2025 May 18th, Day 48. Cunning plan #1,746 A & B.

The weather is not cooperating, again. Strongish winds have been forecast for later today (Sunday) for some time but last night stronger winds in the late afternoon and evening on Monday came up on the UK model with a lot more on Wednesday. In both cases the headline numbers were not terrifically high and not a problem off the wind but the gust maps showed it would be very variable with gusts to 30+ knots. And coming late in the day would make getting into Stornoway town marina a challenge as the avenues are quite tight.

The UKMO gust map on Sunday morning for 17:00 on Monday
with a little more later.

The Inshore waters forecast as at Sunday 07:00 reflects this, it is always best to add one force for gusts which brings it into line with the models:

The Minch - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Northeast, veering east later, 3 to 5, increasing 6 for a time. Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate. Mainly fair. Good, occasionally poor at first.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: East, backing northeast, 3 to 5. Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first in far north and south. Fair. Good occasionally moderate.

By Sunday morning the models had changed again for
Tuesday with lighter winds in the evening.

Wednesday still looked rather windy although again the ecmwf
was not as bad.

The obvious thing to do would be to wait until Tuesday but the models could easily change again and for the last few days and in the models for Monday and Wednesday the wind increases significantly in the late afternoon and evening - last evening it was blowing a good F5, possibly a tad more.

From here to Stromness it is a 13 - 14 hour run at 4 knots, although with the forecast wind I should do more, that would potentially have me arriving as the wind would likely be increasing if not later.

The plan is therefore to shorten the distance somewhat for the crossing of The Minch, if the forecasts does not change significantly I will move south tomorrow (Monday), either to Loch Ned which has good shelter although you do have to find a spot between moorings, or preferably, if I can beat the tide around Stoer Head, Loch Roe which would avoid bumpy seas I have often found between Loch Ned and Stoer Head at the start of the crossing to Storonoway.

Loch Ned is 20 NM and the easiest, most sheltered run. Loch Roe 28 NM with Stoer Head to contend with if it is windy. I'll make a decision on which when I have the morning forecasts and am past Handa Island, with the option of diverting to Loch Ned at any time until just short of Stoer Head.

The run to Stornoway @ 4 knots will be reduced from the 13 hours from Loch Inchard to 9 hours from Loch Roe or 10:30 from Loch Ned which should give me plenty of time to get to Stornoway on Tuesday before weather arrives and if that looks dodgy I can stay put.

2025 May 16th, Days 48 & 49. Loch Eriboll to Loch Inchard

 DRAFT WIP

A Danish yacht going into Loch Eriboll as I left.

Starting to  struggle with light variable winds, Cape Wrath
in the distance.

Cape Wrath in sunshine for a change, as far in as I have been
there was only a not of south going tide but it managed to form
a small rip even in the benign conditions.

The wind keeping me busy, direction was almost
as variable going from NNE to SE and back more
than once.

About 5 miles out the wind increased to F5 and veered to the SE so was directly on the nose for the final approach and passage through the narrow entrance to the Loch, its about 300 yards wide at its narrowest and a mile and a half  long.

My first choice of anchorage was Loch Sheigra (Badcall Bay), just past Loch Bervie, but it is only 90 yards wide between the 1.5m contours and with the wind gusting to 20 knots there was little chance of setting the anchor dead centre and then lying to a relatively short scope of chain. I didn't need the stress of doing it or worrying about swinging room so I moved to the head of the Loch.

The anchorage at the head of the Loch. Note the

trip line buoy, probably not necessary but there

is and has been a lot of Mussel farming and

pot fishing in the Loch so it seemed a sensible

precaution despite the aggravation of setting and

later retrieving it.

My original plan was to stay the night then move 16 NM south to check out an interesting anchorage at Badcall Bay in amongst the Badcall Islands which has an interesting approach. I cancelled that idea when I saw the forecast, as I wrote on Facebook on Saturday evening:

Change of plan: Its blowing F5 with, as expected, F6 later tomorrow, the anchorage I was thinking of going to is very secure but not that big and has lots of moorings, work and fishing boats etc. 

Whereas there is plenty of space here and good shelter unless the wind turns NW which is very unlikely so I am staying put and avoiding F5 into a foul tide in the morning. The trip to Stornoway might be an hour longer from here but that is not an issue on a c 12 hour trip.

This was to change again as explained in the next post.

