St Abbs Head lies 6 km North of Eyemouth. It boasts some superb scenery and wildlife but more importantly, given the right conditions, the topography of the headland lends itself to some great tidal features. It would be easy to get caught out thinking you could hide under the towering 150 meter high cliffs on a day of strong Westerlies, but arrive here at peak Ebb flow on a fresh Westerly wind and you'll soon find out that there's no shelter. A quick look at your chart will confirm that a Westerly wind will oppose any ebbing tide and create spectacular over falls right along the front of the cliffs. Some days there's a clean piece of water at the base of the cliffs, other days the race will run from the foot of the cliffs up to 2 miles off shore. Obviously the same can be expected on the Flood tide with winds from the South or East.
Our trip on Saturday took us from our launch site at the beach in Eyemouth, out of the bay and onto the Ebb tide conveyor belt leading straight to the Head. We were excited at the prospect of seeing a group of Pilot Whales that had been spotted in this area the day before.
A strong West wind made conditions uncomfortable on the way but the push of the tide in our favour made the journey a short one. Once tucked under the Wuddy Rocks at the South East end of the head we could see the sun glinting off the white caps of the tide race in the distance.
Thankfully the race looked quite friendly today and a nice clean passage was visible at the foot of the cliffs. A few dive boats were close in displaying their Alpha flags so care had to be taken to avoid the bubbles as we picked our way up the side. We split the group in two and some of us went out for a play in the race.
We all passed quietly under the Head and found shelter behind some of the towering sea stacks.
We gathered ourselves together and fled to the shelter of Petticowick Bay for a spot of lunch. As we sat on the old jetty the sun warmed our backs and Mike's Jetboil filled the air with an oriental aroma of exotic herbs and spices. As it turns out it was a posh Morrisons pot noodle that he found hiding in the corner of his day hatch !
The views looking North West towards Fast Castle were spectacular. The midday Sun being a few degrees lower in the sky in September cast some fantastic shadows along the dramatic cliff features.
The tide had turned and was lifting our boats as it crept purposefully up the boulder strewn beach. Time to head back round the corner and back towards Eyemouth.
We bid farewell to the ever watchful eye of our very own Berwickshire version of an Easter Island Monolithic statue, or more affectionately known in these parts as Side Show Bob.
As we left the shelter of Petticowick it soon became evident that the wind had dropped and the tide had eased. Our return trip was going to be a much more tranquil affair so Brian decided to spice it up a little by having a few unsuccessful attempts at trying to drown himself.
We were back on the Beach in Eyemouth early afternoon and loaded up our gear. No Whales for us today but no trip to Eyemouth is complete without a visit to Giacopazzi's for one of their weird and wonderful ice cream creations. We enjoyed this as we stood by the harbour side watching the seals dining on a feast of filleted Pollock and Cod frames discarded from a local fishing boat.
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