Fraserburgh

The gentleman in the Watch Tower signalled us to moor in the South Harbour against the middle jetty. A second yacht came in behind us.

Alison rowed over to the watch tower with the empty diesel can and was kindly given a lift to a petrol station to fill it as fuel in the port is only available from a tanker lorry; they don't do 30 litre deliveries! 

Fraserburgh has Britain's largest Pelagic Fishing fleet and is Europe's largest prawn port. There are many fine new trawlers  but we spotted at least one wooden hull with a modern steel superstructure. There are no real facilities for yachts but we were made very welcome and an overnight stop is only £10.

There is a lot of building going on within the port and it is very noisy. Hopefully they will go home for the night.

We had lunch on board and set the lines so we could go for a walk. The lighthouse museum is excellent.

Around Rattray Head

The Cruising Association recommend passing Rattray Head at slack water 1 NM off, or 5 NM in bad weather. As far as I can tell from the tidal stream atlas in Reeds and the diamonds on the charts, there is no slack water at the head! The locals said to do it with the tide and in the expected weather stay 2-4 miles off.
It was forecast northerly 4-5, reducing later. So it was going to be wind over tide. We had a choice of leaving at 5 am or 5 pm. 5 am would give us more options and neither of us wanted to spend more time in Peterhead so we got up at 4:30 and got ready and headed out. We told Peterhead Harbour we were heading for Fraserburgh or possibly Whitehills.

We raised sail in the harbour and turned the engine off almost as soon as we were outside. For the first time this year we had the prospect of making a passage under sail alone. I laid in a course leaving us about 3 NM clear of the head and ending near Fraserburgh.

For once the forecast was spot on. As we sailed best course to windward we headed into blue sky and sunshine. We tacked 1 NM east of the course and then back to it, making excellent progress. The wind strenghened and the seas were quite big but predictable. We put a couple of rolls in the main but left the No 1 Jib and staysail up.

As we got past the head the seas got very hard to deal with. With the sails as they were, although the balance was good we had lee helm which never feels good. The direct route was now the starboard tack which was almost parallel to the waves and was pretty horrid. Alison suggested heading out more and we tacked and it did seem to calm things down. I got very tired and Alison took over and asked for the jib to be furled. Suddenly everything got easier. I wish I had done that! We reefed the main more to balance the staysail and for a while it was really nice. We agreed Fraserburgh was far enough for today.

We got as far north as was sensible and turned west again. We had come a very long way round and after a while it became obvious the tide had turned. If we got it wrong we would start getting carried back to Rattray Head. Some times the waves were really big and it was very hard to control the boat, then it would calm down and be lovely sailing for a while.

As predicted the wind speed dropped and we were only making a knot against the tide. We shook some reef out and unfurled the jib. By now we were inside Fraserburgh bay with no chance of getting pushed back so we came off the wind and sped up.

Just as we put the engine on to drop the sails we got another gust. If we come here again we will keep sailing until we are in the outer harbour!

So we did make our first passage under sail. It has been a long wait. Outside Eyemouth we had a F7 and Robinetta coped beautifully. But that was off the land with no fetch. When the waves have a thousand miles of Arctic Sea and North Sea to build, F4 is more than enough. In future, we shall stay in port with winds of F5 or more from seaward.

Peterhead

There wasn't a lot open in Peterhead on a Sunday. We did a little shopping in Iceland and had an excellent lunch in the Cross-keys, a Weatherspoons, and none the worse for that. My Highland Burger was a great burger with added haggis and a Whisky sauce. Alison's steak was as rare as she had asked for. Good beer and wine too, what more could one ask for?

It was the windiest day we had had and a bitterly cold northerly. The Marina is adjacent to a beach where the sailing club launches. Lots of dinghies took advantage of the wind and sheltered waters of the harbour.

I made a temporary fitting to allow us to put the tiller pilot pin back on the tiller and we had beans on toast for tea. We have TV, and it tends to get turned on about once per week. We watched the truly bad Star Trek III on Film 4. I got the borrowed Mifi dongle working with a 3 GB valid one month top up.

Bell Rock towards...

An hour after we left the Bell Rock behind Julian suggested that we should not go to Arbroath. We could not be sure we would be able to get out first thing tomorrow morning and the harbour master was not answering his phone to ask. With settled weather and no swell we decided to make straight for Peterhead. The engine revs were increased, so we were making 5 knots and our predicted arrival time was 2am. Our fuel tanks were over ¾ full.

The decision was taken at 11:00 and since we would now need to operate watches for the 90 mile passage I went below and had an hours sleep before lunch. Julian got the main up while I was down below, but the wind was very gentle and we motor sailed. The tide turned against us after lunch, so we only made 3½ knots, and our arrival time crashed to 5-6-7 am. Not to worry though as it would be helping us again in 6 hours. We set watches at three hours each, its less exhausting than four, but still gives the watch below time to sleep.

