Day 52--Saturday 9th July- Eyemeouth to Amble

The south flowing tide starts early at the moment, so woke at 5.listened to the shipping forecast at 5.20 and was on my way by 6.15. The Forth and Tyne forecasts cover a big area and I knew the winds were going to be variable. It was a day very similar to yesterday with some big dark clouds over the land patchy sun over the water. Today though the light winds were behind me rather than against me.

A little way south lies Holy Island and the Farne Islands. Before setting off on this trip I had imagined anchoring off Holy island.However, the weather was not settled and these clouds looked menacing. I settled for some good views and a smooth route carried through on the tide.

Furthermore, Ihad just noticed that my outboard bracket had cracked and I needed to sort that out before it got worse and I lost the engine.I lashed it as best I could. The nearest port with a chandler seemed to be at Amble. Kelvin had texted me to say he was in Blyth, the next Port down and they were having a party.It was tempting to limp on but all the chanders would be closed by the time I got there.

Instead I continued to enjoy the show that the sky was giving today.I saw a few more penguins on the water as well. When they take fright they do not always take off, but sometimes they seem to row away with their wings working like high speed oars.

As I drew towards the harbour the sky grew ever blacker. The wind which had been non existent for a few hours grew to 17kn from the direction of the cloud.You could see how if that was added to an existing wind it would amount to quite a blow.

The tide was low at Amble and I crept in alongside the sand banks and redundant wooded wharf. A spectacular thunder storm was now breaking out over the sea and flashes of lightening lit up the undersides of the clouds.

I soon set to work to remove the old outboard bracket. The replacement one was different, so it meant drilling more holes in the stern. It was also difficult to get the upper and lower height of the bracket in the same place as the old one.

Comming into the harbour I noticed some unusual small wooded boats. They were clinker built and very graceful with swept back sterns and many had canvass covers over the bow. I learned later that these are Northumbrian Cobles.They are lovely looking graceful craft.

There was even one which had been used to form an otherwise typical fishing boat.

My sister and family drove out to see me in the evening. this would be the last time I was in range for this sort of thing.They treated me to another meal in the nearby pretty village of Warkworth. It has an impressive castle at the top of the street and the houses are sandstone like a Cotswold village.

The castle has some very fine stonework and an impressive Lion motif.