Ambling along

Here we are at our next stop, Amble Marina, in Northumberland. Amble is a working fishing town on the mouth of the Coquet River, with the more picturesque Warkworth village and castle a little further upriver. It is possible to see the castle from our berth.

Getting in here was a bit traumatic. Having had a day of light winds of variable direction, strong winds of 25+ knots came almost out of nowhere as we approached the island at the mouth of the river. This meant that we had to get the sails down fast and the engine on, to avoid getting blown onto the rocks. At the same time we encountered a fishing boat laying his salmon nets, who was waving frantically at us, to stop us becoming caught up in them.

An adrenaline surge later and a bit of shouting and swearing, we made it safely into the marina, where two of the staff helped us tie up to the end of A pontoon.

Everyone here is very chatty and friendly, and made us very welcome. We plan to have a look at the castle tomorrow afternoon, and then make the short sail to Holy Island.

55 20.2'N 01 35.0'W 324 miles sailed.