26-29 May 2000 Colin and Jayne Firth - Cruz, Jenya David Evans - Family 14, Sona Tim Roberts - Kittiwake, Koriana Ed and Len Wingfield - Dockrell 17, Goosander Bill Jones, Rachel Ryan - Cruz, Arion Mike and Margaret Jones - Shipmate Senior, Dabchick Colin Passe (no boat - crewed Goosander) Bill Steeds + grandson - (no boat) My Rally - Tim Roberts of Koriana Approaching Holy Island in any weather conditions, by land or sea, never fails to impress me. The island is absolutely soaked with history, real history. Cut off from the mainland at half tide, with Lindisfarne "Castle" rising out of the low ground straight from a Robert Louis Stevenson novel, it is a place of beauty and solitude. For those of us who try to carve out some pleasure from sailing on the North East coast, Holy Island holds a special place in our hearts and minds. With various safe mooring options, for those on a passage between England and Scotland it is the place to call-in to en-route. For those of us who cruise dinghies it does something more, it gives us a leaping off point for one of the most outstanding areas of natural beauty in the country, the Farne Islands. Having only just joined the DCA, I was keen to make the most of a rally taking place in my area. In fact it's that close to me that I over estimated the time it would take to tow my boat there, and consequently arrived just after the causeway was vacated by the falling tide at lunchtime on Friday. I needn't have worried, there was already a DCA member rigged and ready to go! Ed and Bill, the organisers, arrived not long into the afternoon and I followed Ed around like a lost puppy until I had wrung every ounce of useful advice from him. With the tide receding all afternoon, the opportunity to launch my Kittiwake 14, Koriana, using the slip, was lost. On closer examination, however, with the assistance of some more of the DCA team, we floated her off using the postage-stamp sized beach at the side of the slip. With Ed dressed for a remake of Scott of the Antarctic, we sailed out into Holy Island Sound. At low water lots of sand bars rise out of the water, like Pacific atolls. There is a navigable channel within the Sound that from the air looks like the Brands Hatch circuit, and with Ed piloting we set off round the course. Half way round and you are suddenly there, live, in an episode from The Natural World. A colony of over 200 common seals were waiting for us on the other side of a sand bar. On our approach they hit the water in a great wave, like surf smashing onto the shores of an Atlantic coast. I almost felt guilty about disturbing them...almost. Sammy the Seal they are not, and they kept us at a healthy distance, diving below the surface once we entered their exclusion zone, but reappearing a moment later to check on our position. With faces like labradors, it is easy to identify with them , they are just wonderful. We completed our circumnavigation with huge smiles on our faces and took Koriana into the Ouze to lay at anchor for the night. What a difference the next day brought. Heavy rain, having arrived just before dark the previous evening, signalled it's intention to outstay it's welcome, and was accompanied by strong winds. Both combined to necessitate the introduction of Plan B. Kitted out for a transatlantic crossing, we climbed into our cars and crossed to the mainland to glean more of the maritime history of the area. The Grace Darling museum in Bamburgh, run by volunteers and owned by the RNLI gives a graphic insight into an act of extreme bravery by the Longstone lighthouse keeper and his daughter one night back in the late early 1800's. It also goes a long way to show just how easy life has become for us today. Grace was to die a month before her 27th birthday. With the cessation of the rain, a lightening of the skies (and was that the wind easing?), we bolted down our barmeals and raced back to the island. The wind hadn't really slackened but once again with one reef in the main, and Ed's father Len as crew, Koriana showed her spirit and nosed out into the Sound. Prudence soon dictated that we give up any idea of another circumnavigation, and so dropped the main and screamed back into the safety of the Ouse. Both Friday and Saturday night ended with a solid meal and good ale in The Ship. Holy Island, although not the quietest place at low tide during the day, becomes a quiet sleepy little hamlet as the waters lap over the top of the causeway. There is limited accommodation and no camping other than aboard your boat below the high water line. There is no queing to get a drink, and always a table available in the restaurant. Oh yes, Northumbrian food portions....large! Wow! What a day dawned on Sunday morn. Blue sky and a fair northwesterly. See those skippers scrambling to get to sea! Koriana and Ed's boat Goosander set course for the Farne Islands. Escorted by a pair of porpoise we made good time to Inner Farne and anchored within The Kettle. Nothing quite prepares you for this experience. Anchored in shallow waters behind a reef of black dentine rocks, with the crashing surf, the cries of skuas, puffins, (straight out of an Enid Blyton "Adventure" book,) and seals, I have never experienced such exhilaration. The memory will last forever. After lunch Ed set sail to round the Longstone Light whilst Len and I made our way back to Holy Island. Time had run out for me. I needed to be back at the slip with enough tide to get back onto the trailer. My weekend was over, my family commitments demanded a halt to this self indulgence. For adventure, scenery, wildlife and company you're going to have to work hard to beat this, the only NE Region DCA rally this year. If you weren't there then I'm sorry, it was your loss. Bravely done Ed & Bill. Well met all those others who turned up and waited patiently for the weather window. For the rest, think hard before dismissing the next NE rally, they are worth the effort.