The lock gates opened at 11:30 And we set off to do the 40 mile trip to Eyemouth. In the harbour it had been flat calm and it was a surprise to find a good sailing wind outside. The wind was not quite where we wanted it but at least there was wind!

The Bell Rock lighthouse – Firth of Forth

A good sail was had out and past the Bell Rock lighthouse. It was now apparent that we would not get to Eyemouth until after dark if we kept sailing, so it was time to motor sail.

The boredom of motorsailing was broken only by being continually buzzed by fighter jets; Eurofighters which are incredibly noisy. Contrast this with the elegant squadrons of Gannets which were flying across Dawn Treaders bows on a mission of their own.

We had a smokies and brown bread for lunch and then soaked up the sunshine as we crossed the Firth of Forth.

Sunset over the Firth of Forth

Bella Rosa overtook us also heading for Eyemouth. They later helped us moor as we came alongside them in Eyemouth.

Eyemouth harbour

The entrance into Eyemouth is very shallow and we were coming in an hour before low water. We were just about to come alongside Bella Rosa when we touched the bottom. A quick reverse out the way we has come sorted the problem out and we were soon alongside.

Looking back out of Eyemouths narrow entranc

Tomorrow we leave Scotland – the border with England is only a few miles south of Eyemouth – and head for Amble, picturesque river and a a marina. The weather is breaking again and Amble looks a good place to be stormbound!

Today’s Passage stats

Arbroath to Eyemouth: 45 nm / 9 hours

Sailed 2 hrs / motored 7 hours

Total distance run since start: 1226nm

Leaving Aberdeen in the Murky weather

Prior to leaving we fixed a mainsail batten car which had come apart. Dawn Treader uses Friedriksen sliding ball cars to reduce mast friction but the ball and socket press fit joint had come apart. A bit of gentle persuasion with mole grips soon had it back in service. A spare will be order to be picked up further on.

Batton Car which had to be repaired

As we left Aberdeen we were greeted by soft rain and a lumpy sea but no wind. After a few hours of motor-sailing the sun appeared, the wind picked up on the beam and we were sailing again at a steady 7 knots.

Montrose harbour – another busy commercial port – opened up our on our starboard beam. We decided to keep out.

Montrose – we hurried past!

The far prettier town of Arbroath lay 20nm further south. We slalomed our way through a maze of fishing pots – all with trailing lines waiting to snarl the unwary yacht.

The entrance to Arbroath harbour opened up and in we went. To be greeted by yet another friendly harbourmaster.

Arbroath harbour

Arbroath, in Angus, is famous for its Smokies. Smoked haddock – a fish low in bones and very tasty Local legend says that a shop caught fire one night, destroying barrels of haddock preserved in salt. The following morning, the people found some of the barrels had caught fire, cooking the haddock inside. Inspection revealed the haddock to be quite tasty!

Round the quay and the rest of the town some 15 local businesses still produce Arbroath smokies, selling them in major supermarkets in the UK and online. We had Smokies for supper, with brown bread and white wine. Lovely.

Tomorrow takes us 40nm across the Firth of Forth past the infamous Bell Rock light house, to Eyemouth and nearer the Scottish border with England.

Today’s Passage Stats

Aberdeen to Arbroath: 44 nm / 6 hrs

Sailed: 2 hrs / motored 4 hrs

Total distance since start: 1181 nm

A few miles south of Peterhead we passed Slains Castle, near Cruden Bay, which is reputed to be Bram Stokers inspiration for Dracula. We hung the garlic on the hatches as we passed as it looked ‘well spooky’ from offshore!

Slains Castle, Cruden Bay

Aberdeen is a very busy port which we were told would not be ‘yacht friendly’. We called up Aberdeen Vessel Traffic Services, expecting to asked to move on … , but they were as nice as could be. We were asked to hold station outside while a number of big ships came in and out.

The AIS picture – Dawn Treader – waiting to enter Aberdeen Harbour

Then, after a cup of tea, clearance was given, we were told to proceed to the end of the Albert Dock and in we went at the advised full speed.

We are currently at the head of the Albert Dock tied up against a classic yacht – Duet – a 22m, 100 year old, gaff yawl formally owned by the Courtauld family; also on her way around Britain, but going the other way.

