- Cove Bay
- 0 kms
When I returned to my campsite after dinner in the Cove Bay Hotel yesterday evening, there was still a little light left and it was calm on the water.
When I awoke this morning, I went through my normal routine of getting everything inside the tent ready to be packed into the kayak. It wasn’t until I left the tent that I realised I was sheltered from the worst of the southeasterley wind by the harbour wall. There would be no paddling today. It was blowing a steady F5 with gusts considerably stronger, and the rain appeared to be settling in for the day.
Joyce, who I’d shared an evening meal with a couple of days ago, was still monitoring my progress. When she saw the weather conditions today, she got in touch to say that her friend, Jim, lived on the road above the harbour. He kindly invited me in when the rain was at its worst, and I continued my education on the lives of east coast fishermen over a cup of tea and scone. He had pictures on his wall of him as a lad with his father in a small boat holding up huge cod fish. The days of catching cod close to the local shores are now past.
Other conversations at the harbour with an old fisherman and Stephen (whose daughter is also an Edinburgh based sea kayaker) served to further highlight how fishing has changed here over the last fifty years. No longer can salmon be caught in nets in their thousands as they migrate north along the coast to their river spawning grounds.
The rain was mostly over by noon, but the winds remained high. I chose to pack up my campsite while it was dry and move to a local hotel room for the night. I did a short coastal walk and felt relief that I hadn’t chosen to take my chances out at sea.
When I checked my Lumix bridge camera this evening, I found the image on the view finder to be distorted and flickering. The rigours of life on a sea kayak may have been too much for it. Or did I knock it when on the coastal walk? Unfortunately, that’s the end of the zoom photography for this trip.
One Man And His Boat 
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