Day 87 Fri Aug 10 Peterhead to Arbroath

Vega
Irving & Cate Benjamin
Fri 10 Aug 2012 21:01

Slipped at 0605 and crossed the quiet harbour shaping up for a long 65nM passage to Arbroath. The first half of the journey was again windless, and although we would have had just enough breeze towards the end to get us there, we believed we would by then miss the tIdal gate for the entry to the harbour. We later learned from the HM that the 'bar' at the entrance had been dredged long ago, and apart from a fairly short period with gates shut, and a low cill at the entrance, the constraints are not now really troublesome. Nevertheless, we motored on, passing Slains Castle, dodging BFSs off Aberdeen harbour, with at least 16 boats at anchor, and the city of Montrose. We saw several dolphins, and also wondered at strange flocking behaviour of gulls and shearwaters, apparently attending major avian conventions of some importance, crowding together by the hundreds, but not apparently feeding. Wish we were better informed ornithologists! At 1545 there was the start of VHF traffic on ch16, with a Mayday Relay call for a fishing vessel, Audacious, about 60M east of Aberdeen, sinking with 6 crew aborting to liferafts. Two helicopters and the Hartlepool lifeboat were despatched, but we heard no more after that, and oddly, the HM in Arbroath knew nothing of a sinking fishing boat.  Why this type of boat would sink 60M offshore in fine weather is a puzzle, unless they hit a stray container under the waterline or similar. (Since then we have seen the BBC News report here 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-19215404
But the reason for the sinking remains unclear.)
At 1850, 65 nM from our start, we were on the hammerhead in Arbroath, where we were greeted by the HM, with a key for the facilities and information about the marina, including the fact that the bar at the harbour entrance had been dredged some years ago, and that the gates would open again at 0715 next morning. We considered refuelling on our way out next day, but I didn't at all like the look of the wall we would have to tie up to, so we decided it could wait until the next harbour!  Sadly, the shop/stall that sells the famed Arbroath Smokies was closed, so we never did get a chance to have one fresh.  We made do with the local pub and more Olympic action instead.

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