Duet

Interestingly tonight we have Dawn Treader (CS Lewis – Narnia) lying alongside Duet, who is is one of the vessels owned and operated by the the Cirdan Trust. (Cirdan is a character in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien).

The Cirdan Trust provides adventure sailing for young people. Here is a link to Duet’s round Britain blog.

Tomorrow (Monday) at 07:00 we plan to leave for Arbroath. A nine hour 45nm trip.

Today’s Passage Stats

Peterhead to Aberdeen: 25nm / 6 hrs

sailed : 2 hrs / motored 4 hrs

Total distance since start: 1137 nm

Fog Horn Gas Alert

Firstly whilst rummaging around in the cockpit under-seat locker the gas canister on a hand held air powered fog horn started to empty.

This would normally not be a problem as the gas should be non flammable, but we could smell real (explosive type) gas, not air. Quite a bit had escaped into the seat locker and when Joe checked it with a hand held gas detector it was confirmed as real gas.

A check of the canister showed it did contain inflammable gas. The other air-horn refills we have are all non flammable!

The boat had to be carefully ‘cleaned’ of the gas using the manual bilge pumps and each bilge board lifted and checked with the gas detector.

So the moral here is check your fog horn gas canisters and make sure they contain non flammable gas. We bought ours from a proper marine chandlers so this should not have happened.

Wind Instrument Blues

Secondly we could not find Andrew anywhere!

Looking up we saw him hiding at the top of the mast.

He was up there to examine the mast head connections on the wind instrument, a Raymarine ST60, which has mot worked for the last week.

We have checked all of the wiring and it still refuses to work. The mast connections seem to be ok but we are stumped. For the tme being we will be measuring wind speed by the feel of it on our faces and the pressure on the tiller.

The weather looks ok tomorrow to leave Peterhead to travel south. Aberdeen is our safe bolt hole but we may be get further.

Sunset over Peterhead

More tomorrow …

The marina here is well sheltered and we have the cockpit cover deployed. Nice and cosy inside. It even gives us somewhere to dry our wet clothes.

Peterhead Marina

The marina has good showers and loos but lacks any laundry or Wifi. These are both coming in the next phase according to the friendly harbourmaster. The local prison is behind the marina which is where I thought the showers might be!

We walked into Peterhead this morning – a mile away along the shore. The town has a typical big working port feel, which is not surprising because that is exactly what it is. Somewhat run down but certainly very busy; big trawlers and oil-rig support vessels.

Joe went to the Port Office to make sure he could pick up his fathers day card, which had been sent by special delivery for pickup tomorrow, only to find they are closed on Saturdays! It’s being forwarded to Wolverstone Marina in Suffolk , a week or so away, so all is not lost.

With the current forecast we are here until Sunday at least. Looking then to move down the coast and stop in Aberdeen. There are not many harbours on this stretch of coast which are accessible in easterly winds; and that is what has been forecast for the next few days. Aberdeen is an all-weather port but is not very yacht friendly so we expect to be tied up alongside a trawler.

Finally, here is a picture of Dawn Treader sailing along a few days ago in Scotland. Thanks to Bob and Jean in Bella Rosa for taking this as it is difficult to get a photo of your own boat actually sailing.

Dawn Treader under full sail

More tomorrow …

Devon like coast just east of Whitehills

No wind. So when we left we motor-sailed along what was a very ‘Devon like‘ coastline. Green fields above sloping cliffs. The light on the shore was very striking and made up for the lack of wind.

Passed by Fraserburgh and then around the corner to Rattray Head. What an anticlimax. The head was all low sand hills plus a lighthouse. No overfalls.

Rattray Head

A bit of traffic jam as we entered Peterhead harbour. The were ships eveywhere. We called the harbour master as required and had to wait our turn to enter behind big trawlers. In the early evening Bella Rosa – with Bob and Jean – arrived having come directly from Wick in their HR-37. After helping them tie up we all retired for a few G+Ts and swapped stories.

Peterhead harbour entrance

Now in Peterhead marina awaiting two days of forecasted bad weather.

Passage Stats

Whitehills to Peterhead: 40 miles / 7 hours

Sailed: 0 hrs / motored : 7 hrs

Total distance for the whole trip: 1112 nm

We had planned to go to Banff, but the Wick harbourmaster advised us to try Whitehills; more depth of water and lot quieter.

