Lovely to wake up in a peaceful anchorage. We left about 9 ish to get to Arbroath for when the lock gates would be open. It was a gentle sail with the wind behind us more or less. Such a Change for us! The only hazard was the fields of pot flags, that went on the whole way down the coast….. right along the contour line. We tried to radio the HM on approaching Arbroath but got no reply either on the Mobile or the vhf radio, so we just went into the harbour. A beautiful old harbour right in the middle of the town, surrounded by old buildings. And new. The HM was there to greet us and apologised for a radio malfunction ! No worries, we were just pleased to have arrived at such a lovely place and landed safely! The rest of the day was spent having a look around Arbroath. A lovely town and a definite feeling of wealth and prosperity. Old maritime buildings now brightly painted, surround the harbour. The inner harbour is now a leisure boat Marina with pontoons. A few fishing vessels still line the walls. The tide gates ( like lock gates on a canal) are open 3 hours either side of high water. However that only applies during the time between 0700 and 2000 …. as these are the working hours of the harbour staff. So…. if high tide falls say at 0405, then the lock would only be open for 5 minutes, in the morning. Quite confusing and could catch you out as the almanac ( sailing nautical bible) says HW + or — 3 hr☹️
Arbroath is full of fish and chip shops and of course the famous Herring smokies. Julian bought a couple and Had one for supper. Have to say I wasn’t too keen… looked like a bit of old shoe leather with a lot of scaffolding 😳
What I learned today…… the smokie is indeed haddock, not herring as I previously stated incorrectly!
Sue x
Arbroath marina 
Eating his smokie 
Angelique 