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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| A final shot from the impressive North Yorkshire coast. |
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