On our 'day off' we took a short walk to Warkworth, past the nature conservation area of the river (we saw the herons) and past the castle to the Masons Inn for refreshments. In the evening we visited Coquet Yacht Club in Amble where we were warmly greeted and where a club member bought us each a drink! How very kind and welcoming!
The next day began with an 0630 departure to catch the north going tide. The sea was nicely flat - hooray for that! Initially there was little wind and so we motor-sailed, another yacht left Amble shortly after us and followed us northwards. The Farne Islands appeared over the horizon and we set a course which took us between them. As we emerged the other side the wind picked up and we were able to hold a great port tack beam reach all the way to Eyemouth, with the sun joining us for a good part of the way. It was great sailing, despite the cool wind, and we clocked over 8 knots boat speed. Arriving at Eyemouth we carefully threaded our way between several large rocky zones to find the harbour entrance, which turned out to be very narrow - we had to stop quicky to let a RIB out before we could enter! We tied up alongside an old fishing vessel, the Admiral Collingwood, as requested by the harbour master. We took a short walk around town and noted the seals in the harbour - some were 'jumping' up at the returning fishing boats as fishermen gave them a fish, and further down the harbour bystanders were entertained as fish were suspended on a line and pole above the water for the seals to 'jump' up at!
It was a great end to the week, and helped us to get over the earlier disappointments.
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| The wildlife reserve with Warkworth Castle in the background |
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| Warkworth castle |
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| The (low lying) Farne Islands |
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| Holy Island (Lindisfarne) with its sandy beaches |
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| Roger helming, the Farne Islands in the background |
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| Approaching Eyemouth |
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| Eyemouth harbour - seals next to the fishing boat wait for a treat! |
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| Blue Star berthed in Eyemouth alongside the Admiral Collingwood |
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| Feeding the seals at Eyemouth |
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