Rhyl to Whitby

[John E Ashford]

Rhyl to Whitby

 

We were booked on Alan Tinsley boat “WARRIOR” for our annual trip out of this North Wales venue. Just after 7pm I rang for conformation that the trip would be on! His wife answered the phone to be told he won’t be back till 8pm.

 

For any one that books boats, you know the lads will be ringing up wanting to know if the trip is on/off, so as they can get sorted ready for whatever the outcome the next day.

 

So 7.30pm the phone was buzzing, oh – ah, ring back 8.10pm I told them.

 

8pm I had contact, with the skipper, to be told the trip was off, adverse weather conditions. Again my mind went into overdrive, where do I get a boat for tomorrow at this time on a Friday night?

 

My first instinct, weather is &rap on the West Coast, so I decided to give Paul Eddon, at Whitby, a call to see if any of the skippers have had a late cancellation. His phone just rang n rang, $hite I though he’s down the pub, well it is Friday night. Quickly scouring my likkle book for east coast skippers, I tried one at Scarborough, no luck.

 

Again searching when the phone rang, amazingly it was Paul Eddon, when I first rang he was taking a call on his other phone, his crew for tomorrow had just cancelled.

 

How amazing was that, we now had our favourite skipper and his boat, TROT-ON, out of Whitby.

 

The lads started to ring in, again – here’s the response, “The Rhyl trip is off” ------“oh ^uck” ------ “The Rhyl trip is off” -------- “£asturd”

 

“But the good news is we are off to Whitby, we are on Paul’s boat TROT-ON”

 

The response from the lads was like likkle children getting their Christmas prezzies the night before.

 

3am from my house, for the 3hr trip up to Whitby, would be our starting time. Not one of the lads slept the next few hours, all turning up by 2.30am.

 

Here’s a taste of the report to come.