I was woken this morning by the wash of a fishing boat leaving Dunbar harbour. Although it was an hour earlier than planned, I was awake so why not get on with it. Glad I did!

I left the anchorage at about 06:30 and after about an hour the wind got up sufficiently to sail. This was unexpected - based on the forecast I thought I'd be motoring the whole way. I sailed most of the way across the Firth of Forth on a broad reach before a SE 8-10kts, til just past the Isle of May, when the wind veered and died. Visibility also dropped, so once again glad of the chart plotter and radar. It was also cold!

About a mile off Arbroath I came into the sun and it got quite hot. I radioed up for a berth and was assured there was space, port or starboard side to as I pleased. In I came, and as I passed a fishing boat in the outer harbour was hailed and told there was someone waiting to take my mooring lines. Indeed there was - very nice welcome. He complimented me on my beautiful boat (always nice to hear!), gave me a token to operate the gates, and asked me to register at the office later and pay the harbour dues - no rush. Indeed there is no rush - I've been up a couple of times and no-one's there! What a contrast to some south coast marinas...

On packing up the sail, I discovered that one of the mainsail sliders has broken. It's one of the main ones, connected to a batten pocket. Fortunately, the sail suppliers in Hamble have a spare in stock and are sending it on to Peterhead to await me there. I'll manage without it til then.

I'm glad I left early - the gates to the marina, which close to keep us afloat at low tide, closed an hour earlier than the pilot book had led me to expect! I've had a short walk around the town, but will see more tomorrow when I hope to meet up with a former colleague who now lives locally.

Log of this passage (If you zoom right in on the track, you can see where I came head to wind to first raise the sail, then to lower it, and finally head to the swell as I rigged lines and fenders before coming into port).