Motored out of Wick in a swell coming in from the north but with very little wind. It was then a 50 nm motorsail with the main up for stability. Little to report on the trip except for our close passby of the Beatrice gas field.

As we closed the south shore of the Moray Firth – where Whitehills lay – the swell had increased.

Whitehills harbour is small so we took our sails down about a mile out. A quick call to the harbourmaster confirmed that it was alright to enter in the conditions we had.

Whitehills – obscured by the swell!

It was a very tight entrance with a sharp left turn into the small inner harbour. The harbourmaster was taking pictures as we entered and it’s his photo below.

Dawn Treader entering Whitehills Harbour

Whitehills is a very friendly place with the most accommodating harbour master we have met yet; and most have been excellent. He even gave us a lift up to the cafe at the top of the town so we could get supper.

Sunset at Whitehills harbour

Tomorrow we plan to head on for Peterhead 40nm along and down the coast before bad weather is due to hold us up for 2 days.

Here is a link to the Whitehills harbour website.

Passage Stats

Wick to Whitehills: 56nm / 9 hrs

Sailed: 0 hrs / motored 9 hrs

Total Distance so far: 1078 nm

The wind was gusting as the showers of rain passed by. Our wind instrument has been broken for days now so the only indication of wind speed has been the look of the sea and how well balanced the tiller feels. Someone needs to go up the mast!

Hoy from Scapa Flow

There was a lot of wind in Scapa Flow but it was all behind us as we flew along with one reef and a small genoa. After negotiating the various obstacles – mainly gas pipeline structures – we turned southwards passed South Ronaldsay and out into the Pentland Firth.

The trip across was fast and relatively smooth. No overalls as it was neaps plus we had worked out the tides and had picked up the first part of the east going flow.

As we closed the mainland – Duncansby Head – the tide started to kick in and we were doing 8 knots. The swell picked up off the head and we started gybing downwind to maintain our boat speed. There was a big swell running into Wick bay but it died down as we closed the harbour entrance.

Duncansby Head – the top right corner of Scotland

Currently in Wick marina – a new marina in the old dock – and planning tomorrows trip. It’s into the wind again (50nm due south) to Banff on the south shore of the Moray Firth.

Today’s Passage Stats

Stromness to Wick: 40 nm / 7 hrs

Sailed 6 hrs / motored 1 hr

Total distance sailed: 1022 nm

The forecast was again NE F5/6 but with no sign of it then. As we sailed up towards Stoerhead the wind picked up and we were cracking along under full main at 7knots.

Bella Rosa alongside just before The Point of Stoer

Bella Rosa ( a HR37) who we have met a number of times during the trip – was fast coming up behind us. We decide a race was on so we trimmed the sails and all sat on the rail. Great fun if not exactly cruising!

Andrew and David hiking it out

After rounding the The Point of Stoer the sea built up and the wind increased. Moving further out to sea and then tacking back into the land soon has us in a more comfortable sea.

We then tacked up the coast passed the big sea cliffs of Handa island and then on into Loch Inchard. Kinlochbervie is tucked up on the top left hand side of the loch and provides complete shelter. We were told to expect a crowded pontoon but as it happened there were few yachts there; they must have all rounded Cape Wrath earlier today.

The weather forecast (NE F3/4) is good tomorrow for rounding Cape Wrath and going on to either Scrabster (mainland) or the Orkanys. We are leaving at 06:00 tomorrow morning.

Progress report tomorrow ( Sunday) evening. Bedtime now!

Today’s passage stats

Lochinver to Kinlochbervie: 30 nm / 7 hours

Sailed 5 hours

Lochinver pontoons – the sun just coming out after the blow

Spent the rest of the morning sorting out diesel. There is no fuel tomorrow and we did not fancy moving the boat in the strong winds so it had to be the containers. The Lochinver harbour office people were very helpful and even transported our full (heavy) containers back to the boat.

Joe made bread again and Andrew showed off his culinary skills making an apple crumble.

A Stormbound loaf

More tomorrow on our progress to make it to Kinlochbervie.

Note – if anyone wants to see more photos there is now a More Photos page with additional photos taken on the trip.