Two go Sailing

We chugged quietly out of Lossiemouth at about 7:30am the weather was still set fair and the breeze was a good F4 but from WSW exactly the direction we needed to go. Still it was too good a wind to waste so we hoisted full sail and set off across the Firth with our back to Lossiemouth.   Off we went in this direction bounding along at about 5K cross tide and feeling great. After about an hour I went below to log our position and work out the reciprocal course after a tack - I appeared back on deck to confirm to the skipper that despite all of our efforts if we tacked back in towards the coast we would be precisely 1 mile closer to our destination (and possibly less if the tide picked us up and pushed us back)!   We had left Lossiemouth with another boat that we had seen intermittently on our journey along the coast who was also heading from Inverness and I think they must have come to exactly the same conclusion as us since suddenly we were both rolling in headsails and motor...

Our next passage was a relatively short 25 miles along the Moray Firth to Lossiemouth, this would then leave us a manageable sail to Inverness and then into the Caledonian Canal.   We left Whitehills at a reasonable 8:30 am, squeezing through the gap in the harbour wall which really looked too small for us to fit through, hoping to carry the tide along the Firth to Lossiemouth. The tides in this area flow in the opposite direction to that shown in the tide atlas! There is a note in one of the pilot books warning of this and a conversation with Bertie the HM at Whitehills explained why this happens - although according to Bertie the streams are very weak at about 1K - which for a fishing boat isn't much but could be about 25% of our speed so we would like it going with us rather than against us! The weather forecast was full of the “Big June Heatwave” with tales of temperatures in the high 20’s to low 30’s south of where we were, we felt a bit cheated as we pulled on our th...

As promised the Peterhead morning was quiet and sunny and at about 8am we dropped our lines and with permission of the harbour master motored gently out into the open sea. We were heading for Whitehills Marina on the Moray Firth where the harbourmaster Bertie is becoming a bit of a legend amongst yachties in this area. That was the destination but first we had to deal with Rattray Head! As I explained last time this insignificant looking bump on the Scottish coast can be anything but insignificant to a sailor and the challenge of it had featured in a few of my less comfortable dreams! This morning however the Big Man upstairs was looking after us and the sea was calm the wind gentle from the SW and the sun shining. We diligently steered for our plotted waypoints 2 miles from the lighthouse and passed gently around the corner with no trouble, indeed our passage was monitored by a couple of interested grey seals who swam along with us for a bit. That said it was still quite exciting...

Again this was another leg of compromise. We had looked at stopping in Montrose - the pilot books say they welcome yachts - but had been advised by local skippers that the wash from the large commercial vessels passing makes for an uncomfortable berth. We had also looked at Stonehaven which everyone told us was a very pretty harbour but again it is drying so we would have to time our entrance and exit very carefully. We could have done that but it would mean that we may miss a weather window to get around Rattray Head which we couldn't risk. Rattray head is another insignificant looking bump on the coast of Scotland but is a very difficult stretch of water with big tidal currents, shallows, rocks, reefs and overfalls. The received wisdom is go round either with the tide slack or with you, the wind in the same direction as the tide (and hopefully in the same direction as you) and between 2 and 5 miles off the coast! In the words of one Scottish fisherman I spoke to "Aye it ca...

The Scottish weather gods did not appear to be on our side and a look at the 7 day forecast was filled with the number 6 and above. Although we are able to sail in a F6 it's not that comfortable its quite hard work inevitably wet and not something we particularly enjoy! Our initial plan had been to leave Eyemouth for the small holiday town of Anstruther spend a day or two there and then move on up the coast to Arbroath however the delay in Eyemouth meant that this journey would be quite difficult as both Anstruther and Arbroath are drying harbours and so getting in and out requires a certain tide level, Arbroath even has a set of gates which close either side of low water! Looking at tide times meant that we would not be able to leave Anstruther and get to Arbroath before the gates closed (they only operate the gates when the HM is on duty so if the high water is overnight they stay closed!).  After a bit of thought we decided that we really wanted to press on north and the f...

After a couple of warm sunny but blustery days we were now ready to leave Amble after staying a little longer than anticipated. The weep from the hull fitting cured and a reasonable forecast saw us motoring out of a damp still Amble at a reasonable 09:45am. Our initial plan had been to move on to Holy Island and anchor there overnight but the weather forecast was not good and there were dire warnings in the pilot books about not anchoring in the area when strong winds were forecast - so the decision was taken to carry on to Eyemouth. As we motored out of the shelter of Amble harbour there was not a breath of wind and the sea had taken on that inky calm reflecting the grey skies overhead. The wind instrument was reading SSE 1knot and our ensign hung limply at the back of the boat so motoring was on the cards again! Fortunately there are no depth restrictions at Eyemouth harbour so we didn't have to rush or keep up a speed. We motored on past Northumbrian castles, through th...

