Inside the Harbour Master’s office at Banff, there had been two pictures of note. One, a picture of Princess Matilda, signed by the owner, Timothy Spall. Princess Matilda isn’t a small vessel and he did well to bring her into such a compact harbour. James, the harbour master said that Princess Matilda spent the winter in Banff, when Timothy Spall and his wife, Shane did their circumnavigation.
The second black and white photo showed the harbour shortly after the Second World War completely filled with fishing boats. Wall to wall and front to back, with not room to squeeze in another dinghy.
James had recommended leaving at 10:00 to catch the current round Rattray Head. As promised the current carried me round, sometimes touching 7 knots. Once again, I was motoring in a dead flat calm, with a little wind. After I’d rounded Rattray Head, I was able to use the sails a bit, but I still needed the engine on to keep a reasonable destination time.
I moored in Peterhead Marina, assembled the Bickerton bicycle, and headed into down, with the intention of finding a few more provisions for tomorrows breakfast. I found a hotel offering Sunday Lunches up until 19:00, so I had a proper cooked dinner, with real vegetables!
I have had some emails of encouragement, one from Peter H, who is due to join Calviere II at Whitby, and another from Peter Ashbolt, RNLI Maidstone Branch Fund Raiser. He asked if I told Colin at Longhope Lifeboat about the terrible weather conditions we suffer when collecting for the RNLI in Maidstone High Street in November. Sorry Peter, it didn’t seem appropriate.
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| Rattray Head |
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| Peterhead Marina |
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