7- 9 August You cant have the rainbow without the rain!

A friendly face in miserable Peterhead

At last we turn south

Summer Sailing in NE Scotland

Rainbow as we left

Rumline left the Driving rain of Peterhead whose only saving grace was shelter, and a mother seal with her pup also seeking shelter from the miserable weather which plagues this place.  The oil and gas is what keeps people here certainly not the atmosphere nor climate. We decided to leave in a predicted NW gale,  to wait would mean a terrible boat stopping beat down the coast in a southern wind. It would howl but Rummy can handle a blow from the right quarter. As we dropped the lines in the screaming wind and horizontal rain a double rainbow appeared. I have found that even in difficult situations beauty is always present in some form. Rumline flew averaging 10 knots, 60 nm in 6 hours, we gained ground at an incredible rate. The sea was big but a nice regular swell on the quarter. We were surfing like California girls! Whooping like demented teenagers it was a wild fun ride. A pod of dolphins joined. a group on each side of the bow all of us surfing together seeing who could go fastest on the waves. The dolphins were better of course and I know they were enjoying this as much as I was. Surfing with dolphins! I am glad to do what I do. They stayed with me for over an hour and as we flew across the silvery waves puffins and numerous seabirds flew around us as we rode the storm.
YOU CANT HAVE THE RAINBOW WITHOUT THE RAIN.

It's tough sometimes but wouldn't want to be anywhere else

Of course when life is so sweet it has a way of turning around and biting you in the arse. The wind died off Dundee near the Firth of Forth, and so did the engine. That horrible red light and alarm screamed that we were running too hot. Luckily we had stood off the coast and had plenty of room to drift as we sorted the problem. I had a clue what the problem was so no panic. A impeller had  become damaged my fault, failing to open the seacock back in Maillaig. I thought I cleared the pipes but a large bit hid in the anti siphon bend and now had worked its way down to the heat exchange end cap.  Easy? not! in removing pipes

the connection to the seawater strainer broke. No big deal bypass it. Glad for all the bits of hose I carried. The engine flooded with seawater and was now limping. For some reason when you adjusted the throttle it was not happy.  Next time I will be more thorough in clearing out dislodged bits. Lesson learned.

I decided to fore go Whitby and make for the nearest port we could safely enter as it was now 3 AM. Eyemouth was the best option and according to Reeds it seemed a  good option. The pilot book made no reference to the horror that awaited. In the darkness I took the leading line not daring to touch the throttle lest it cut out. A roar grew and that horrible sound of water breaking grew louder. The steamer scarrer confirmed that we were in between two  large rocks with huge breakers crashing on them. Ahead lay a beach and a huge seawall with no apparent entry. A large swell was following us. For the first time I was nervous but that would not help Rummy  no chance to bail out, steady nerves were needed now. I had to steel myself and go for it and remain in control. With teeth gritted we surfed in the entrance which only was visible when we were feet away.  We survived. I kissed my boat for being so reliable and well behaved, poured myself a huge Whiskey. Gareth who had been sailing professionally for over 20 years said it was his most frightening entry. We were put between a rock and a hard place and were lucky to squeeze through.