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.
 

2025 May 11th, Day 43. To The Bay of Fladdabister.

Draft

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 are either OK or backed up to the lap top.

The wind was forecast to be a fresh southerly on Sunday which could make most of the anchorages south of here uncomfortable, so I was considering staying in Lerwick for another day but when I woke there was virtually no wind so I decided to make a quick dash for one of the best anchorages in a southerly, the Bay of Fladdabister and hopefully get there before the wind increased, alas that didn’t work and by the time I was out of the harbour I had 14 knots on the nose and a choppy sea. It was not a big problem, just a bit chilly and slower than hoped and I was at anchor by 08:30.

The anchorage is rather damned by faint praise in the pilot as “rather featureless” but it looks OK to me. There is more motion than I would like in a F4 southerly but not excessive, just not somewhere to ride out a southerly gale and exposed to the east.

Fladdabister.

Intentions.

I will position further south in lighter winds on Monday for the dash to Orkney on Tuesday, I don’t know where I will end up, the most likely possibilities are:

1. Eastern Orkney, Stronsay or a bit further SW, then through the islands and Eynehallow to Stromness on Wednesday and Thursday, Eriboll on Friday or preferably Saturday if the wind is as per the ECMWF. The (spring) tides favour this.
2. Pierowall, NW Orkney, then a couple of days moving south, then either direct to Eriboll or via Stromness. Tides are more of an issue with this option.

I’ll have to decide which of the above before I clear Sumburgh Rost as one route goes north of Fair Isle and the other south

Going direct to Eriboll is possible but a very long haul particularly if the wind is light. Pierowell direct to Eriboll is also a possibility but tides are again an issue and it is two long legs in succession.

6 NM in an hour and three-quarters.

Click here for the next days run.

2025 May 9th, Day 41 and 42. To Lerwick

Place holder, WIP.

Having escaped from Lerwick's dire internet the motion on the boat is not conducive to typing so an initial update with a couple of the pictures I transferred from the camera whilst alongside.

Approaching Lerwick harbour.

There could have been an international incident as I arrived. Unknown to me (I'm surprised the Port radio people didn't tell me) celebrations for VE day and the WWII “Shetland Bus” were just ending and 4 of the old fishing boats that took part were about to leave. 

The Shetland Bus was the name given to a group of trawlers that shuttled between Shetland and Norway during the occupation with arms, agents etc. www.liberationconvoy.com (I don't know how long this link will be good for, opens in a new window).

As I turned into the harbour one was mid water just sitting there, and as I was on final approach to the pontoon another cast off and went in front of me, with the first blocking one route out I had to dodge behind the 2nd as he went astern to avoid the first. All slow motion and I was clear by one of my boat lengths but he knew what he was doing and had seen me.

Put the sound on for both these videos and in the second hear a 100+ year old diesel running.

Also present, WWII vintage  Norwegian cargo vessel.
also a Norwegian naval patrol boat.

The locally built "Fifie" fishing boat "Swan"

I had a big disappointment on Saturday, after a long walk (for me) I found the fresh food shelves of the large coop almost empty due to the recent hacking attack the group had suffered. They did have a huge amount of chicken pieces but all only had a day or two on the expiry dates, no better than I already had on board. I did get some steak but if I don't berth at Kirkwall or Stromness, that I don't plan to do, ill be on tinned meat before I get to Stornoway or some other place with shops.

4.2NM in 1 hour.

Click here for Fladdabister.

Blog updates

 I am in Lerwick harbour and the internet varies from unusable to very slow, at least during the day, hopefully it will be better today (Saturday) when business are closed or if it was a fault yesterday. I put placeholder posts on before arrival so have a few pics uploaded. I'll be adding text when I can by cut and past from offline writing and will tidy up when I can.

2025 May 8th Day 40. Grutness Voe to Gulber Wick.

1st draft

A pleasant sail northwards under the cruising chute, although I did have to motor through Mousa Sound due to a changing wind that came too far forward for the chute, which I had already gybed 3 times.

Entering Mousa Sound.

Mousa Sound and Broch.

Mousa Broch c 300BC and the tallest and best
preserved.

 

Gulber Wick, chosen for better protection and isolation

of the three bays close to Lerwick.

16.6 NM in five and three-quarter hours.

Click here for Lerwick.