Sunday 18th:

Engine oil changed 10 hours early, new oil filter 160 hours early - I always do the two together, and early rather than late, even though the manual says the filter is done every other time, but it holds quite a bit of oil and it seems prudent to change it. Alternator belt tightened, water pump belt OK.

35 miles in seven and three-quarter hours.

Click here for my next likely move.

2025 May 15th, Day 46. To Loch Eriboll.

DRAFT

Still pics to be added if the computer can recover the corrupt camera disk with over 2 years worth of hi-res pics on, fortunately most to Kerkwall and from Eriboll and a few others are either OK or backed up to the lap top, and those from before this trip are separately backed up to two other locations.

I left at 04:30 to arrive at Aiker Ness, east of the Burgar Rost in the last hour of the ebb tide, earlier is definitely not recommended on a spring tide. I arrived 50 minutes before the advertised turn of the tide as there was an unplanned head tide out of Kirkwall. As it happens I could have gone through 30 - 60 minutes earlier as the tide changed early, probably due to the high pressure that has been around for days. A 34 footer, that had started closer having followed me from Sumbough but who had gone to N Orkney, was about half an hour ahead of me. I then had to motor to past Brough Head a little over 50 NM from Loch Eriboll before some wind set in.

Facebook post from some hours later:

I had to have the engine on for a couple of hours but back under Spinnaker again. Dead run but managing 4.5 knots in 9 knots. It’s always a bit frustrating in these winds, they are never quite right, with the wind at c 165 degrees I will usually make 4 knots in 7 -8 knots of wind over the ground, but at 9 knots it would be 4.5, at 10-11 knots > 5 knots and at 12-13 6 - 6.5 knots. So much extra speed for so little extra wind. Then at c14 knots single handed it’s normally time to take the kite down.

But I’ll take 9 - 10 knots! Naturally now the sails are blocking the sun from me and the solar panels and it’s back to winter gear in the cold wind - from shirt sleeves or less.

Making good speed under spinnaker.

Loch Eriboll, southern Ard Neackie anchorage.

The potentially tricky bit from Kirkwall.
Brough Head light top left.

The entire leg. 77 miles in 16 and a half hours.

Click here for rounding Cape Wrath.

2025 May 14th, Day 46. To Kirkwall for resupply.

WIP

Still pics to be added if the computer can recover the corrupt camera disk with my hi-res pics on, fortunately most stuff to Kerkwall and from Eriboll and a few others are either OK or backed up to the lap top.

Posted previously on Facebook.

A very busy afternoon, I left the anchorage at 12:00 for slack tide across the Stronsay Firth which has very strong currents, through “The String” as it changed favourable at the far end and alongside Kirkwall at 15:15. Since then it has been non stop.

The wind tomorrow is not good, v light but improving later to the west but Friday and Saturday are worse with no usable wind so it’s an early start tomorrow, thankfully 04:30 or a tad later not what I originally supposed 04:00, to get to the Burgar Rost during the last hour of the favourable tide, earlier than that a day after springs is a big no-no, later and the tide runs at up to 7 knots against.

2 trips to Tescos, one to a garage for diesel in case I missed the short visit by the berth master (evening visit time not advertised, it is now, and no answer on the phone), more diesel when he turned up so I now have up to 400 nm range at economic cruising (no reserve which is clearly not something I’d do except in a dire emergency on the boat). A shower and it was 20:00, i am knackered and my feet will be complaining in the morning.

Another long day to Loch Eriboll tomorrow, there is no real alternative with winds with north in them. i will probably then have a rest day before tackling Cape Wrath almost certainly for the last time. Then probably Stornoway in 2 or even 3 easy legs then down to Barra.

14 miles in 3 hours.

Click her for Loch Eriboll.

2025 May 13th, Day 45. To Bay of Holland, Stronsay.

 WIP, pics / video to follow as the internet is poor here.

Still pics to be added if the computer can recover the corrupt camera disk with my hi-res pics on, fortunately most stuff to Kerkwall and from Eriboll and a few others are either OK or backed up to the lap top.

I was awake a bit before 02:00 after an early night and did not see the point of staying in the bunk for another hour so I left early at 02:15 having prepared the boat for sea the previous evening.  The wind was NNW and very light and there was some mist but I did not see any of the fog banks in the midnight forecast.

By the time I was off the Sumbough Rost, even in benign conditions being careful not to get within the charted area a day before springs, the wind was NNW at 6 knots, not enough to meaningfully do more than cope with the tide, so I carried on under engine.

