A grey almost windless day (in this winter of breeze and bluster, it was a rare, calm day) so Plan A; meet Baz at the Balmoral at 0720 and by 8 we met Al at North Queensferry train station and the 4 of us got dropped in an icy car park in Kincardine to walk the 17 or so miles back to the car.

Cold but not the penetrating cold of late, we pushed on at a good rate - we kept 3mph all day.

Al is native Fifer; he's done a lot of the Fife Coastal Path for things like DoE when he was at school; he had most of it done when it was bridge to bridge, but now they've added onto the start and finish, he's keen to get another long distance route marked off. Me and her had done the Aberdour to Kirkcaldy bit at the tail end of last year - post WHW - as well as a short stroll around from N Queenferry to Inverkeithing in early 2015. So plenty of interest in getting the route done. Baz was there in his role as faithful retriever)
Culross gave the first up close look at the estuary; low light and delightful waves gave a serenity not often experienced this winter. And bar the odd dog walker, we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

Onwards we went; some quaint and not so quaint villages; the imposing bulk of Longannet, pouring out steam and smoke. Chatting and thoughtful silence took their turn; and slowly the smiles spread across faces.
5 hours later we hauled up into North Queensferry; had a flask of soup and a cheese sandwich and that was that; plans were made to reconvene on March 21st - St Andrews to Tay Bridge - and hopefully by summer, me and her will have a long weekend from Kirkcaldy to St Andrews with a lightweight tent and a couple of sleeping bags to complete the 107 miles. Easy when you say it like that.

So home around 4; bathed, slept then steak with mushrooms and a cold beer rounded off  a decent weekend; the first we've had together in 2 months.

Extras are Torry Bay lines and Baz and Shaz deep in conversation about broadband providers.