The decision to go straight to Peterhead was not as sudden as it seems. Friends of ours, in the yacht Witch, had gone straight there from Eyemouth a few days ago, and we knew the advantages. Arbroath and Stonehaven the best intermediate ports are both constrained by entry +/- 3hrs of high water, and at inconvenient distances for our cruising speed. Only having two crew makes stopping overnight more attractive, but add in the auto-pilot and standing watch becomes much easier. At this time this far north there are less than 4 hours of darkness, and the weather forecast of variable, mostly north or north west 3 or 4 for the next 48 hours also made it sound reasonable.

We trundled gently north through the gentle swell, passing Arbroath and Stonehaven. A yacht hurried up behind us, and turned towards Stonehaven. I was pretty sure we would not have made the tidal gate s we tried to follow him in. We got rare flashes of sun, but mostly it was overcast, but dry which made a huge difference to our enjoyments! I did some mandolin practice on my watch, but mostly I watched the sea, the bird life, and the occasional rig support vessel passing by.

We got the main sail down as it was not doing anything, and it was easier to do before we got too tired. I checked the fuel level in the tanks as we approached Aberdeen, but the tanks were still half full, so there was no need to try to refuel. Running the engine at high revs made as much steam as water come out of the water cooled exhaust, so I tried to keep the revs a bit lower.

Passing Aberdeen near sunset we got the best weather of the day, with some amazing light effects on the sea. Julian wanted to be on deck when we passed Aberdeen, and I called him up to work out if we needed to call Aberdeen VTF. We only needed to call if we were going within 2nm of the harbour entrance, but we needed to call when 3nm from the Fairway Buoy... not the easiest calculation! 

Julian came on watch at 22:00, and I went down to sleep, but got called back up almost immediately. The peg that the auto-pilot fits over on the tiller had come off its mounting. It should be easy enough to mend, but not in the twilight in a rolling sea! We would be hand steering the rest of the way. I told Julian to call me early if he got tired, but it was ten to one before he did.

The tide was strongly against us at that time, and running the engine at lower revs meant we ere making 1½ knots towards our destination. I knew it would get better as the tide changed though, and I had good lights to aim at Peterhead.

I stayed on deck after I called Julian on watch at 4. We were only 2 miles from the harbour, and I did not think it worth while going down. I got on the VHF when we were five minutes from the entrance and called up Peterhead Harbour. He was happy to let us enter, and gave instructions on how to find the marina and where to moor. He then asked where we were, since he could not see us on the radar...

We were tied on an an empty finger berth by 05:30, almost exactly 24 hours after leaving Anstruther. We had not hurried in the morning, keeping deliberately slow at first, so 90 miles in 24 hours seemed reasonable. It was our first Yachtmaster qualifying passage in Robinetta, and our first night passage in her too. We made sure she was securely tied, and Worm would behave, and crashed out until 10:00.

 

Anstruther to Bell Rock

We had to leave Anstruther early this morning while we were still afloat, and with high tide at 03:45 that really meant being off the pontoon by 06:30 at the latest. We decided to be off by 05:45, two hours after high water, so set the alarm for 05:00. We were both awake early though, and had finished our wake up mugs of tea just after five. We still had 7' of water beneath the keel when we left the pontoon at 0530. Plenty!

Our next intended port of call, Arbroath had a similar tidal gate to Anstruther, three hours ether side of high water. That meant we did not really want to be there before 13:00. It's only 23 nautical miles though, so we would get there too early unless we went very slowly, or stopped somewhere. We had hoped to sail, on the breath of forecast wind, but there was none at all, which meant motor, and with the tide under us the slowest we could go and still have steerage was 4 knots.

Out first thought was to anchor outside Crail and row in. There was a food festival there and it might be good to visit. Unfortunately we would need to up anchor by 09:30 to make Arbroath, and it seemed unlikely that the festival would have started by then!

Julian had picked up a tourist leaflet for Angus yesterday, which listed “ten things you must do in Angus”. Number 2 was take a boat trip out to the Bell Rock to see the Stevenson lighthouse. Since it would only add 4 nm to our route we decided we would.

 

The sea was as flat as a mill pond for most of the trip, and the visibility hazy. Julian got busy, first checking the voltage on the batteries, then making a wooden extension for the auto-helm arm. We can now use it when we need to make turns to starboard as well as to port!

We did not catch sight of the Bell Rock Lighthouse until we were about 5nm off, and when we did it lookedlike a black and white stick; too thin to be a building. We could see the rock it was built on by 2½ miles, but it would have been invisible in any swell. We motored through a patch of high bird density, so there were obviously fish around.

There was a boat fairly close in to the rock and as we got closer we saw a forest of pot markers. All beautifully clear and professional, but the highest concentration I'd seen outside the Chesapeake. I did not want to go through them, and neither did Julian; as soon as the fishing boat saw we were going to be sensible he moved off.

