Accidental trip to Anstruther

The weather has been beautiful this weekend.  Overnight on Friday was cold but Saturday dawned crisp, clear and the rising sun soon started to warm the day. Unfortunately I had business to attend to in Fife so I was destined to spend the day in a van or builders merchants. We arrived in Dunfermline around 11.00 and got ladders sorted and things measured up, then headed off to Screwfix to collect the material, but they didn't have the ogee guttering required so we were stuck. No-one local stocked what we needed so the job ground to a halt. What to do?

A few of the Dunbar boats were due to arrive in Anstruther for an overnight stay so the decision was made and off we trundled in the van along the East Neuk, the thirty pleasantly slow miles through little fishing villages and fantastic coastline.

The skies were clear and the sun shone all day. Phil had never been to Anstruther and has little interest in sailing but was keen for a day out so we wandered about town and down to the lighthouse on the pier to look across to the smudge on the horizon that is home.

I know this wee lighthouse well as it is a leading mark that I use to enter Anstruther harbour when I sail in. It is easy to pick out against the town and is always reassuring after four hours at sea.

The Seline soon arrived with Stuart, Scott and Caitlin enjoying the crossing in unusually pleasant weather. 

They tied up at the pontoon and we were soon aboard. Despite Phil's mistrust of boats, he managed to adapt quite quickly and was soon enjoying the sun and a cold beer. I was driving back, so missed out on the beer but enjoyed the afternoon.

Fly wasn't with me but Phil's collie Jill came along. She was remarkably settled on the boat despite the bobbing around.

This lovely old boat had an unusual BB registration. I had to look this one up and the answer seems to be Bremen (Germany).
We didn't leave until 6pm and it took 2 hours to travel back to Dunbar, it's only 14.6 nautical miles! A lot longer by road.
It was a mixed up sort of day. I didn't get the work done that I need to reduce a lot of grief I'm having to put up with; but I did have a great day out, which puts all the stress in perspective.