2025 May 7th Day 39. Otterswick to Grutness Voe, Shetland.

WIP Place holder whilst I catch up.

I was awake half an hour before the alarm and left at 03:15 which was just as well as the tide turned rather earlier than the atlas said and was already running east out of North Ronaldsay Firth which I did not want to go down with all of the tidal races on the eastern end, I also wanted to get north. Very early in the neap flood, with no wind and relatively calm seas, only the odd set of 2 - 3 metre waves coming through, I kept quite close in to the island where Rosts (potentially dangerous tidal races with over falls, breaking seas etc) often develop.

With little or no wind I continued under engine and once past the island calculated the course to steer to clear Fair Isle using my Navpro navigation software and got a strange result, it showed a track hardly deviating from the rhumb line which could not be right with up to two knots of cross tide. If I had used the suggestion I would have run into Fair Isle or even missed it to the south instead of passing well clear to the north. I estimated a course and did some investigation.

There are very few tidal diamonds in the area, although the tidal atlas fills in a lot of the gaps albeit just arrows of varying size without numbers attached. The software interpolates between the diamonds but it became clear that it was not taking the nearest diamond but one well to the west, north of North Ronalsay where the tide runs east west rather than the nearer on that runs NE - SE. I continued to eyeball the course from the plotter and ended up steering about 15 degrees north of the recommended course, something to remember on the way back. Update: when I ran several routes east - west the suggested tracks made complete sense. 

Shetland under the fair weather cumulus off the

port bow shortly after starting to sail.

On Facebook in real time:

"After 8 hours under engine I’m finally sailing 7nm NE of Fair Isle, I’ll probably have to pay for it later with more engine to keep clear of the Sunbough Rost and more adverse tide further N, but it will be worth it for the quite and lack of vibraton. Wind W 8 - 10 knots, main and chute."

I didn't have to pay more than about 20 minutes under engine when the wind faltered and I went from chute to fore and aft sails and as I headed up to round the Sumbrugh Rost, with good visibility, light winds and some fishing vessels inside the rost I cut the corner a bit with no problems, the tide helping as I closed as it turned from NW flowing to North, the tide was another reason for staying so far south and east on the approach (see the chart below).

Grutness anchorage and Sumbough Airport.

More on the anchorage to follow

A celebratory drink for finally getting to Shetland after a serious
attempt last year and not being able to "nip over" whilst in
Orkney in 2020 & 2021. 

61.4 NM in just under 13 hours.

Click here for Gulber Wick, just short of Lerwick.

2025 May 6th Day 38. Shapensay to Otterswick, Sanday

 WIP Place holder whilst I catch up

Text from Facebook posts until I have time to elaborate.

"Apart from the fact it was cold there was nothing about the wind to complain about today, although when it twice blew over c 16 knots it was at times I could have done without it - once against a 4 knot tide in the Firth of Westray and once on a dead run in shallow water approaching the entrance to Otterswick, Sanday just a few miles from the north of Orkney.

30 miles over the ground in six and a quarter hours sailing from offing to offing. I did cut a few corners from plan in the benign conditions mainly 10 - 14 knots, W or WNW, over a neap tide.

Shetland tomorrow and probably a good bit of motoring."

30 NM in six and a quarter hours.

Click here for Shetland.

2025 5th May Day 37 Kirkwall to Shapensay.

A very short hop, mainly to avoid another days marina charges.

Elwick Bay on the southern side of Shapensay had good shelter from the wind and there are two free moorings. I was warned that the shelter from waves is not too good in a south-westerly due to refracted waves, I am getting quite a lot of that with a north-westerly and it is not particularly comfortable, and making the spag bol for dinner will be a trial, but the wind is forecast to moderate significantly as it backs to westerly over night.

There was not much point in going further north as it would just mean a later start tomorrow to catch a favourable tide into the Sound of Faray. Hopefully I’ll make Otterswick on the north side of Sanday tomorrow and Grutness, Shetland, or a bit further on Wednesday, I suspect motoring will be required but neap tides and light winds should calm the seas a little.

When the sun is out it’s actually feeling quite warm now when out of the wind (all of 50F) different to the last few days and especially nights when I have been using two sleeping bags to keep warm.

Leaving Kirkwall; it was a very short hop but I

did get to sail all of the way once out of the marina.

