A safe harbour

 Our exit from the Caledonian Canal felt like ‘speedy boarding’.   They really pulled the stops out and from our first bridge at 8.20, everything else was seamless, locks, bridges, and finally the sea lock, all open for us.  We were safely tied up in Inverness Marina by mid morning. We liked the marina and Inverness very much. The city is attractively built on both banks of the River Ness and we enjoyed a run in the morning and an Indian meal later that night. 

We had been intending to aim for Lossiemouth the next day, then Whitehills, then Peterhead but we looked at the weather forecasts and decided we didn’t have the luxury of taking three days as the weather was definitely looking stormy on the Saturday. This has turned out to one of our better decisions.  On Thursday we sailed straight to Whitehills. It was a long day but a good one. We made excellent progress all day and covered the 60 miles in 12 hours, arriving at Whitehills at 21.00.  The entrance to the harbour was magical.  For the last bit we were accompanied by harbour porpoises and it felt as if they were guiding us home.  The harbour master at Whitehills, Bertie, is a legend. He was waiting for us up on the harbour wall taking photographs of the boat. He invited us to his office so he could share them with us and then as a final act of kindness, drove us to the pub to make it before last orders.  The pub was owned by his cousin and both he and Bertie had been fishermen.  The landlord shared some fascinating stories and the pub walls were lined with photos of those fishing days. 

We did of course get back to the boat rather too late given we had a 5.00 start the next morning. But it was worth it. Between Whitehills and Peterhead we had some of the best sailing of the trip. The winds were just right for us for once and motor sailing for the first bit we reached 7 knots.  We were encouraged by this progress to try tuning off the engine and we had over an hour of marvellous sailing without the engine noise. We reached 6.6 knots - our best speed with sail alone I think. We rounded Rattray Head, and understood why this has to be treated with respect. Even with very moderate winds, the movement of the boat was quite uncomfortable.  

The entrance to Peterhead Harbour is pretty impressive. The large breakwater was built by prisoners from the the nearby prison (now closed). The marina is in the southwest corner of the harbour. And yet again has a great harbour master. Peterhead itself is a very deprived town and yesterday, with windy, grey weather was very bleak. We walked into town and had some of the best fish and chips - fresh from the Peterhead fish market. 

We are very glad not to be out at sea today. The wind is now steadily building and the harbour master predicts gusts up to 50 knots tonight. We have done our best to prepare the boat, but that is a strong wind.  I don’t think we will get a lot of sleep tonight but we are so glad to be in a safe harbour. 

Photos of Indian Runner coming in to Whitehills and later in her mooring (thanks Steve), post box knitting Whitehills style, fish and chips, and a view of Peterhead from my run this morning. 

Dochgarrick Loch to Inverness Marina        6.4 nms

Inverness Marina to Whitehills        59.4 nms

Whitehills to Peterhead        38.5 nms