SAILING THE SHIPPING FORECAST

Celebrating 100 years of the BBC Shipping Forecast, Jane Russell takes us on a series of coastal cruises through the forecast sea areas, exploring some of the special places on offer in each of them

- 

FORTH

The Forth sea area runs from just north of Stonehaven on the East Aberdeenshire coast southwards to Holy Island off the Northumberland coast, including the approaches to the River Tay and the outer River Forth itself. This is a coastline with few offlying islands, but there are some glorious firths and rivers to explore, giving access to historic towns and cities, notably the capital Edinburgh.

Prevailing summer winds are westerly, off the land, with a mean wind strength of F3 to 4. Summer gales are rare and rainfall is much lower than on the West Coast. Fog, or ‘haar’, isn’t usually an issue but happens a bit more in early summer. All of this is a recipe for some very enjoyable cruising.

Easterly winds are relatively infrequent but, when they persist, they expose this coast to swell. In these conditions, passagemaking can become quite unpleasant and many of the smaller harbour entrances become dangerous. Even without easterly winds, if Atlantic swell finds its way over the top of Scotland and down the east coast, similar problems arise. Monitor swell direction and height as well as the wind forecasts.

Tides flood southwards along this coast, generally at around 1.5 knots or less. But the streams run much more strongly in and out of the Tay estuary. In the Forth estuary, the river narrows under the bridges where wind acceleration can combine to create tricky conditions. The streams also run strongly around Holy Island. The area is busy with commercial shipping and windfarm support. The Forth and Tay Navigation Service VTS is on VHF 71. W or SW 4 to 6 veering W or NW 3 to 5. Slight or moderate in east, smooth or slight in west. Rain or showers. Good, occasionally poor at first.