Day 31 – Should have been a weather day

• Crail to Elie
• 15 kms

When going across the Tay Estuary, I wore my long sleeve cag with a short sleeve t-shirt. The long stint on the water and the hard paddle at the end resulted in some abrasion sores on the inside of my elbow. I’ll be wearing my short sleeve cag for the remaining days – regardless of the weather.

The weather today wasn’t a whole lot better than yesterday, and it was touch and go on whether I’d give paddling a go or not. I felt well rested from my two nights in a bed, and the sun was shining, so Wendy and Jane helped me and boat return to Crail Harbour.

After half an hour battling into an F5/6 headwind and the sun now gone, I was having second thoughts. I considered turning round and heading back to the harbour, but on seeing a landing spot beneath two long ago abandoned houses, I decided to take a break there and consider my options.

I spent an hour or so sheltering by the houses. When the sun came back out I met a man from the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust organising a pile of trash. He spent one day a week slowly hiking bits out to locations accessible by his truck. The vast majority of it was washed up creels and other fishing paraphernalia.

Another hard stint on the water got me as far as the welcome shelter of Cellardykes Harbour. The boat remained here for much of the day. I changed out of my paddling gear and played at being a regular Fife Coast tourist. Fish and Chips in Anstruther, a hike along the coastal path, and a large ice-cream cone.

The wind was forecast to drop slightly in the evening. I returned to my boat at 4 pm. and headed out for a final push for the day. Two hours later, I made it to a nice beach east of Elie that was just too tempting to pass up on. Here I camped for the night. Over four hours of paddling had resulted in only a 15 kilometre gain in distance. Walking would be faster.