you are both correct. As a maritime aviator pretty much every sortie I have flown in has involved an element of coasting out and coasting in and so yes I have lots of experience of flying along coastlines. In fact I have lots of experience flying along this particular coastline having spent many years flying out of a well known Scottish Air station. But we all know my feelings on this subject. The pilots were not grossly negligent. They were unprofessional and they displayed poor airmanship but they were not grossly negligent.
We call the first point 'low flying'.
The weather was out of limits for Low Flying....that wasn't low flying, that was grubbing.