a rather tight space on the second pontoon. We had made it, the sun was shining, and we were looking forward to a day and a half enjoying Whitby. We took a 10 minute walk to the bridge and just made it across to the east side before the 1600 opening, and wandered round the quaint cobbled streets that weave up the hill towards the 199 steps that climb up to the Abbey. Cate found another Wool Heaven - Bobbins - so I left her there and continued to browse. The Captain Cook Museum was shut, so I earmarked that one for the next day. We dined royally on fish and chips aboard from one of the several finalists in the chippy of the year competition for 2012: there must be at least 30 chippies in the town! Finally it was nice to retire knowing we did not have to get up early next day, and hoping for more of this warm sunny weather.