Cruising to East Haven
After a week of cold, sleety weather the sailing gods granted a beautiful sunny day for the Club’s first significant cruise of the season, to East Haven near Carnoustie.
Five boats made the trip, accompanied by the safety boat, and made steady progress on the ebb tide downriver in light winds, around the Gaa sands at Buddon Ness and across to Carnoustie Bay, with the snowy Sidlaws in the background. Here we met up with two more boats and safety boat from Carnoustie Sailing Club who joined us for the extra mile along the coast to East Haven, where we all enjoyed a sunny BBQ in a well-appointed picnic spot. Another highlight was what must be one of the finest public toilet blocks in Scotland, run by the local community.
Some tricky tacking out through the rocks and lobster pots into an onshore wind at the start of the return leg, the group spread out a little in a freshening wind with an unexpected capsize providing the highlight on the leg to Buddon Ness. The SW wind freshened further as we rounded Buddon Ness for a choppy and exhilarating tack back upriver to the club.
A tiring but enjoyable 22 mile round trip, with some nice scenery and conditions we’re not so familiar with. Really nice also meeting up with our fellow sailors from Carnoustie SC who were very hospitable on “their patch”!
