I had a bowl of porridge for breakfast, replaced empty gas bottle and refuelled, before I sought permission from Harbour Control to leave. The wind was light, slightly off the nose, and for a while I was able to use the main sail and the genoa, but I needed the engine to keep the speed up. As I approached Aberdeen, the wind dropped, and went further round to the west, so I put the genoa away. There were lots of tugs, oil field support vessels, and tankers moored inside the bay. There also was a fairly regular helicopter service in and out of Aberdeen. Aberdeen harbour is only interested in commercial vessels and offers no facilities for recreational yachtsmen, which is a pity. I’m sure if they out their minds to it, a small pontoon could be installed. I’m sure it would be well used.
I had telephoned ahead, and had been allocated a berth on the wall at Stonehaven. The harbourmaster also promised to leave a key to the toilet block under a road cone. After I had collected the key, and went for a short tour of the very attractive town of Stonehaven.
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