Sunday 12 June 2011 – Stonehaven to Peterhead



Stonehaven, looking into midddle harbo

A fine day with a poor forecast for tomorrow.  Don’t feel that Stonehaven is a place to be in bad weather.  However the Harbourmaster said he could always put us in the inner harbour if necessary.  When there’s a gale from the East (normally only October to March) he closes the inner harbour with steel beams lifted in with a dedicated crane. Stonehaven’s expensive side is revealed again when we pay – marina prices for use of the harbour wall and a loo/shower key shared between 3 boats.

As the wind was light we tried a little fishing, but without success.  The owner of the sea angling boat that we were rafted with said he preferred to catch mackerel from a stationary boat rather than by trolling. However he has the benefit of a fishfinder so only drops the lines over when fish are about.

Josephine with Staines Castle in the background

After a while we do some proper sailing and after the entrance to Aberdeen we put up the cruising chute (first time this trip).  We were catching up the Dutch boat “Josephine” quite quickly so they put up their cruising chute.  We overtook them anyway.

The marina is excellent – all facilities and good shelter. The 2 Dutch sailors and also Alec from “Sea Horse” joined us for a drink in the evening.  The Dutchmen were planning to leave in the morning even with the poor forecast as they though it was an over-estimate.  They would go straight to Orkney.

485 miles done. 180 miles to go. Follow the track on Google Maps