2025 26th April, Day 28 Stromness, rather to my surprise,

The plan was to go to Loch Eriboll and if necessary ride out upcoming bad weather there before moving on to Stromness with tides then favourable for a good start eastward to arrive as the tide turned favourable through Hoy Mouth.

A long distance phone pic of me going
inside Am Balg, 6 miles from Cape
Wrath. Pic by Katrina from SV
Windsong.

With the tide setting north in the early morning I left at 04:45 which would give me fair tide until close to Loch Eriboll or all the way under engine.

At 06:30 I was 9 miles south of Cape Wrath under main and chute making 4 - 5.5 knots and being overtaken by an 11 yacht under engine and I was all set for a lunch time arrival. The inshore waters forecast was making Stromness the next day very doubtful and I managed to get the UKMO model downloaded ahead of schedule but not the others. Sunday looks bad for some distance east of Cape Wrath whilst Monday now looked to be very light winds rather than v strong, and Tuesday also light.

If I was going to have to motor to Stromness I decided I would rather do that immediately rather than in 2 or 3 days time after what could be another uncomfortable night at anchor. Some quick calculations (on the computer) showed that, even with the tide turning foul not that long after rounding the cape, under engine I could easily make the tide through Hoy Mouth / Sound and if the wind kept as it was or set in from the south / south east as forecast I should be able to sail a reasonable proportion of the way. Decision made and I headed for Orkney and a long day at sea.

Approaching Am Balg making about 5 knots.

Heading for Cape Wrath at 07:40 with the wind changing, unusually
sailing goose winged with the cruising chute as I was now on a dead
run (again). 

A couple of miles short of the Cape the wind died and started to veer so I snuffed the chute and carried on under engine.

My fifth rounding of Cape Wrath at 08:09

A few miles east of the cape some wind returned and things then were quite busy for a while and I probably overdid it a bit and was rather achy that night. The cruising chute was still hoisted but snuffed so first I set that. But I really needed more sail and the wind was veering which would need the chute to be flown from the pole so I hoisted the spinnaker.

But the wind kept veering and I needed to gybe back onto the correct course but decided on a rest first (there are times when you wish for a foredeck hand who you can tell to get on with it) but it kept veering and I would be crossing the bows of an approaching ship. So a gybe it was.

After gybing and back on course but the wind was dying.

I persisted for about an hour during which the good ship Windsong extended her lead to over 6 miles but the wind had all but disappeared so on went the engine again. And it was to stay on for the rest of the trip although I did motor sail for a while approaching Hoy when the wind which had set in from the NE - on the nose again and chilly, finally went round the the SE.

The Old Man of Hoy, not a brilliant photo but the best I have
managed in the five times I have past, perhaps on the way back
I will see it in sun shine.

Approaching Hoy Mouth, just over an hour to go.

As I went through Hoy Sound at about 10 knots over the ground there was an unwanted AIS alert, the ferry from Scabster was steaming up behind me at 17 knots over the ground before entering the fast tide. All was set for her to catch up as I turned into the entrance channel to Stromness and being constrained by her draft, arguably in a narrow channel depending on when she caught up and certainly with a lot of tide to allow for, she needed to be treated as the stand on vessel, even though she was the overtaking boat. 

Avoiding the ferry.

As it was just about high water I thought to hide on the western side of the channel to wait for her to pass but then I saw pot buoys so made a dash east to clear the channel, it was a close pass but they didn't have to take any action to avoid me.

I was alongside, very tired, by half eight.

;

80 miles in 16 hours.

Click here for the first push north.

2025 25th April, Day 27. A very close shave in Loch a'Chadh-fi

The afternoon at anchor was quite peaceful although the boat was a little lively from the wind which was swirling down off the hills, it was not helped by the shallow water, whilst a scope of about 7:1 gives a good angle on the anchor it allows the boat to swing more. I had considered backing the anchor up which would reduce this but decided that it the wind changed more to the south (as it did) if there was a problem I would not have time to get the anchor up before hitting the shallow water or rocks 150 – 200 yards away.

The scene of the crime: Left initial attempt at anchoring in a
recommended location. Right - where I was for c 12 hours.
Centre when I ended up.
Note the channel into the head of the loch is =< 100 yards wide.

