Happy Birthday to the Dawn Patroller.

A very wet and windy day.  61-5 miles per hour winds and increasing.  High tides, lower down the coast Stonehaven flooded - again.

I was esconced in the lighthouse museum, hearing the rain on the roof and the wind whistling.  Just showing my face as the Chartless Rudderless thing was installed.  It took quite a while so I was just being 'available'.  Which meant I was in the cafe getting hyper on coffee and watching the sea from the window.

Well I can't move tons of chairs and cannot even get our sound system to work so - best sit and drink coffee.

 While the two people from Chartless Rudderless battled on the DP and I had a nice lunch for his birthday.  

The DP is now a volunteer guide taking people up the lighthouse.  So we both get staff discount!

He then went off to have fun taking photographs and as usual you couldnt move out there in the wind and rain for all the other photographers doing the same.  Anoraks.

 Now I know where he was stood to get this picture.  He is lucky to see his birthday out, I can tell you.  

The square edifice being bashed by waves is the Wine Tower, wherein he was recently giving the spiel.  And where lo-o-o-ng ago the ghost piper was drowned.  Followed by his lover throwing herself out of a window onto the rocks below and we still throw red paint on the rocks to commemorate this.  Bloody daft aren't we.

The above is one of the oil rig supply boats, sans container, heading off for Aberdeen.  Now here is some interesting information.  You cant just swan in to Aberdeen Harbour, you have to join a queue.  When the weather is like this all the boats hide up and get shelter to the left of the Lighthouse Museum.  So we look out and see masses of them and know the weather is going to be bad.  This boat has been told there is a berth ready so off it goes battling the wind and weather to get there.  Mad.

The oil platform workers get transported to and from the oil rigs  there and back on a helicopter.  But not in this weather.  This is a coast guard helicopter.

Meanwhile back inside the Museum.

Right, theres this perspex box which appears to have dancers inside it.  But also on the wall....
 

Then they all seem to be everywhere.

 

Spooooooooky.

 Due to the Council doing stuff in the exhibition area where we normally have our Kids Activities, we will be doing the kids activities in the school holidays, in the same room.

I see many traumatised kids, or at the very least, some very confused volunteer crafters.

But, so far, the DP has had a most enjoyable day taking photographs, which is what he likes.