As we were due a late start we fancied a cooked breakfast, and on local advice headed to Jasper's, and also did our provisioning at Tesco across the road.   At 1020 we set off for Hartlepool, a 45nM passage, knowing the conditions were not going to be great. We followed our talkative HM's directions out of the harbour and past the threatening rocks off the shore, motoring inside Coquet Island with its impressive lighthouse. Once clear of the hazards we bumped our way southeast, again with a growing sea and strengthening wind, dodging fishing pots which are plentiful and it always seems to us  placed surprisingly far offshore in deep water.  Because of the worsening conditions I had set Hartlepool as our target, but had waymarked two possible boltholes if things got too rough, Tynemouth and Sunderland, both with secure harbours, and I called in our passage plan on that basis to Humber Coastguard. By the time we reached the huge tanker anchorage off Tynemouth (1500) we were already getting tired of the buffeting and Cate was feeling a bit unwell, but we made the decision to press on further. However, by Sunderland (1600 hrs and 28nM on) things had changed, and neither of us fancied another four hours of torture, so we called up the harbour and changed course for shelter. As we approached we heard VHF traffic from a very scared sounding skipper of  yacht Tertia 12M off Hartlepool with engine failure, with Humber CG coordinating a rescue by lifeboat. Our actual approach to Sunderland  was itself rather alarming, with enormous waves breaking on the south harbour wall and on rocks to the north, and Vega still giving us a bucking bronco ride.  Once deep into the very wide outer harbour the worst of it was over, and we were able to wind our way past the boats on residents' mooring buoys, swaying wildly, and round into the shelter of a very smart large marina, where we were directed to a berth. We had tied up and were starting to put the boat back to rights again - lots of loose bits inside had taken flight while at sea - when the HM came down and told us we had been given the wrong berth and would have to move! We did so quickly, with his help taking lines, and finally settled down at around 1800. While enjoying our usual evening prayers, we witnessed a disturbing scene of animal cannibalism: two swans stole the carcass of a dead gull from another gull and were tearing it apart with gusto.  As far as we are aware, swans are herbivores, so this must be an unusual  sight. Sunderland is an excellent modern marina, with CCTV and electronically controlled gates and very high quality facilities. We climbed a long flight of stone steps to the clifftop road above the marina and scoped out the pubs for our evening meal, but opted for the Marina Vista, a modern Italian restaurant on the top floor of the harbour/marina building. We had good pizza, half of Cate's brought back as a takeaway for tomorrow's breakfast or lunch. We had a quick look at the forecast for next day, which looked like more of the same, but I reckoned that at least we could bash through it all and get to Hartlepool, only four hours away, so we retired with that plan in mind.