We got a great view of the lighthouse with our own eyes, but our wide angle camera showed we were too far away, even at its maximum zoom, so our pictures weren't much good. I wrote a poem though.

Bell Rock

A fragile finger, pointing up,

pin-points the black flaw

in the shot silk silver of the sea.

Puffins rise in flight, beating wings

swimming through thick air.

Feet strike the sea then settle, stillness.

Guillemots dip beaks, nervous now,

then dive - a white flash - 

leaving ripples and indifferent sea.

Crustaceans scuttle, seeking food.

Baited crab pots wait;

patient beneath the pewter satin.

Eyemouth to Anstruther (and the Isle of May)

We managed to plan our trip to Anstruther last night, so knew that we needed to be us early. The alarm went at 06:00, and we were out of the harbour by 06:50. There was not a lot of wind, but we bent on the number 2 jib as we had not used it yet this trip, then raised the main and stay sail. Julian went below and cooked the smoked Eyemouth haddock we had bought yesterday. A slice of spelt bread went with it very nicely! I had wanted to put the auto-helm on before we ate, but the metal bush that makes the new auto-helm work with the old fitting had vanished.

Julian jury rigged the auto-helm fitting after breakfast and set it to work. I could see a dark line on the water ahead and it turned out to be wind; not strong enough to let us sail, but enough to stop the auto-helm working. We need to get an extension for it, or mount it closer to the tiller which would be difficult.

Visibility was good, and the cliffs of St Abbs head were very pretty, with their obvious stratification. The Bass Rock got steady clearer, the cliffs much paler than I remember, with a distinct white cap. Lines of gannets came past, hugging the sea then rising up when the front of the line caught a lift from an updraft. We had seen a couple of trawlers near Eyemouth, and we seemed to be on a commuter route between the trawlers and the gannets home on the Bass Rock.

We were heading for the Isle of May, and the wind came round slightly, so we could use it as well as the motor, but it only added about ½ knot to the boat speed. If we put the engine to idle our spped dropped to 2½ knots, which would not get us to Anstruther in time to enter the harbour, so we reluctantly kept the engine on.

The number of puffins sitting on the water increased as we neared the Isle of May. We had been thinking of landing, but the weather made us reconsider. Not wet, but a bit grey and dreary after the beautiful start to the day. We decided to motor round it instead, and approached first on the south-east corner, to have a look at the harbour entrance. Very narrow! We then ducked round the south end and motored slowly up the western side as the sun came out.

We were not alone in our viewing. Two ribs, and a trip boat called the May Princess were also motoring round the cliffs. The sun suddenly came out, and we were treated to a great view of the clefts, fissures, and caves in the basalt, plus thousands of nesting guillemots. We were not tempted to land though. The “recommended” anchorage is noted as foul, with poor holding, and although there were buoys there they looked identical to the crab pots that also surrounded the island.

I put the engine into tick over to let us see more, and realised we might as well sail. Julian turned the engine off, and the last quarter of our trip along the May coast was under sail. Wonderful to lose the engine noise!

As we turned towards Anstruther we realised that not stopping at the Isle of May gave us time to sail the rest of the way, even at the 2½ knots we were making. We would get there less than an hour after high water, perfect! Then the wind got up, and we were making over 4 knots. That would get us there at high water, with much less to worry about depth wise.

We had a lovely passage between the Isle of May and Anstruther, fine reaching on one tack all the way to the harbour entrance. I called up the harbour master on the VHF and got no reply. Same for the phone.... The sails came down, the bowsprit went in, and we entered the outer harbour, then the inner. I tried calling again as we had no idea where we should moor up, but there was still no reply. We went on the hammerhead of the pontoons nearest the outer harbour. Julian stayed on the boat, while I went to look for the Harbour Master.

The set up at Anstruther is strange. There are security gates to enter the pontoon area as there are at many places, but at Anstruther you can't get out without a key either, and the Harbour Office is outside the secure area.... Just as I was wondering what I should do the harbour master appeared. He had been helping moor up another boat.

He helped us move Robinetta to a finger berth just the other side of the hammer head, that should have a flatter bottom for her to settle into, and gave us a key dongle to let us in and out of the pontoons. When we paid for the mooring he told us that the receipt would let us into the public toilets for free, and there was a shower in there for us to use.

We had a look round the Scottish Fisheries Museum, then went back to Robinetta in time to keep her as upright as possible as she settled into the mud.
 

The same day in Eyemouth

We had a fine lunch of bread and cheese bought at the Sunday Morning Market in Newcastle and seasoned with our nieces home made chutney.

The local swans had some of our stale bread. Raising 7 cygnets must be a lot of work.

Then we went for our walk. There are two award winning ice cream shops in Eyemouth. We tried one. I had raspberry yoghurt

Alison had the chocolate fudge ice cream which it said won the best ice cream prize.