Top of Scotland

We spent another couple of days enjoying Lossiemouth and its environs, and even managed to meet up with a group of Australians we knew from Jordan who were in the area doing a bit of Whisky tasting! 

Despite many many walks along the seafront, I did not see any Dolphins, and  it was all rather quiet without our visitors, so it was time to move on ...



The only gays in the village????

Unusually, the tide allowed us to make a very leisurely departure at 0700, in glorious sunshine.  Having had several days of jets from RAF Lossiemouth screaming overhead (apparently its a boy thing to think this is good) I wanted to see an oil rig.  No problem - Beatrice A was on our way.

It made a welcome change from sailing round the Sovereign Light!  By now the wind was a steady 12 kts, so out came the spinnaker - fabulous sail towards Wick.  We are near the Arctic Circle - don't relax ...the sky darkened ominously, we dropped the spinnaker and continued on our way - we then got some Very Scottish Rain!

Luckily I needed to navigate at this time

We seemed to be sailing at the same speed as the rain. The wind backed by 180 degrees, and we were now on a beat.  We arrived in Wick, and shortly thereafter the rain stopped and the sun came out again.



Wick Marina



Wick is an old fishing port - in its heyday it had a fleet of 1000 herring boats.  Herring are known as Silver Darlings here, but they are all fished out.  Despite the lack of fishing boats, there are still countless lobster pots - we have avoided them in depths of up to 50 metres!  Clearly rope is cheap here.  It has been a Marina for 2 years, and mainly used as a stopping place for people waiting for a weather window to go 'Over the Top' or to the Orkneys.



Wick Breakwater



We spent Friday drying out wet clothing (do not sail in Scottish waters without a de-humidifier) and went for a walk along the clifftop towards yet another castle



Apparently one of the oldest Castles in Scotland - Wick Castle dates back to late 12th or early 13th Century.

 

As people come all the way from Australia to visit the Whisky Distilleries, we thought that as Pultneys Distillery and Visitor Centre is within walking distance from the Marina it deserved a visit.  We were not to be so lucky!  It has to be awarded  'Nul Points' - we were only allowed to visit the shop.  There is a lot to be said for Gin and Tonic.

Tomorrow - The Orkneys ...