Amble to St Abbs

Bliss
Wed 9 May 2018 21:59
Despite it having been a long sail yesterday, we didn't feel we needed to hang around in Amble. With some good sailing weather forecast we set off for the relatively short, 42 mile passage to St Abbs, in Scotland.
Two years ago we gave the Farne Islands and Holy Island a wide berth. Having spent a whole week in Amble we were anxious to make up some time and were doing a 90 mile passage up to Arbroath. This time we picked our way through the islands, took a spin around a pool on Farne called The Kettle, so many seabirds; puffins , guillemots, shags, terns, and my favourite; gannets, I am mesmerised by their skill, precision and economy, how they manage to fly just above the water, gliding, in a perfect line, completely synchronised, beautiful. Of course puffins are really my favourite, how couldn't they be?

JPEG image





JPEG image




Because the weather was perfect and we had some time on our hands, we decided to anchor off Holy Island for a spot of lunch. It was just before low tide, and the Bar into the harbour is quite a challenge, but negotiated with good planning and skill didn't present a problem. We dropped anchor in the recommended anchoring area, but something wasn't right.... Chris has attached a trip line, just in case the anchor were to snag, which it did, the electronic winch tripped with the effort of trying to lift it, that's when we noticed we had lost our boat hook at some point since leaving Lowestoft! Both of us working together at the bow, Chris suddenly noticed that having dislodged the anchor, we had now dragged and were aground, only just, and by quickly starting the engine he was able to avert a complete disaster, phew.
We exited the bay, instead of a leisurely lunch, neither of us had an appetite, we ate peanuts, and cake, and headed north.
As we left Holy Island, just to the south, we noticed the seals, hundreds of them, most of them in a huddle on land, but several in the water, lovely.

JPEG image