Where is happened, off John Ridgeways adventure training
centre. Note the anchored rib, another is off frame right.

I was tired so was in my bunk by 21:30 to be rudely awakened at about midnight by the boat cavorting all over the place and healing significantly.

After a quick look outside I got dressed, including waterproofs although it was not raining and at the time quite warm, and only for the second time in over 300 nights at anchor sat anchor watch.

The sky was clear but with no moon and I could see nothing except the loom of the mountains and the intruder alarm lights on the adventure training school that would later be helpful in getting orientated. I turned on the chart plotter and got an iPad on deck with the Antares chart active so I could see where I was and were I was going if things went pear shaped.

The problem was the wind, rather than the predicted 20 knot winds as the instruments came on line there was a gust of 39 knots. That was exceptional but the wind was going from 12 knots to over 30 pushing the boat about with the bows swinging through about 70 degrees. There was not a lot I could do but hope, trying to change anchorage in those conditions, in the dark and in a relatively small anchorage was not to be contemplated and where to go? I ran the engine for a while to warm it up and ensure an instant start if needed and I set an anchor alarm on a second iPad as a backup and kept the plotter and instruments on. Then waited.

By about 01:30 things were calming down so I went to my bunk, fully dressed and with the wash boards out so I could get on deck quickly.

20 minutes later an alarm went off and I was slowly moving back and missing the 100 yard wide passage to the wider and deeper anchorage that had been down wind. The wind was back up to near gale force after a lull. I guess a sudden increase after a calm caused the anchor to fail.

I tried resetting the anchor and it gripped once for a while but then let go. There was nothing for it but to get the anchor up (in case it was choked with weed or something else; it was clean) and try again. Not easy under pressure, in the dark and with the engine controls at one end of the boat and the anchor at the other where I needed to be raising the anchor, and although I can lower it from the cockpit you do need to be forward to see what is happening before setting the anchor.

The first problem was the snubber which somehow had got a loop of chain round the chain hook so I had to haul the chain in far enough to get the fouled section over the bow roller and past the chain stopper but before it got to the windlass. With chain stopper engaged and the pressure off it came undone easily and I got the anchor just clear of the water before dashing back to the cockpit to get into deeper water, I now had to decide where to go, I could not see the two large ribs moored a hundred yards away from my original position and it was dead low water with only just over a metre under the keel at times. The best move was to try and get sea room by moving west which I managed by GPS and with difficulty in the strong  swirling wind.

Big splodge: at anchor, top left struggling, bottom the escape.

I had considered a shallower area in the large section of the loch coming in, but the wind was as gusty there as at my original spot behind Eilen d’Chadh-fi that I had moved out of when I started to drag there on arrival. But it had to be the best option and with the slight change in the wind it was no worse than any other place.

I tried three times to anchor there, the problem being the speed the boat was making downwind when the anchor hit bottom causing it to “skate”, the first held for about 10 minutes and would not reset when it dragged so up it came, the final attempt worked after I lowered the anchor from the cockpit for 25 seconds, about 12m of chain in 7 metres of water, whilst motoring slowly ahead then dashing to the foredeck to see what was happening and to let the rest of the chain out. Trying to rig the snubber in those conditions would have been asking for a crushed finger or worse so I suffered noisy chain movements and some snubbing until daylight.

Three attempts to anchor, the big splodge where I ended up.
Squiggles bottom centre, the first attempt. Just left of the final
position the 2nd attempt, trying to reset. Incomplete as I
turned the alarm off when manoeuvring.

That has held till the time of writing this in draft on Friday morning. At daylight the wind was relatively stable and appeared consistent throughout the loch at 18-20 knots gusting to 25 and by late morning it was down to 10 - 15 knots with the odd gust.

06:00 as the gale abates

I’m now short of sleep and cold from trying to sleep with the wash boards out, even fully dressed in the sleeping bag.

Click here for my unplanned trip direct to Stromness.

2025 24th April, Days 26 Loch a'Chadh-fi, Loch Laxford

WIP  Place holder, details to follow as I get caught up

I did not get round to updating this post and, perhaps after all the problems explained in the next post, I can't remember much about this leg - a good reason for keeping the blog in a timely manner! It was certainly blowing quite hard when I went up Loch Laxford and I could not get the anchor to hold at my first anchorage choice. The afternoon and night are in the next post.

