This section has taken us from Wick on the North East corner of Scotland down to Edinburgh, and as I write we are a day sail south of Edinburgh. From Wick we called in at the commercial fishing port of Peterhead, then the attractive small harbour of Stonehaven and the interesting town of Arbroath where Graham a fellow crew member was born too long ago to mention! Then we attempted and succeeded with an overnight anchorage in the Tay River outside Dundee, despite the strong current (the log on the boat recorded some 11 miles travelled overnight although we went nowhere as we were on anchor!).
Next we sailed up the Forth estuary into Port Edgar on the outskirts of Edinburgh, virtually underneath the road and railway bridges - a wonderful sight.
Lucy and Simon visited me for a weekend in Edinburgh. We had a great time, taking the bus tour of the city, a walking witches and ghosts tour late evening, supper at the cafe that J K Rowling visited frequently when writing Harry Potter, and much walking - including crashing out on the grass outside the new Scottish Parliament building for a snooze - the weather was so nice and with all the walking in the heat we were all exhausted. There is so much to Edinburgh - there are so many layers of fascinating facts and history to uncover - and it is so attractive, particularly given nice weather.
As for the sailing, unfortunately a bit too much motor sailing again as the winds continue to be in the wrong direction. For example when we sailed to Edinburgh up the Forth estuary the winds were from the West and therefore against us. This morning when we sailed back out the Forth Estuary the winds had changed to generally Easterly and were therefore against us again for much of the way. Anyway, we have done some sailing, including tacking (zig zag sailing up wind) up the Tay River in flat seas and a good breeze and sailing past Bass Rock on the way out of the Forth Estuary watching the 100,000 birds (we think the were gannets) covering the rock making it look white all over, as well as the distinctive smell when we were down wind and close in to the rock!
I thought it time to describe some of the more mundane housekeeping matters on the boat. With only three crew and one skipper on the boat we are all fortunate enough to have our own cabin - two up front and two aft. You can see my fantastic cabin in the photo.
We also have two heads (toilets!) with showers - although as yet I haven't used the shower (on the boat that is !!). The galley has a small oven and two ring cooker, a fridge and a freezer, which doesn't really freeze. The boat is very comfortable and spacious as boats go, and is designed to sail fast - it has a flat bottom at the front to create minimum wet area and we easily achieve 7 to 8 knots when sailing, even in light winds. However there is a downside to this design, because the front is so flat on the bottom, when sailing up wind, and especially when motoring, it bounces, or as they say in the trade, slams - very uncomfortable and tiring. We have a budget of £30 per person for food per week, do the shopping, and take it in turns to cook, wash etc. I have stuck with cooking four recipes, "Dad's pasta" as it is known at home (farfalle pasta with parma ham, parmesan, creme fraiche etc), spicy salmon with coriander mash, curry from a jar (surprisingly good with fresh meat) and sausages with savoury rice or mash. Many evenings finish with a visit to the local pub. Also I seem to have overcome my dislike of Whisky (see earlier blog) and the souvenir bottle is no more a souvenir - it is work in progress !!
I also think I have now found my sea legs - although being naturally cautious want to say I haven't really been tested out in tough sea conditions when down below. In all but rough conditions I seem to have no problem now staying below deck and doing chart work in cooking. Strangely I find if I look up to the sky I instantly lose my balance!! I have also learned to sleep in all conditions, day and night. At night the stretching or rubbing ropes, or fenders, or wind can make quite a racket, and the boat can move and rock quite a lot on the water - but nothing stops me from sleeping - not even the snoring of fellow crew .... !
So now we are a day into the final section of the trip - from Edinburgh down the east coast of Scotland, then the East Coast of England and up the Thames. Chris, the skipper who started with us on the first leg of the journey is now back with us, although he takes much more of a back seat as by now we should know what to do.
It is now well into September and distinctly colder, not just the fact that we are in Scotland. The evenings get dark much more quickly - 8pm this evening. This is when gales are much more likely although I think we have had more than our fair share of gale warnings already - and strangely enough the forecast at the moment is an unusually stable high pressure all over the area. Yes, we have also learned about weather systems on this Round Britain Experience .. so from one high up here in Scotland, I wish all the lows will stay away at least for the next two weeks ..unless of course they bring a nice Westerly wind to allow us fast and smooth sailing back to London. See you soon ....
