Dolphintastic Day....
- pangani9
- May 17
- 2 min read
Day 17: Saturday 16th May 2026.
Fortrose to Wick, Caithness
Duration 10 hours: Wildlife seen: bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins, gannets, guilimots and fulmars
After a fairly peaceful night, we were up early to raise the anchor and bid farewell to Fortrose
...and were briefly escorted past the impressive Fort George, by the resident bottlenosed dolphins of Chanonry Point...
...and then further north, off the coast of Brora, a small pod of Common dolphins displayed their bowriding skills too!
and in the 10 hour blink of an eye, we approached the lovely wee harbour of Wick...
...gently 'skimming' over the silted up entrance at low tide...
and then safely tying on the pontoons in award winning Wick Marina.
It was a lovely evening and everyone was really friendly, so we took the opportunity to have an evening stroll round what was once the largest herring port in Europe. At the height of its boom, during the 19th and early 20th centuries it had a fleet of over 1,100 herring boats...
...then played a vital role during the World Wars due to its proximity to the Royal Navy's Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney. During World War 1, it served as a vital supply link for coal and men and in World War 2 it became a crucial military hub. RAF Wick was used by Coastal and Fighter Commands to conduct anti-submarine patrols and intercept Luftwaffe bombers targetting Scapa Flow.
Nowadays, it has transformed into a diverse, modern maritime hub where it is not only a lovely 80 berth marina but also still a successful shellfish port, as well as a primary operational and maintenance hub for offshore renewables including the huge Beatrice Offshore windfarm that we sailed past.
Seeing the huge, serrated turbine blades stored on the harbour wall was quite a sight...
...and their proximity to the Harbour chip shop encouraged us to partake in some very fresh and tasty fish suppers ...
...and enjoy a beautifully still evening sky...
...before bedding down for the night.
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