 | 29 th of June 2010 - Peterhead to Inverness |
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| Crew : | Helen and Andy | |
| Destinations : | Inverness Marina. | |
| Distance : | 103 miles |
After a day in Peterhead we decided to head to Inverness so that Andy could get a train to Birmingham and leave me with the boat for a few days. To get the tide in our favour around Rattray Head we departed our berth at 0530. Once in the Moray Firth we hugged the coast trying to identify which small town was used for the film Local Hero. We spotted The Lord Nelson just weighing anchor and setting sail. This is a tall ship built several years ago and equipped to take disabled youngsters. We had seen it at the Southampton Boat Show last year and one of my ex-colleagues, Oliver, has been on a number of trips with them.
The tide was against us for the trip and the wind was very light so it was a pretty tedious trip with the motor, except of course for seeing a whale. Was it a porpoise? Was it a dolphin? No, it was definitely a Minke Whale in amongst the gulls. Passing Lossiemouth we were accompanied by several loud jets heading home for tea, and as the land gradually closed in we passed 2 large seal colonies and the seals popped up to have a look at us. We were radioed at one point by the coastguard enquiring whether we had seen a white flare behind us. We replied to the negative, but I was a bit concerned as the flash had gone off when I took a photo and thought someone might have reported that. I am also slightly perturbed that, despite seeing nobody else and being miles out to sea, the coastguard know exactly where and who we are.
We passed under the Kessock Bridge, Inverness, with 10 metres to spare and were escorted into the marina by dolphins, one of which was playing with an enormous fish. We found a free berth at 2200.
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