Spirit of Discovery blog

Another early arrival with pilot at 0615, however I am fortunately a morning person and like to “kick-start” the day. With the pilot on board we entered the Firth of Forth and soon afterwards we were greeted with a “fire” tug to escort us all the way to our anchorage. Originally destined for Queensferry we were advised by our Port Agents that a new tender landing area was in operation at Newhaven which is next door to Leith, closer to Edinburgh and within walking distance of the Royal Yacht Britannia (a shuttle was also made available). This was our first tender port call in full operation and the guests were suitable impressed with our superb modern tenders with 120 capacity although we are typically filling them to about 90. The tenders can do up to 16 knots so I’m waiting for my water skis to arrive!!

At 1100 it was time for another plaque exchange – we are going to have them every port this cruise! This turned out to be a very pleasant exchange and especially as we held this in our magnificent “living room”.

After another successful port of call and many positive comments about our “luxury” tenders and easy boarding at the pontoons with no steps, we made preparations for departing the anchorage. Chief Officer Steve conducted the departure and then with the assistance of the pilot took us out to sea and on towards Kirkwall, Orkney Islands.

Captain Julian Burgess