Day 42- Wednesday 29th June Findochty to Whitehills.

My next challenge is Rattary Head and I need to catch the tide right as I  turn this corner and starting to head south. I have come a little further east along the Moray Firth to Whitehills to reduce the distance to this headland. Today was a relatively short sail as I brace myself for this unpredictable bit of coastline.It will be strange going south, as all my charts will now be effectively upside down, as I will be progressing down them rather than up them.


Just before Whitehills I passed the small harbour of Portsoy .There is a festival of sail event going on a there this weekend. It looks like such a small place from the sea and its hard to see how it can host such a big event. Its a shame I won't be around to see all the classic boats which will be there,

I was frustrated by the lack of Internet access last night and needed to find somewhere where I could reassemble myself and sort out my pile of washing and resolve my email problems. The little marina at Whitehills seemed the right place.

The marina is yet another former fishing port that has opened itself up to leisure boats. However, this one is privately owned by the local community and they have taken a pride in making it one of the nicest marinas on the east coast. The harbour master is extremely friendly and they have created a kitchen and sitting area complete with books and a sofa. One of the harbour commissioners gave me a lift into Banf to get some cash. He showed me the grand house, which used to be owned by the Duff family who gave their name to the adjoining town of Macduff. He also gave me a tour of the harbours of both towns and showed me where there is some still very significant ship repair work still going on. The major work in the area is now  associated with the oil rigs in and around Aberdeen.

There were big shoals of sand-eels in the clear water next to the pontoons. These were swimming amongst the jelly fish. They have not come out very well on the photo, but it was an impressively large amount of fish.On the radio this morning they were talking about the impending major collapse of marine life as a result of overfishing. I passed 3 trawlers very close this morning with their long lines trailing out behind them. The programme was talking of the resilience of the sea and the need to hold back to let stocks recover. It seems a big ask in a place like this. No matter how much the industry has collapsed how do you get fisherman to hold back in this way?


Alongside me on the pontoon is another single handed yachtsman doing the circumnavigation. He set out from Fareham a couple of weeks before me and has been around Cape Wrath. We compared experiences in the pub this evening and had a good natter to the locals.I think we will wet off together tomorrow, which will be good.

The high seems to be lingering a little longer and its making for some fantastic skies in the evenings.