We planned to leave Peterhead with the south going tide after lunch. The weather in the morning wasn't looking very auspicious, with periodic heavy showers and a blustery wind.

However once we did leave and turn south with the wind it became very pleasant. It had brightened considerably - although not so much as to be sunny - and the wind was a fairly steady 15 knots from the north-west (i.e. behind us, but not directly behind). With a favourable tide, we were at times making 9 knots over the ground and averaged over 7 knots for the whole trip down past Aberdeen to Stonehaven.

Stonehaven welcomes passing yachts but doesn't have specific facilities for them. We therefore had to moor against the rough outer harbour wall. There aren't many rings or bollards to attach to, and we had to leave the lines super slack to allow for nearly 4m of tide to drop.

Once we'd parked, we found Stonehaven is a lovely harbour. We went for a quick drink outside one of the 2 pubs on the quayside and watched the RNLI doing some practise with their rib, and then using a caterpillar tracked vehicle to retrieve it from the water over the sand of the inner drying harbour.