This was to be an early start to catch the outgoing tide under the Kessock Bridge and out into the Moray Firth. Once tracking along the coast of the Moray Firth the tide would become much less important, with only modest tidal streams to help / hinder us, until we got to Rattray Head.

So, it was up early and a 0630 departure, on a very cold ( ice on the marina pontoons) but clear and sunny morning. There was little wind , and the forecast was good for the next 24 hrs, with if anything an improving forecast over this period. Our plan was to make use of this rare bit of good forecast weather and head for Arbroath, about 150 miles away, which would take around 30 hours. We knew we had several places we could call in to if we decided this all too much like hard work ( Whitehills and Peterhead in particular), and we would just decide how we felt as we approached these ports.

All day Friday was a very easy and pleasant motor sail in generally light winds along the Moray Firth south coast, past Nairn,  Lossiemouth and Whitehills.  Our timings worked and we got a good tidal push out of Inverness Firth and then made good progree in the weak tides of the Moray Firth all day. Passing Whitehills we were comfortable with a decision to carry on through the night to Arbroath. We knew that we were likely to just miss the tidal gate for entry to Arbroath marina, which has a lock gate and is only accessible HW =/- 3 hours. We were resigned to just having to stooge around for perhaps 4 hours or so when we got there, either anchored up in a bay or just sailing out at sea ; the forecast looked very kind so this should have been no real hardship.

Dusk fell after we had passed Fraserburgh  right at the end of the Moray Firth) and as we approached Rattray Head.   This headland has a fairly fearsome reputation for strong tidal currents and very rough seas, and this probably caused us to be over cautious in these gentle conditions, as we gave it a wide berth, standing out a few miles to sea. Progress was very slow though since this is where we ‘paid for’ the good tides earlier, and we just had to put up with an adverse tide for  a few hours as we crawled around the headland at no more than 4 kts for a couple of hours. This gave us plenty of time to observe the light at the headland, before night fell completely, and we noted how unimpressive the tower was ; there are muich more impressive structures along the coast guarding much lesser points and headlands.

After Rattray Head we were closing on Peterhead, which was our last real opportunity to shorten the trip, and it was an easy decision to keep going and take advantage of the good weather through the night, and get into Arbroath before the next tranche of bad weather arrived.  We had approximately 60 miles to run and still expected to just miss the tidal gate at Arbroath, but c’est la vie.

We passed Aberdeen in the early hours, well before dawn, and had the required chat with harbour control to let them know we were around and messing up any plans they may have had for feeding the oil service ships in and out of the port, but we had been spotted and no drama with traffic.

It was around this point that our faith in weather forecasting in this part of the world was finally broken for good. The promised further moderation in wind, with a slight shift to the west did not materialise. What we got was a strengthening wind from the north , with some east in it. We were quickly in a  F5 with higher occasional gusts, and quite a rolly sea from astern. The autopilot was struggling with this sea, and tending to exaggerate the rolling action, so it was back to good old ‘human’ helming and trying to predict the swells and even out the rolling motion. This was all fine, if a bit tiring towards the end of an overnight passage, but our bigger concern was access to Arbroath.  The idea of drifting around in this sea state for an extra 5 hrs was unappealing, and we also had some concerns about access to Arbroath in this swell, which now had some more ‘east’ in it. Arbroath is approached through some shallows and channels through the rocks, and a big swell could make this approach dangerous. The pilot books said it should be ok provided that the swell was not from the SE, but it is hard to believe that when you are being bounced around . However, in looking more carefully at the charts it did seem that the outer harbour at Arbroath always had some water in it , and that there should be enough depth in the entrance  channel for us to get in there, if we kept our speed up for the last few hours. The only way to be certain was to call the harbour master, and we just had to wait until 0700 , when he started work.

It was the with some relief when we finally confirmed with the harbour master that the local fishermen had reported that the swell more or less disappeared close inshore by the harbour entrance, and that , yes, we would have enough water to get into the outer harbour and moor up with the fishing boats against the harbour wall. We would then be able to move into the inner marina harbour later in the day.

Once this was all confirmed the rest of the trip was fairly straightforward. The harbour entrance looked fairly confusing and daunting initially, but as is normally the case, it all made sense as we got closer, and as predicted the sea calmed down. We were soon tied up against the harbour wall, with the  harbour master helping with the lines. It was an easy move later in the afternoon into the inner harbour marina, where Moondog would stay for the next week. This long 30 hr trip had caused us to be well ahead of schedule.

Arbroath is an interesting place, and very much a working fishing harbour. Famous for its Smokies, and we later learnt also the home of Mr Buick ( as in Amercan cars), and the Treaty of Arbroath, which apparently formed a framework for the US Constitution....at least that is what the tourist info board says....

Bogdan’s Blog

It was freeeezing this morning when we left. How can it be so sunny and so cold?

 It seems that the humans  re elected their pack leader last night. I guess they are happy with him remaining as lookout and that they can hear his warning cries in time to run away. There seems to be a rival pack up here and I think we are trying to creep around them to get back home. Shouldn’t be a problem, because the pack leader up here is very small and we should see her well before she spots us.

The best news from today is that the skipper said tha we had reached our most northern point for this trip, as we passed Lossiemouth. So, as far as I can work it out we should be going south from now and things should start to warm up.