The swell was gone, I'd spent a day working in Newscastle, and we were ready and able to leave Eyemouth - and Scotland - with the south-going tide at 9am.

First stop was Holy Island (a.k.a. Lindisfarne) to which we had a super sail. The wind was just right and the sea state was kind.

The wind was however a little on the strong side for anchoring on an exposed lee shore with comfort. Having little choice we did, and then had lunch on board to see if we were holding. Having held our position through some gusts of over 25knots, we then went ashore in the dingy and visited Linidisfarne Castle. Having been built as a fort and then abandoned, this was extended and converted into a home in the early 20th century and now preserved as it was then as a National Trust property. At this stage the weather had brightened and it was a nice day for walking to and around the property.

The volunteer guide at the castle made an interesting observation. Whilst talking about the seals - and explaining why they are prospering - she said it was because the fishermen now are only after lobsters and crab, so they aren't competing with the seals for fish (or therefore hunting the seals as in the past). That does ring true with the 'fishing' activities we've seen and the numbers of lobster pots.

The rain started just as we left, and the wind picked up. Getting back to the jetty we could see that MoJo had moved. Albeit not too far, but enough to show that the anchor had dragged. Back onboard we decided to press on to Amble rather than reset the anchor and have an anxious night to see if it held. When we raised the anchor, I found it had fouled on the remains of an old mooring, which I guess had stopped it embedding properly into the seabed.

So we headed south past the Farne Islands towards Amble. At any one point we could see 3 or 4 thunder squalls, in between which was calmer, drier conditions with even some sun. So we alternated between having a good wind for sailing but being wet, or being dry with less wind. The wind was important as we were against the tide and yet needed to be making good progress as Amble has limited access at low water. This was another time when the variable draught of MoJo was a huge advantage - as we were able to plan to get into Ample with only a 1m depth of water.

On the way the alternating rain and sun treated us to a couple of perfect rainbows, and we were joined for a bit by some very large dolphins.

The final task when tidying the boat after arriving in Amble was to take down our Scottish Saltire we've been flying as a courtesy flag for the last 6 weeks. I'm sure that technically we shouldn't fly a courtesy flag for Scotland - at least not pending the result of their vote next month - however I deem that it is a courtesy in the wider meaning of the word and it is also a bit of fun to fly another flag.