The morning was eerily quite, no howling wind or pounding waves that had almost become the norm. Once the dock gates were lowered at 9am it was time to go.

With little wind and not much forecast, the plan was to motor down to Dunbar taking a slight detour out to Bell Rock Lighthouse.

I had heard a lot about how nasty the entrance of Dunbar is. Therefore, the aim was to get there before dark in order to miss the unlit rocks. There was so little wind that although the sails were ready to go, there was little point in using them.

As I checked in with the coastguard it was clear that we had been in the Forth Coastguard district a little too long. I had clearly spoken to this operator before as he knew all our details and just needed to confirm the number of people on board. With hindsight I don’t think they have to deal with many yachts at this time of year - I have not seen another yacht on the water since Inverness! The operator finished the call with “if you need any help just give us a call”. This was the first time the coastguard had said this – what did they think was going to go wrong!

We were making good time on the last few hours of the south going tide seventeen miles south of Arbroath when Silverwind started to slow up. After twenty seconds the engine had stopped completely. I did not know whether I should be concerned or please that there was no wind. In any case it was going to be a long sail in the current wind conditions. On trying to restart the engine it would go for a few moments and then stop – it needed a little TLC.

The way the engine stopped led me to believe that it was a fuel problem. The fuel tank was half full so it must have been something further down the system. After disconnecting the main fuel filter and blowing through it I thought I had cleared something but could not be sure. After a couple of phone calls to my dad (he’s a mechanic and tends to come in handy in these situations) I made sure the carburettor was not blocked before reassembling the fuel system.

With a quick tug of the start cord the engine came back to life but still did not seem to be itself. After stopping the engine again the old spark plugs were swapped for a new set. On inspection the old set were not totally gone, however, at this point it was a matter of giving the engine every little bit of help it could get. It soon sprang back into life and continued without hesitation. I had been working on the backup plan while the engine had been stopped and decided we were in one of the worst place to have no power.

All the local harbours have tight entrances that would be hard to sail into – or at least interesting if you have never been to the place before. By my calculations in a worst case we could sail up to Port Edgar (west of Edinburgh) overnight. There, at least I knew we could sail onto a pontoon. After running the engine for three hours I was now happy that all was well. The wind had got up a little so it was time for some sailing. Although very little speed this was a very nice stretch upwind. With the sun slowly falling behind the Isle of May and the Islands further up the Forth it made for a nice end to the day. With two hours to sunset we were still some way off. It was time to test the motor again by powering up the last few miles into Dunbar. On entering the harbour, like any other, I planned what we would do if the engine failed. In this case however, although I had a new faith in the engine, the plan B was a bit more thought through!

It was pleasing that we were approaching Dunbar in a flat sea as we motored through the rocks and up to the cliff into which the harbour entrance is cut. If you made an error in a swell there was not much room between the channel and the beach. Even from the north the harbour entrance only opened up at the last moment as a passage cut fifty metres through the rock. It was a relief to get in side the harbour after a day that felt longer than it had been. We soon found a berth alongside the harbour steps and I went off to explore the town.