Friday, May 8, 2015

North Yorkshire Day 5 – Sunrise at Saltwick Bay




I motored over to Saltwick Bay for sunrise with a song in my heart and woolly hat on my head, as I wanted to get an early morning shot of that most ubiquitous of views from this part of the country, the Admiral Von Tromp.

In October of 1976, this fishing trawler ended up on the fearsome rocks of Saltwick Bay and came to a rather sticky end. Why it came aground is still a mystery, the only person who could say, was one of two crew members killed that day, and the only one at the wheel. Despite modern navigational equipment it ended up 90 degrees west of its course, with the subsequent investigation stating that even if the boat had been left to drift, it wouldn’t have been on such a heading, it had been, either through error, or worse, deliberately sailing in that direction.

A view of Black Nab and the fleeting pre-dawn colour. The wreck resides just behind the rocks of the nab.

The upshot of that incident has left a fair portion of the boat marooned on the rocks, and it makes for a compelling image. So as I rolled up I was somewhat dismayed to see the sky had started without me, and the rich, velvety red of the pre-dawn light, was in full swing. It was doubly disappointing as I still had to get my boots on and take the path down to the bay, all of which used up precious time.


I managed to capture the last of the light.

By the time I had scrambled down to the shoreline I could see the light already beginning to fade and it was going to take at least 10 minutes to get round to the wreck, so I got a few banker shots of the ocean and remaining light to try and make the most of what there was. Within 5 minutes it had disappeared.


Another shot of the picturesque Black Nab.

There was a lot of cloud in the sky and it didn’t look promising, so what with the tide already quite high, the idea of clambering over a lot of boulders to reach the wreck, and then having to return in some haste before I was cut off, didn’t fill me with much enthusiasm. It would have been different if I’d known where I was going, but floundering around in the low light, and with my propensity for bumbling over anything that isn’t razor flat, it seemed more hassle than it was worth.


After the clouds had taken over the sky.

I hoped that after the sun rose from below the horizon, some colour would return to the clouds, but it never happened, grey was the order of the day, and it didn’t budge an inch. I was lucky to have caught what little light there was, but I couldn’t help kicking myself for not getting up earlier.

I hung around for a while getting shots of the nabs, as even though the sky was grey there were some nice tonal graduations to it, so I spent some time with the camera, watching the tide come in, and covering the rocks with some speed. After a while I clambered back up to the car and headed back to Whitby.


Looking across to the other end of the bay.

The rain was starting to come down and it was forecast to stick around for most of the day, so after spending some time on the moors, which I was hoping were going to be atmospheric in the drab weather but were just boring, I decided to head back home.


A final shot from the impressive North Yorkshire coast.

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