The Old Man of Stoer

Approaching Loch Laxford under reefed headsail only.

Turning into Loch a'Chadh-fi

From my first attempt at anchoring.

25 miles in six and a quarter hours.

For more pics of the entrance and Loch see the next post: Click here for a big problem (solved) that night.

2025 22nd April, Days 24 & 25 To Loch Roe.

An excellent sail, a quick reach down the loch then a slightly uncomfortable but quite quick run north. I could have been in Loch Ewe for lunch but the weather was too good to spend half of it at anchor so I headed for Loch Roe, listed as one of gems of the north. The risk was the wind dying before I got there and potentially several hours motoring. It did drop but only about 90 minutes too soon so it was a short motor on to the Loch.

Rubha Reidh, I hoped this would be the end of dead running.

But 10 or 15 minutes after posting on Facebook to

say I had finished running and was heading for

Loch Roe I was running again, initially under the 

boomed out headsail.

The wind continued to veer and dropped so I was

soon flying the chute.

The comment on the Antares chart says "access to the

inner areas is about as challenging as it gets on the

west cost but is well worth it". I went in at high tide

so could take some liberties taking photos etc. (see

the slide show) but in truth it is not that difficult

if you have their chart and is a doddle compared with

some anchorages in the western isles.

However, care is needed, this seal is sitting on
a rock in the middle of the visible channel exposed by
1.8m at LAT and waiting to get you closer to HW.

About to make the first turn.

Some precision anchoring to my planned spot 😀

I counted over 30 seals, mainly Gray at one time
and I'm sure there were many more.

Many more pics and videos in the slide show hosted on Flikr.

39 miles in 9 hours.

Scratch made Chicken Curry tonight, could have done with being a bit hotter.

Update Wednesday 23rd.

There is no wind and when it comes it will be on the nose so I am staying put, tomorrow should have a good sailing breeze from the SE to move north and there is a reasonable chance of getting round Cape wrath on Friday or Saturday, 

Sunday has strong southerlies close to the west but on the Met Office video they said what would happen to the depression causing it was uncertain, if is doesn't extend further east than this mornings models I might be able to get to Orkney on Sunday,  the tides should be OK  are good for the Hoy Mouth but I need to get the computer to do some number crunching. turning east around 17:00, so a reasonable sensible start time and arrival in daylight at 4 knots.

Click here for the trip to Loch a'Cadh-fi

2025 21st April, Day 23 To Loch Kerry, Loch Garloch.

I was awake early and there was some wind so I left straight away. Last night I was hoping for Loch Ewe but the forecast this morning was not hopeful and predicted rain in the afternoon with high confidence but as I write this at 14:00 it has not arrived.

Heading up the Sound of Raasay making very good

speed when there was some wind.

It was a good start but was not to last and before I passed Rona the wind had gone and was boxing the compass.

Rona and no wind.

With no real chance of getting east of Loch Eriboll before the weekend there was no point in motoring all day and getting wet so I diverted to Loch Garloch and, with south westerly winds forecast for later I went Loch Kerry rather than Flowerdown for more protection.
 

Loch Kerry

There was enough Beef for last nights Beef Bourguignon to make three good portions so it is on the menu for tonight as well to make some room in the electric cool box. No hardship as it was a particulalry good one.

28 miles in 6 hours

Click here for Loch Roe.

2025 20th April, Day 22 To Kyle of Lochalsh & Oskaig Bay, Raasay

Its not so cold today and quite pleasant in the afternoon with no wind and warm when the sun is out, but know enough to clear yesterdays snow from the higher peaks. 

A pleasant sail from the anchorage past Skye Bridge after which the tide and wind messed me about a bit, with tide due to be westbound and the wind offshore I rigged fenders and mooring lines before I left on the starboard side so I would be pointing into the current with the wind neutral fore and aft but pushing me off (a pain) but when I went under Skye Bridge the tide was still going east and the wind veered and increased to for F4 - 5. There was no way I was going to come alongside down wind and down tide as I would not be able to stop the boat so everything had to be changed over and I was along side at 09:20. 

Heading to Skye Bridge,

It turned out that the tide was well adrift as it was still east bound when I left 3 or 4 hours after it should have been against (confirmed form the automated admiralty chart and the plotter).

