We are blessed during our passage to Scarborough with some beautiful sunshine and a wind angle which allows us for the first section of the trip to sail again with our colourful gennaker.
Our expectations of Scarborough are based on the Simon and Garfunkel hit "Are you going to Scarborough fair" - on arrival, yes there is a ferris wheel, yes the boulevard is full of activity, yes candy floss is in full abundance - in retrospect maybe not exactly what we are looking for. Maybe because it is a bank holiday weekend it is more crowded than at other times. In any case we are appalled by the amount of rubbish lying on the pavements and the sight of the tourists litterally dropping their rubbish at their feet whilst the town has rubbish bins every ten meters.
We awaken the following morning to another lovely day with a forecast up to 25 degrees. First we climb up to the top of the town to buy all the provisions needed for the following days, then back to the boat to stow them away and then back up the hill again to catch a train to visit the city of York.
York itself is a spectacularly handsome city - with roots deep in British history. As we leave the railway station we immediately see in front of us the old city wall, and beyond that the river Ouse which we cross over and in front of us see York minster in all its splendour right in front of us. We spend the rest of the rest of the day soaking up the atmosphere in the back streets of York before having a slightly disappointing meal in an Italian restaurant - in any case it was a welcome rest from sight seeing.
The next day we pay our harbour fees and depart with Whitby as our next destination - only a short run this time of approximately 16 miles - as our tidal window both for departure and arrival may be no more than two hours before or after high water we kept a strict eye on the planning. Just as planned we turn sail into Whitby and realise that we have found another little gem on the Yorkshire coast of England.