East Coast Cruise

[Ariel]

Lifting keel........Anstruther

Anstruther would be on my list of places to visit (from the water) if we weren't planning on cutting the corner as much as possible. It is a bit of a 'Banff or Bust' trip.

Pittenweem is another place that I have strolled around with thoughts of sailing in, one day. However, according to the Lawrence pilot ... the Pittenweem "harbourmaster has specifically said that yachts are not welcome".

With the like of the Pittenweem harbour master and stories of Aberdeen Port Authority torpedoing visiting yachtsmen and enslaving their womenfolk, I begin to wonder if all that "You'll have had your tea, then" stuff I heard at my Ayrshire Mother's knee may have some truth in it.

Rav.

[Fingal]

Lifting keel........Anstruther

Anstruther would be on my list of places to visit (from the water) if we weren't planning on cutting the corner as much as possible. It is a bit of a 'Banff or Bust' trip.

Pittenweem is another place that I have strolled around with thoughts of sailing in, one day. However, according to the Lawrence pilot ... the Pittenweem "harbourmaster has specifically said that yachts are not welcome".

With the like of the Pittenweem harbour master and stories of Aberdeen Port Authority torpedoing visiting yachtsmen and enslaving their womenfolk, I begin to wonder if all that "You'll have had your tea, then" stuff I heard at my Ayrshire Mother's knee may have some truth in it.

Rav.

It seems to depend which harbourmaster is on duty at Pittenweem. There are at least two and while one (presumably the one whom Martin Lawrence consulted) is not at all welcoming, the other dude is more laid back. We were in there last Spring, and Guthrie Stewart who runs the Forthsail sailing school goes in regularly. Anstruther is probably a nicer place to be if you can dry out.

[claymore]

I think Harwich is out at the moment after the antics of the Danish Ferry.

[Ariel]

Hi,

Could I ask about some general advice about anchorages along the coast?

Our ambitious timescales mean that we will probably need to slog up the coast, working the tides till the last minute and keeping going when winds allow us to overcome the tides. The early forecast is for a few periods of calm and, with Southerly winds forecast, I have been looking at a few anchorages where we can wait out.

The anchorages I've picked out are -:
Stonehaven Bay - if we get there at the wrong hour.
Nigg bay and Aberdeen Bay (if the Aberdeen PA open fire on us.)
Colliestan
Bay of Cruden (which looks lovely)

On the basis that we would only be looking to anchor when there isn't enough wind to sail, does anyone have any advice about these as suitable resting places? Any suggestions for other anchorages with nearby pubs or hot showers would be very welcome.

Thanks,

Rav.

[Ariel]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the help and advice for the trip which went off swimmingly.

My one gripe is that nobody warned me about the blazing hot tropical weather that you have up there. I can understand that you want to keep this a secret so that you don't get overrun with tourism and end up with a concrete coastal plain like the Algarve but a private message, tipping me off, would have been nice. As it was, we had just enough sunblock with us so all ended up well.

Light winds meant that we were pushed to keep the boatspeed up and we only spent a few hours ashore in Stonehaven and then Peterhead. We stumbled across a friendly but strange hostelry in a housing estate near the (lovely) Peterhead marina.

It was a wonderful trip and I hope to return for a more leisurely cruise to explore the area.

Thanks, gain for all the advice.

Ravi