MARINA LIFE EDINBURGH
Aboard his boat Luna, coastal explorer William Thomson continues coast’s sailing tour of classic British harbours, this month anchoring up in the Firth of Forth to explore the coastline around Edinburgh
On the map, the Firth of Forth is your stereotypical funnelshaped estuary. Starting in the east its entrance to the North Sea is a staggering 30km wide, but as you head west it gradually tapers to a single line on the map at Stirling, 88km upstream and the limit to how far the tide reaches. If you’re exploring by sea, this gradual narrowing draws you in like a irresistible force, past the unmistakeable Bass Rock with its 150,000 gannets and on to the iconic Forth Bridge, as elegant a piece of engineering as you’ll find anywhere. This man-made wonder symbolises why the Firth of Forth is so special; in few other places will you find such a blend of beautiful nature amid stimulating culture. Nestled on the southern shores of the Firth (which gets its name from the Norwegian ‘fjord’, indicating deep water), Edinburgh not only has plenty to do on the water; there are enough museums, cafés, pubs and restaurants to keep you busy for days, even weeks.
Everyone’s first trip to Edinburgh should start with a climb of Arthur’s Seat. Not only does a scramble up this natural landmark dust off the cobwebs after a journey, it gives you a 360˚ panorama all the way to North Berwick’s equally striking Law Hill. With the physical exertion of the summit ticked off, you can then take in Edinburgh’s culinary delights with a clean conscience.
The next highlight is a visit to the beach, but being full of food and wine, the last thing you should do is go swimming – a trip around the Royal Yacht Britannia will do nicely, first. My favourite spot for a North Sea swim is Portobello in the east; the expansive flat sand at low tide is a reassuring sign that as the tide rises you can safely stay in your depth and needn’t worry about any bone-breaking shorebreaks.
A couple of years back, I did a Tide Walk along Portobello beach. One of the ladies (who has lived on the seafront for 40 years) asked why the wind changes with the tide. It rarely shows up on the weather forecast, but she was certain there was a pattern between the tide turning and the wind changing speed and direction. When my Book of Tides was published, an elderly man wrote to me from Bristol – his grandfather had taught him that the wind in the Severn Estuary also turned with the tide, and he wondered if I might know why? I could not find any scientific journals explaining for definite why this would occur, but it could be to do with temperature differences. Wind is made by air moving from places with high pressure (cold air sinking) to places with low pressure (warm air rising) and as the sea and land are different temperatures, when the tide turns and the inter-tidal zone changes between being water or beach, this temperature change may affect the wind. It is only speculation, but I’d love to explore this in more detail; if you have adventures in an estuary around the UK and notice this happening, get in touch (wave@tide-school. com) and we will see if we can find an answer to the mystery!