 

Fair Isle

By 07:00 I was off Fair Isle and, after complaining about the wind on Facebook, it perked up a bit, having given it five minutes to stabilise I opted for the cruising chute as it was now 12 knots from the north. By the time I had gotten back to the cockpit the wind had veered to NNE and dropped to 8 knots so down came the chute and up went the 60 sq m symmetrical spinnaker. Only for the wind to die an hour later and on went the engine.

The wind stayed at F2 or lower until I was 5 miles from Stronsay when it increased gradually to 10-12 knots, it I had had that all day I would have already been at anchor and used minimal diesel. Putting the chute up might have saved me 15 minutes but I couldn’t be bothered and just unfurled the headsail, initially motor sailing with both as the wind dropped. It is probably just as well I did that as the wind then increased to 13 knots with a few gusts above and close to some dangers I motor sailed with the genoa at 6 – 6.5 knots.

I was concerned going into the bay as it is exposed to the south and there were some quite big residual waves from the SSE and it was quite lumpy entering the large bay. But I was essentially committed as the tide, helping me for the last few hours, would make going somewhere else a very iffy proposition without local knowledge. But it was OK far in, perhaps sheltered a bit by the fish farm some distance away,  I anchored in what appears to be clean sand and apart from a few lively moments in the early hours when the wind died I had a peaceful time.

A late start today (Wednesday) to cross the Stronsay Firth at slack water and hopefully to arrive at “The String” at the start of the ebb and to Kirkwall by mid-afternoon.

Ideally, I would leave at, or a bit before, 04:00 on Thursday to get through the Burgar Rost in Enyhallow Sound and further south or west but I want diesel, need to do two or more trips to Tesco and have a shower and I suspect there will not be time to do that today. So the most likely outcome is to leave for an anchorage closer to the sound on Thursday afternoon and head through on Friday with a later start. That would also give me time to change the engine oil, it is not due for another 25 engine hours but I prefer to do it in port in case I find something else that needs doing.

[pics?]

73.3 NM in 16 hours.

Click here for Kirkwall.

2025 May 12th, Day 44. To Grutness Voe.

 Draft

Disappointing weather today, not so long ago the forecast was for sun all day but this morning it was for overcast and early morning (before 09:00) mist. Before I left I was toying with the idea of anchoring for the night at Stova Voe a couple of miles north of here but as soon as I cleared the anchorage I quickly changed my mind, The Bay of Fladdabister is better protected from the SE than I thought, not big waves but not what you would want to anchor in even if you could guarantee being bows on, which would be unlikely given significant changes in wind direction forecast. And it would likely be worse with the waves going up a narrowing channel.

About 40 minutes from Grutness the wind increased from 0 - 3 knots to 5 - 7 and fog came in with visibility down to about 30 yards at times.

30 minutes out.

15 minutes out. The modern "broadband" doppler radars are the
bee's knees as short range and even better than this as I got further
in but by then I had things other than photos to concern me.

Fortunately as I got within the Voe the visibility improved so that I could just see both sides and the end.

Intentions:

I will be heading to Kirkwall Tuesday / Wednesday for Tescos and fuel. Like my experiance at Lerwick Coops across Scotland and particularly on the islands are still badly impacted by the hacking attacks with reports on a Facebook sailing group of shortages at Tobermory, Tarbert, Stornoway, Brodick, Lochgilphead and Castle Bay Barra.

Also at economical speed in calm water I should have fuel to get to Stornoway with a small reserve, whilst I don't want to motor at all, and should not have to, with the forecasts showing patchy wind for some days I need to be prepared and have a bigger reserve. With only Kirkwall and Stromness possible fuelling stops on route it seems sensible to go where I can get fresh food. Till then I'll be living on steak, Gammon, perhaps some spuds (they are chitting), bread (plenty of part cooked baguets on board) and tinned stuff. Live can be hard 😀.

Models for Thursday lunch time. Saturday and Sunday  may
have fresh N or NE winds but by then I should be crossing
to the western Isles.

An early start in the morning with fog patches likely 😒 but hopefully some wind, the models indicate F4 may be on the high side but I live in hope:

Outlook for 12 Hours from 0000 UTC on Tuesday 13 May until 1200 UTC on Tuesday 13 May: North or northwest 3 or 4. Moderate, but slight in waters east of shetland. Fog patches in south and east at first, otherwise fair. Good, occasionally very poor in south and east at first.

14 NM in a little over 3 hours.

Click here for Stronsay.