Stonehaven Swell

A while ago I had a return trip from Catterline to Stonehaven. This is a spectacular part of the east coast and I was keen for a return trip. This Sunday Ken and Sarah came along for a wind and swell assisted run from Stonehaven down to Inverbervie. There has been a lot of swell on this side of the country over the last fortnight, and we were fortunate to catch a day when the weather was fine and the sea had dropped enough to make things reasonable along the cliffs.



We resisted ice creams and bacon rolls in Stonehaven harbour. It would be an easy place to relax in for an hour or two. The entrance to the inner harbour had been closed off, and as we hit some Yee Ha waves before we cleared the outer breakwater we began to see why. There was still a good big swell running, fortunately in our direction.




We bobbed up and down whilst keeping up about 4 knots with little effort. All good fun, but the downside was that we had to keep out from the cliffs, which are spectacular and full of caves along here. We did manage to get close in to the Garran, a rock arch leading to a pool and boulder beach.



Getting into the tiny harbour at Catterline looked tricky, so we found a wee cove sheltered from the breakers.


Another remarkably quick blast took us down to Inverbervie. The beach here is shingle and changes day to day. It isn't the best place to land- the surf dumps onto steep slopes, though fortunately it was sheltered from the biggest waves today. The first picture was taken at low tide, before we set off, and probably shows the problem best.


A quick jump out of the boat followed by a run up a 45 degree shingle slope left me a bit out of breath!


Journey's end.

Catterline caves

Catterline is a quaint wee harbour between Inverbervie and Stonehaven. In the absence of a shuttle, it makes for an interesting 18km or so round trip to Stonehaven, along a coast with caves, arches and tunnels and seabirds by the thousands.


The first big arch is just out of Catterline at the The Garran.
It was rather a grey day, with a bigger swell than I was expecting- taking pictures was a bit tricky at times. The weather suited the mood of the scenery at Dunnottar Castle.



The rock along here is a conglomerate which presumably erodes easily to form the caves and passages. The hollows also give nesting points for the multitude of birds. The soundtrack of the day was crashing waves and screeching birds.
Stonehaven harbour was a lovely spot to stop


And I was careful not to break the speed limit. Cruise control was on.


With a return journey facing the swell it was easier to explore some of the caves.


This one had several skylights.