Norse from Caledonia

 A few conclusions about this year's sailing odyssey 😀 The Scottish coastline is huge and mountainous - I never got used to just how big it is! Island people are welcoming to us travellers and it's great to talk to them and find out about their lives. We met some interesting and wonderful people on other yachts, especially where there were fewer boats around and this brought us closer together. The Orkneys are great and we especially loved meeting the ever-so-friendly people of Long Hope. The new Scapa Flow museum is magnificent and it was lovely to see that such important history is now safely gathered into this wonderful building. Stromness was as lovely as we had previously found it to be. Travelling through Scottish waters later in the year than when we were here in 2018 meant that we saw more seabirds on the water than before (when they had mostly been at their nesting sites). We were mesmerised by the way they flew seamlessly between the water and the air. Taking the Cal...

On Monday 29th August, a sailing wind had returned and we set off from Port Erin on the Isle of Man to catch a ride on a series of favourable winds that were forecast for the following few days.   Our hope was that these would get us home before the arrival of nasty weather - about a week away! Our Route Home from the Isle of Man Port Erin to Holyhead 52 miles, 8 hours Passing the island "Calf of Man" at the start of our rush to get south We had a sparkling sail E F4/5 wind that took us to the commercial port of Holyhead. Dodging a very large Irish Ferry, we found our way into this huge harbour.  We were not sure where we should go and started by tying to the one remaining (and very ropey) pontoon.  The rest of the marina had been swept away when Storm Emma had brought 80 mph winds to Holyhead in 2018.  Since then, there have been plans to rebuild but these have not yet got off the ground. Storm Emma lashing Holyhead Marina in 2018 The marina office was deserted...

As I struggled on the foredeck to hank on the no 2 jib, I cursed myself quite loudly.  My first mistake had been to believe the forecast of force 4 on the beam, so leaving the heavy sail below.  It was now force 5, nearly on the nose.  My second mistake was not to change into boots and jacket before going forward, but I knew that we would soon round another point into more exposed waters.  So I got a bit wet and a bit annoyed.  The early dawn view of "Fair Head" might have made me think twice, soon after leaving Ballycastle, but back then the seas were still quiet and we were doing 10+ knots with the tide. Fair Head The wind came and went, as did the no 2 jib, genoa and engine, but we made a fast 40 mile passage to Bangor, arriving before midday. After an afternoon snooze (we are getting old for these early morning starts) we went off to find a new restaurant for the evening.  However, since we hadn't booked anywhere, we ended up back in Bokhara, our favori...

Our easier plan involved locking into the Crinan Canal to avoid beating southwards but then we saw an opportunity to head W with one day of fortuitous easterlies that suddenly turned up and so we opted for this instead. We had hoped to have another night in Kerrera Marina but when we went to the bar on Saturday 20th August to ask for another day, we were informed that our berth was needed by the wedding party that was arriving later that day - oops!  So, with a SW F6 wind blowing, we suddenly had to move to find a new mooring place.  This was not a good wind for travelling south, so instead we decided to anchor on the NW side of Kerrera in Oitir Mhor Bay. Our windy but well protected anchorage north of Kerrera There were 2 other yachts here and we all had a cosy day in the blustery sunshine.  We got down to some boat jobs and were also lucky enough to spot a Golden Eagle alight for a time on the outlying islet next to us.  It was huge and great to watch through our b...

Tuesday 16th August and a big event in Sandaig Bay; the sun came out!  We went out into the cockpit and had a warming whisky to celebrate.  It's so lovely to have clear weather after all the fog further north, where the (reportedly) glorious views were lost in the murk. Has Summer Arrived in the Highlands? Loch Nevis astern was bold and beautiful but the cool temperature in the strong breeze soon sent us back down below. Loch Nevis from Sandaig Bay Next morning the anchor came up cleanly yet again (I am not keen to swim for it around here.  Although the water is lovely and clear it is only about 13 degrees and shaving off my beard for the mask is not easy).  We then had a lovely sail up the coast, although the wind sometimes faded, so Yanni the Yanmar was used for short periods. Sunrise Over the Mountains The Small Isles showed to Starboard as we cleared the end of Skye. The Isle of Rum Beyond Skye Ardnamurchan Lighthouse Rosie predicted that a perfect shift of wind ...

The night of 15th August was quite an experience for us - being woken at midnight by the sound of the anchor drift alarm and simultaneously hearing the bump as our keel hit rock!  But more of that later.. We woke at 0500 on Saturday 13th August to set off from Stromness into Hoy Sound and the seas that would take us to Cape Wrath and mainland Scotland. Hoy Sound - the gateway west from the Orkneys We had timed the ebb tide just as the pilot book advised, so there were almost no standing waves off Hoy and we soon found ourselves sailing gently in SSE F2/3 winds as we eased away from the Orkneys.  But all too soon, the wind died away and we had to start the engine to assist our progress and then we were engulfed by heavy fog!  Not at all what we had hoped for.  This is how we spent the following 9 hours - with very poor visibility and having to motor-sail to maintain the necessary 5 knots to ensure we caught the tide later in the day. After a long day in our foggy patc...