Aye ... the seas were big off Rattray ... aaayeee ...

I am now at the beginning of the Caledonian Canal in Seaport Marina Inverness. I haven’t had a chance to update the site due to poor Wi-Fi signal in Peterhead and Lossiemouth. What a trek this has been so far! If I am honest it has been rather grim with 15 days of almost constant northerlies and 3 scares. At the same time I really feel like I have achieved something just by struggling to get up and beyond the NE coast of Scotland, particularly around Rattray Head which really kept me on my toes. The boat got slapped around quite a bit but it looked after me and rode over each wave confidently. It would have been fool hardy to attempt this in my previous boat – a lightly built 19 ft twin keeler. I must admit Rattray Head was scary. I set off from Peterhead at around 4am to catch the north going tide and kept over 4 mile out as advised but the northerly force 3 – 4 transpired to be more of a 4 – 5 with gusts of 6 and a hefty chop developed quite quickly. The sea seemed very confused. On top of this the sky turned black and it began to rain. Waves began washing over the bow and Mermy started to get slammed about quite a bit. I wanted my mam and began worshipping the mighty Neptune immediately. It was unrelenting for about 4 or 5 hours and I was glued to the helm throughout it all. The auto helm would have been useless. It finally eased off as I passed Whitehills near Banff. With great relief I finally made it to Lossiemouth – a beautiful little haven with RAF Tornados screaming overhead every so often. Well I suppose the lads have to practice, don’t they. I was met by Ian the Harbour Master who was extremely welcoming and helpful. Thanks Ian, I really enjoyed my wind down in Lossie.