We are sitting in the Marine Hotel in Stonehaven. Syd is in seventh heaven because they serve seven real ales. Our faces are glowing from two days of sun, that magical element which I last felt I don't know when. We left Wick yesterday for the long haul across Moray Firth. The wind died away and we had to motor most of the way. We entered Peterhead at 2330 amongst the many huge commercial tugs and vessels still very active at that hour. After a good night's sleep, we ate a hearty cooked breakfast, put a turn in the forestay, re-fuelled and sought clearance to leave the harbour. Rather than another long passage we opted to sail down the coast to Stonehaven, a delightful old fishing village where yachtsmen are more than welcome. The engine earned a well deserved rest and we sailed into the harbour at six, the harbour master giving us his berth alongside the harbour wall, his boat being on the other side for anti fouling. Tomorrow another long passage to Eyemouth and then Shearwater is almost back in England for the first time since we left Bristol.