August 5-6 Moray Firth A Surprise

At last Rumline is on the move again. Gareth has rejoined for a short while and boat and I are happy to have him on board again. You really appreciate good crew and I have been lucky throughout this trip. The weather is pants but the smiles will not be dampened.

We pulled out of Inverness, despite being a FRIDAY and rain predicted. After all it was blowing from the west and due to turn easterly the following day, which would mean a long beat of about 90 miles. To ensure against the Friday factor a wee dram was offered to Neptune and a silver coin to appease the Fin-men. It did the trick as the rain waited until we pulled into Lossiemouth and we made over 5 knots against a foul tide in only 11 knots of wind. We were surprised at how pretty the Moray Firth is, Gorgeous white sand beaches undisturbed and deserted, dolphins, seals, clear water all set against a lush green backdrop of gently rolling farmland. Beautiful. The villages a small, quaint and friendly. The harbours loved and pristine and grateful for your visits. A delight. I would encourage you to make some time to explore this area, it is over looked and deserves to be enjoyed.

In the Firth

Immaculate boats and harbour at Whitehills

The windy entrance into Whitehills, twisty but keeps the rough stuff out

The following day we made for Peterhead but around 4 pm the wind whipped back around to the East creating a nasty halting chop which stops Rummy in her tracks. Thirty six miles to go at under 3knots would mean a very long and demoralising sail. Whitehills harbour lay abeam so a quick executive decision was made, 90 degree turn to starboard and in no time we were entering the tall harbour wall. Astride a bicycle the harbour master directed us through the windy entrance to a comfortable alongside pontoon. Never have I been so welcomed to a harbour. It is friendly, immaculate, accomodating and pristine. Once a haven for fishing boats, Whitehills now has moved its focus to visiting pleasure vessels. It is run by the town and is a proud and loved place. There is even a crew room with sofa, books, tea and biscuits to retire to. One of the trustees left homemade sausages and eggs from his farm for my breakfast. Bless him I was touched by this kindness and indeed they were the best beef sausages ever! It is the nicest harbour I have ever been to. The harbour master should be an example to harbour masters everywhere. It will be difficult to leave.