The Fog

No Arbroath and turned back, for the first time. Day started full of promise and optimism. 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cykwia2tenhvgiz/Video%2023-08-2013%2007%2008%2001.mov

Just as I was about to leave, a point usually marked by handing back the Harbourmaster (another Jim) his shower key, I took another peek over the breakwater. Couldn't see past the end of the rocks but 2 fishing boats broke through the gloom and parked up near me. They said that if I went straight out for a mile it was clear. After lots (and lots) of thinking I took a chance and went. About a minute out I looked behind me and the rocky harbour entrance was gone. I pushed on for about a mile and, not only had it got thicker, there was a large sea swell. This meant that the boat was rolling hard. I turned back, praying that my iPad map with a moving dot (me) would keep going and that T Mobile wouldn't choose that particular moment to cut me off. The fog thickened and, massive rocks appeared in the gloom, just before the breakwater, finally, turned up. To use the language of 'Sir Robin', the experience was 'quite interesting'. An hour late I couldn't see across the Harbour. Just to the left of the white fishing boat, who's crew had tried to kill me ( I jest), lay the 'shower blocks'. Asking Jim for the key back was my final act of this sorry tale. 

Later in the day I met Tony, one of the few people that, when minded to, can talk more than me. 

As it happens, Tonys tales were (also !) very interesting so listening was no effort. In his 20ft sailboat he has travelled all around the Scottish coast and faced seas that would have reduced me to hiding under the bunk, sobbing. As with other, intrepid explorers, Tony looked at Alexandra Louise and said 'you could go anywhere in her'. Another theme that Tony continued was that he also shared my anxieties about putting to sea. He echoed my own thoughts when he said, "never spend too long in port. It gets harder to leave every day". Right, I'm off in the morning. 

Fridays update posted today ( Saturday) because I ended up in the pub with Tony. Evening completed with a fully supervised, dodgy, descent down a 20 ft, slippery, seaweed strewn ladder onto a rocking boat, clutching a kebab. Bits of lettuce and garlic sauce everywhere.