As to be expected the Spring Bank Holiday Monday dawned grey and overcast making Blyth seem even less attractive. We had several hours to kill while we waited for the tide so set off for a walk to see a bit of the town. A short walk from the harbour we stumbled across a beautiful park with tended flowerbeds children's play areas a splash area and formal gardens- sadly we didn't have time to explore it to its full extent but at least we left Blyth with little more of an idea of what this Northumbrian town was really like rather then the industrial dock area we could see from the boat.  Just after lunch we slipped our lines for the relatively short passage to Amble, the weather forecast was for winds of F2/3 and overcast. The wind was very light and because we had to make Amble with enough water to cross over the cill into the marina we couldn't afford the luxury of simply drifting in the light winds. Tidal gates are a real issue on this part of the coast and not somethi...

Sunday dawned overcast and not as warm but the forecast was for WSW 4 occasionally 5 so we decided the time had come to move north again to Blyth. We knew that Blyth harbour was very industrial and not a pretty place to go but it is home to the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club who had been highly recommended as a friendly hospitable crowd. The RNYC clubhouse is also the oldest floating wooden lightship in England and we were told does a mean Sunday Lunch so the challenge was to get to Blyth in time for lunch! We locked out of Hartlepool into what felt like a F5 so we set the sails but reefed them down quite hard. As soon as we had rounded the headland it became clear that the wind was a bit more than 4 occasionally 5 and I was glad we had shortened sail early. The wind instrument showed a consistent F5/6 with occasional F7 gusts the sea was also building into a short sharp chop which can get quite wet! The advantage was that the only water we were seeing on deck was spray and not r...

Another dry warm day predicted and again no sign of any wind! We were also approaching spring tides so the tide was flowing quite fast. We motored quietly out of Whitby to be met by a glassy sea and a slightly misty horizon. There was no point in hoisting any sail since even the windspeed indicator at the top of the mast was saying 0! On we chugged in not very good visibility heading towards Hartlepool. This was the view from the boat most of the morning spot where the sea ends and the sky begins! I really wasn't certain about Hartlepool the bits of it I had seen previously had been of a fairly run down town, however we had heard good reports of the Marina and we knew it was home to HMS Trincomalee and the naval museum so thought it would be worth a visit. The forecast was also for the weather to break over the Bank Holiday weekend with thunderstorms and high winds so we felt happier being in a sheltered marina rather than in a smaller more open harbour. As i said th...

Another hot day was predicted for the South of the country and it wasn't too bad as we left for Whitby although the wind made getting off the pontoon in Scarborough quite tricky and as we were at half tide on a falling tide there wasn't a lot of room to manoeuvre but with some hauling on ropes by the HM on shore and some deft engine work by the skipper we made it out and set off for Whitby.  As promised the weather was hot and sunny - although not as hot as the London area - but with little or no wind so we chugged gently along the coast with the tide under us making Whitby a little earlier than planned.  The large dredger in the harbour entrance caused the skipper to fret a little especially when he didn't respond on VHF16! He did however appear on deck pull the bucket in and wave us past on his port side! Chugging into Whitby I wish I had at least combed my hair as we were being photographed and filmed by lots of folks on the harbour wall! As we were early we...

Saturday morning was fine and sunny with not a lot of wind but following a chat with the folks from RYYC we left the harbour at about 10.30 - basically as soon as we were afloat - for the passage up the coast to Scarborough. The weather was almost idilic with a SSE3/4 which left us running with the genoa. Flamborough Head looked beautiful with the blue sea and sky and although we kept the motor running just in case we rounded the point with no drama at all. The cliffs in this part of the world provide some of the most dense breeding grounds for seabirds anywhere in the UK and as we sailed across the bay I was happy with my binoculars spotting Guillimots, Razorbills, Puffins and perhaps the most beautiful of all Gannets. It is a shame this beautiful bird has a name with such bad connotations. Just watching its mastery of the wind currents was breathtaking. We also spotted the now obligatory seals who seem to pop up just about anywhere. I had been told that going close in to...