We left Whitehill early to ensure we had enough water to get out - the lowest depth we registered was 2.4m and our draught is 2.2m - close! The journey to Lossiemouth was 22nm; however we had to wait until around 4pm to ensure enough water to get into there so we decided to try and sail slowly.

Unfortunately the wind didn't play along - it was right on the nose for the direction we wanted to go so we had a few hours of close hauled tacking which is quite tiring with our big genny and at the end of it we'd travelled about 3 miles in the direction we wanted to go! Oh well enough time killed so Victor on and we motored the rest of the way to Lossiemouth.

On the way we heard a strange booming noise, our first thought being there was a problem with the engine. But no, it was the Tornado fighter jets from RAF Lossiemouth doing continuous circuits around us. We took a walk to the West Beach in Lossiemouth and watched the jets pretending to come into land and then zooming off again - very noisy! Fun to watch for a while but as they were flying still at 10:15pm it must get pretty annoying for the town residents. But then I guess the base also brings income to the area so its all a bit give and take.

We berthed at Lossiemouth on the big alongside in the east basin, coming alongside using 2xman power - the harbour master and a friendly fisherman who pulled Emerald's nose around as I don't think we'd have done it (the should we get a bow thruster question pops up again...).

Lossiemouth is a pleasant town with loads of take-aways - curry, chinese, thai, fish and chips and pubs that haven't been boarded up. However when we went for an eat-in curry we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. Many of the houses look like their stonework has been freshly cleaned and pointed and everyone we met was friendly.

Our second day there we took the bus to Elgin, about 6 miles away. A pleasantly bustling town with a distillery within walking distance. We have made a rule that we can only buy whisky from the places we actually visit - so now we have our first bottle - a Glen Moray Classic.

Our trip to Lossiemouth and our day in Elgin was rain free and quite warm and sunny at times - yippeeeeeeeee!