Arbroath Smokies!

Arbroath Outer Harbour

Fantastic down wind spinnaker run from Port Edgar to Arbroath - peace was shattered by a sudden squall, complete with rain and 20kts, just as we dropped the spinnaker but apart from that it was the first day sailing without needing full thermals since leaving the South Coast!

First stop had to be the Smokies -

The Spink Family seemed to have practically built the town in the early days, so it seemed only right to get their Smokies. We had the full guided tour:

The Herring are gutted, heads removed, and tied in pairs. They are hung on wooden rails for 24 hours to drain, or the liquid would put the fire out.

The fire, a secret mix of hard wood including Oak is in a giant covered BBQ pit.

The fish are smoked for about half an hour, known as Hot Smoking, after which they are ready to eat! A very mild but delicious flavour.

The fish can also be 'Cold Smoked',for which it is skinned and filleted - our guide / Master Smoker was clearly very efficient at this job!

After the Smokies, it was time to check out the rest of the local attractions:

Despite the sign, we did find the Signal Tower Museum totally fascinating: 200 years ago the lighthouse was built on Bell Rock (to replace the Bell) - Bell rock lies 11 miles offshore, and is only uncovered at low water - the challenge was great, but 4 years later a 35m stone lighthouse, initially with 24 oil burning lamps and a mechanism that needed winding every half hour was constructed almost like giant jigsaw puzzle on land and floated out to the construction site. The lamps were later upgraded to a single light, and the lighthouse was manned until the 1980's.