Like a dreary Rothko, the North Sea steadfastly refused to roll and roil. If it hadn’t been for the surly surf lapping languidly at the edge of the sands, I might have thought it a painted ocean.

Such was the welcome I received from “bracing” Skegness. The rain hadn’t stopped all day, my legs ached from driving, and the Model Village was closed. But I was on holiday, dammit, and there was ART to be had!

Before long, we were installed in our room, and the weather had improved slightly. Enough to realise that the sea-based wind-farms, notably absent in the previous scene, had marched towards the land enough to be seen!

While this picture shows the extent of the wind-farms, it doesn’t really do justice to their size. As we later discovered, they rise 80 metres above the water, with a turbine diameter of 120 metres (for reference, the London Eye stands 135 metres tall, so a turbine would just squeeze inside).

Being 5km from the shore, my camera was only able to pick up a certain level of detail, but I captured what I could.

 Now, I’ve heard talk of the turbines spoiling the view, but personally I find them majestic, and I marvel at their construction! One hundred and twenty metre (120) span! 5 kilometres from shore! I’d rather see these awesome structures marching across the horizon than a dirty coal-burner sat pouring soot and smoke out into the air!

Talking of painted ships on panted oceans, the next significant sight took the ubiquitous wind-farms as a back-drop and introduced the Admiral Benbow sea-front cafe-bar.

Nestled into the sea defences at Chapel-St-Leonard’s, the Admiral Benbow has been a labour of love for it’s proprietors, and this shows in it’s friendly atmosphere and quirky decor. On dry days, one can sit out in the Hispaniola, built from recovered groynes and wave-breaks, and enjoy the view!

While in Chapel St Leonard’s, Lucretia insisted on finding some geocaches. Unfortunately, some were placed on private land, that the golf club has now restricted access to. But we found the ones that are still available!

No walk along the beach would be complete without pictures of the sand, artfully arranged by Mother Nature and adorned with sea-shells (which can be purchased from a lady, near the beach, if the old rhyme is to be believed!). In this shot, one of the razor-shells has fallen to echo it’s namesake.

Art is all about perception, so I’m told. So I found a couple of different ways of seeing the environment, to see if the adage held true. First, a close up:

And secondly, a shot that encompasses both tricks of perception and accidental art! I was trying for a low-level shot, including the wind farms, but ended up with this, that makes the sea look a lot rougher than it actually was!

Back at the wind-farm, a ship is spotted. It must have been moving at some speed, to pass the turbines so quickly, but I managed to get a shot of it.

I presume it was as supply-vessel for the substation that sits amongst the turbines, piping the electricity into cables for transmission to the shore.

Also in attendance was some sore of exploratory vessel (I think. It might have been maintenance of some sort. I hope it wasn’t part of the fishing fleet!).

So, we took a break from ships, and had a coffee on the pier at high tide (after negotiating the Amusement Arcade that forms the entrance, and, due to strong discipline, only having a quick go on the Addams Family pinball, and a short play on the 2p falls). Not that the tide seemed any closer than low tide! While it was enjoyable, it was tinged with sadness, and I can only imagine distraught parents trying to console the child who fell foul of this tragedy:

To overcome this we went and found a few more geocaches, walked along the beach some more, and eventually found a very nice bar to have dinner (I can recommend the Big Share Platter!).

And, as with all things, our trip came to an end. With skies darkening, we gave one last wave to the wind-farms, hopped back into Li’lSuzy, and were on our way home.