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| Peterhead Harbour - Don't think we will go sailing just now |
Forecast is for a low to come across, with attendant wind and rain. I think the met office are exaggerating describing it as "deep" in the forecast when it's about 998 or 999 mb.
Rain, a bit of wind. Do the washing at the caravan park next door. Then it's lunchtime and the weather is much better.
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| Peterhead Bay marina - overlooked by support ships |
We then took a look round Peterhead, starting with the fishing harbour. Other parts of the harbour contain a number of support vessels for the oil and gas industry. No I don't mean the little boats that run errands for the wind farms off the Suffolk Coast, but proper size ships one of which towers over the marina wall. The ships are equipped with cranes, cable drums and lots of other interesting stuff.
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| Pathway, with Kings Cross behind. Bigger than the average crab boat |
We saw a huge fishing boat entering the fishing harbour. 67m long and almost 6m draft "Pathway". "Kings Cross" which was even bigger was already there. However when I checked out Pathway on marinetraffic.com it seems to just do short trips out to sea and back - strange for such a big boat. I have since been advised by one informant that it brings back 6000 tons of Mackerel and by another informant (possibly more reliable as a former fisherman) that it brings back 1000 tons of Herring (or Mackerel in season). Apparently part of the skill is not to charge into the middle of a huge shoal or the net breaks, but to work carefully round the edge. I am also told that the entire 1000 tons is taken with one cast of the net which can be closed off in sections so that "only" 200 tons are in each section. I don't understand why such a huge boat is used as after a few weeks it has used up all its quota and has to tie up in port for months! One of the many mysteries of the fishing system.
It looks as if the weather is improving for tomorrow and we may be able to move on.