Two loads of shopping, fortunately the big co-op is very close albeit up a lot of steps, then a much needed shower and I was off again.

There is going to be a lot of chicken on the menu in the next couple of days as all of the chicken was on relatively short use by dates but it will be Beef Bourguignon tonight as the button mushrooms are even more perishable.

Plenty of snow on the mountain tops from last night.

Raasay's old harbour.

Old quarry workings by the old harbour.

Initially I was sailing but a couple of miles out and as forecast the wind dropped to 3 - 5 knots so on went the engine for a couple of hours to get to Oskaig Bay on Raasay. The forecast is for southerly winds tomorrow so hopefully I can make some progress up the sound of Raasay ending up at Loch Gairloch or perhaps Loch Ewe. From there it is one fairly long days sailing to be positioned to round Cape Wrath the next day if conditions permit.

The anchorage at Oskaig Bay.

Just over 20 miles in five and a half hours excluding the stop.

Click here for Loch Kerry.

2025 17th April, Days 19 - 21 To Eilian Donnan Castle and Bag an Strathaidh.

With rain forecast for lunchtime with a 90% probability (at 15:52 I am still waiting to see any) I left at 08:15 for a quick gander at east Loch Alsh and in particular the Castle at Eilian Donnan, in theory I would have the tide with me both ways once east of the Kyle Rhea but that didn't seem to work out with variable conditions due to big eddies. But with no wind it did not take long to get there, initially it did not look that impressive as it was merging with the background, up close it was clearly more substantial.

 

 

With the forecast rain I did not hang about and decided to go straight through Skye Bridge against what turned out to be a modest knot or so of current.

The usual optical illusion of a near miss going under the bridge
despite an air draft of 29 metres.

Another few miles to a previously unexplored anchorage at Bag an Strathaidh, it is quite exposed to the west but the wind was northerly and and westerlies expected during the afternoon were meant to be light, as I write this it is a steady westerly at 14 knots, higher than the forecast gusts, and the boat is pitching somewhat but with no tide she is lying into wind so there is very little roll. Hopefully the forecast overnight is correct which has the wind backing to the ENE at 4 knots or less before increasing to 7-10 knots by lunch time with gusts in the afternoon into the mid 20's.

My track in shown on the Admiralty 1:25,000 chart last surveyed
between 1850 and 1905 (further out it was surveyed in 2018-20),
the vector chart plotter is based on this and shows a slightly larger
area above water. Both have me going over a drying spot - not an
issue with 4 metres of tide.

But the much larger scale Antares chart surveyed in 2011 & 13
shows a different story.

The Inner Sound from the anchorage.

I don't like the look of this mornings weather models

Sure the mountains will provide some shelter but strong-ish winds that close to the west could make life uncomfortable here with any waves in the Inner Sound refracting around to here. I think I may move to Upper Lochcarron for a day or two, I'll have plenty of time to get through Strome Narrows before the tide turns foul at 10:40, getting back out in 2 or 3 days will be more of an issue but managable.

There are some indications that I should be moving north early next week so I could get the dinghy out to restock with food there or go back to a pontoon at Kyle of Lochalsh to visit the big COOP.

Dinner: Scratch made chicken and egg fried rice.

Update Friday 18th.

A nice quite night.

Posted on Facebook: 

Change of plan. This mornings 6 weather models don’t agree on the strength of the wind overnight tonight (it could be anything from calm to quite blustery) but they all agree that it will be NE to E, with more E than NE. And the domestic forecast for Plockton is 11 knts gusting 25 ENE. Upper loch Carron is reasonable in those conditions but this anchorage should be better so I am staying put. 

There are mixed signals for early next week but there is a chance I’ll be moving N on Sunday or Monday, shopping could be an issue but the co-ops at Kyle of Lochalsh and Portree claim to be open on Easter Sunday.

I double and triple checked and the rules are different in Scotland, all co-ops open as normal over the long weekend. The 10:00 opening rule also does not apply. Saturday is likely to be wet so shopping Sunday, a few days earlier than optimal given current stocks, and a short hop north. Possibly.

Scrambled eggs on toast with bacon for brunch 😀 to use up the past date bacon, now lots of washing up🙁.

I was going to give the cockpit and some other bits a good clean this afternoon but the sun has gone in and it’s too cold.

Dinner: chicken in sweet and sour cook in sauce.

Update Saturday 19th.

It’s darn cold here with a broken heater, 42 degrees in old money the last time I looked, on my bunk, fully dressed with a sleeping bag over me to try and keep warm. The oil lamp giving a little heat, fortunately I have a good supply of lamp oil.

The weather models are still not in agreement but I might be able to get round Cape Wrath to Loch Eriboll or Kyle of tongue later in the week to wait for better weather to get to Orkney. 

So the plan is to shop at the Kyle of Lochalsh then head north to the east side of Ramsay tomorrow and see how it goes for the rest of the week.

Dinner: Left over scratch made chicken curry.

Click here for the shopping trip and on to Raasay.

2025 15th April, Days 17 & 18 To Bag Dunan Ruadh and Balmacara Bay, Loch Alsh

Apart from the cold a cracking sail from the Anchorage until past Mallaig when the rain finally got me.

One of several squalls that missed me by a few miles tracking
 over the Small Islands and up the west coast of Skye, the
land in the foreground is the Point of Sleat, the southern tip
of Skye.

Fortunately the rain was not particulalry heavy and the bulk of it passed in 20 minutes or so although there were occasional light spells for a couple of hours. What did almost catch me out was the shift in the wind that veered from SSE at 15 knots to W at 20 in a few minutes (the autopilot was steering a compass course, not to the wind), I was quick enough to gybe under control before it happened by itself but having gone from a broad reach the a beam reach I was busy for a few minutes putting two reefs in the headsail and one in the main, then a second in the main as it looked as if it might get worse. It didn't as the centre of the squall missed me. 

An hour or so later the wind was down to WSW at 5 knots and before long I was almost going backwards against the tide and didn't really have steerage so on went the engine for the last the last hour to the anchorage at Bag Dunan Ruadh where I waited for the tide through the narrows of The Kyle Rhea.

It is still pretty chilly up here, especially with a broken heater.
Snow on the mountains of Skye.

At anchor, looking up the narrows.

The anchorage at Bag Dunan Ruadh

35 miles in 7:15 the first 2/3 at 5.5 - 6.5 knots.

I left the anchorage 20 minutes or so before the tide turned and had a knot against initially and up to two knots favourable before I exited a couple of miles later. It was then a quick crossing of Loch Alsh to an anchorage at Balmacara Bay that is protected from the forecast northerly winds. Aa I write (Wednesday afternoon, the 16th) I am getting pushed around quite a bit by a not particulalry strong wind varying around ENE - it is meant to be NNE.

Video of the anchorage hosted on Flikr as it is a bit over the 100 MB limit.

Click the controls to view here or the body of the image to view in Flikr.

4.6 miles in 1:15.

According to ECMWF and UKMO models winds are not suitable to go around Cape Wrath to Orckney for a week or more so I'll be cruising around the area until making a dash the 70 miles north a few days before things are likely to be favourable.

Dinners:

Left over scratch made Beef bourguignon.

Scratch made chicken curry.

Click here for Thursday's bimble.

2025 14th April, Day 16 To Sanna Bay.

The forecast was looking OK so off I went, rather earlier than planned at 12:30 in case Sanna Bay was not tenable to give me time to move on somewhere else. With wind against tide it was a little bumpy of Ardnamurchan point but not bad.

The "juicy" bit is at the end as a set comes through.

I was disappointed to find someone already in the anchorage, anchored right on the spot I had marked but there was room for both of us.

I was a bit more concerned about the reef 50 yards away and what
would happen when it covered but the sea was calming down and
I had a good night. Except for a scare in the early evening.

It finally happened to me, a big GPS error. At anchor and the anchor alarm went off. Rather worrying as I’m < 50 yards up wind of rocks and close to another boat.

I had the wash boards out pdq and there was the other boat where it should be and likewise the waves breaking over the reef. Turns out the iPad gps was over 50 yards adrift as was the chart plotter when that came on line. Both had been differential fixes and 10 minutes later were again, to c 4 yards. This was the 300th night at anchor using a GPS alarm on at least one device and this was the first technical error.

12.5 miles in three hours, under sail from inside Tobermory
harbour to the approach to the anchorage.

Dinner: Chicken in Cantonese cook in sauce.

Click here for a couple of legs to Loch Alsh.