And I lucked out with the mooring, there was one

available and when I went up to it for a reccy the wind

dropped a bit from the 20 knts it had been and I 

grabbed the boat hook and the opportunity and 

got the pic up easily and first time.

It must have looked very professional from the shore 😄

I knew I had seen the anchored boat before on this

trip but could not place it. Then I remembered it

was in Kirkwall marina, and went back there after

a brief stay.

Photos when I get a better internet connection.

Just 4 miles in an hour and a quarter.

Click here for my positioning leg to Otterswick, Sanday.

2025 30th April Days 33 - ?, Kirkwall.

WIP

A lovely morning on Wednesday and a quick motor with the tide down to Kirkwall, in the afternoon it was even warm enough for me to ditch the thermally lined trousers and winter shirt in favour of summer attire for a couple of hours and I was feeling a bit down for not having left for Shetland but as I posted on FB there is an old aviation saying:

"Its better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air

than in the air wishing you were on the ground."

As I write this on Thursday I am feeling much better about it as it is cold and I'm being bumped around a bit in the marina, the shelter is rather better than I feared from looking at the chart and I took the trouble to turn round to face west and to lay on the north side of the E - W pontoon so am being blown off and the main hatch is to leeward, although its been closed today.

Wind gusts @13:00: Orkney 31 knts, Fair Isle: 29 Knts Shetland 33 knts.

Approaching Kirkwall

Orkney is very dependant on the cruise ships but it does result in
busy streets and lots of touristy based shops although how some
of them make a living in a few months of the year I don't know.

14.4 miles in 3 hours.

Update Friday

If this mornings models are correct I should be able to move out of the marina on Sunday or Monday and head for Shetland on Monday or Tuesday. 

Update Saturday

The wind is now round to the north 20 gusting 30++ I should be able to leave the marina when the wind goes round to the west on Monday and move north on Monday or Tuesday ready for the off. Ironically with light winds forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday it may be best to wait for a nice southerly forecast by some models for Thursday but with the high pressure area slow moving and close by it’s anyone’s guess what will actually happen that far out, or even on the day. 

My 2 favoured models for Tuesday lunch time

Click for Shapensay.

2025 29th April Day 31, To Fersness Bay, Eday.

Draft WIP

 After arriving at Gairsay I did some serious work with the pilot, the tidal atlas within it (much more detailed than the official Admiralty on) and notes from the Orkney marina's web site. The latter are very good but densely written without chart-lets, I found myself doing what I have criticised others for doing - flipping backwards and forwards on the iPad trying to orientate myself and identify places, once I realised what I was doing out came the paper chart and things became much clearer.

I had intended to leave for Shetland from the nearest sensible point, Otterswick, Sanday. I could not get there by a sensible time for an early start next day, but worked out that with the tide next morning my intended intermediate stop off at Fersness Bay, Eday would make a leg from there to an anchorage in the south of Shetland viable also that I could get to Fersness Bay at a sensible time leaving at about 16:00 to catch the first of the northerly flowing tide into the Sound of Farray, which only runs for about 4 hours.

Going another twenty odd miles direct to Lerwick would be a stretch and I would be arriving to an unfamiliar harbour at night or at dawn if I was lucky or used the engine a lot, so I discounted that option.

The latest forecasts were sort of encouraging so at 15:50 I was on my way again, into the Westray Firth for a very quick ride north.

With 4 - 5, occasionally more knots of tide, even making 5 through
 the water I was going crabwise for much of the way.

Into Westray Firth before the stronger tide and disturbed water.

A little later and to stay sailing might well have

let me be swept past my destination as the boat

was swinging wildly in the eddies and loosing power

as the sales alternately flapped in the breeze or were

were sheeted in far too tight. Fortunately there was no

swell coming down the Firth, if it had it would be

quite a long diversion or a dash to a safe haven.

Approaching the entrance to the Sound of Farry, just 

as tide turned to run into it. Fortunately close to shore

the tide was significantly less and quite calm. The

fish farming support ship following me probably 

was timing his run as I was. He passed close behind

as I turned into the bay.

The anchorage, rather nice in these conditions but 

exposed to the north.

I should have used a polarising filter on
the camera but forgot I had one with me until
later, but if you look carefully you can see
the chain out 20m or so.

The water was lovely and clear, I could see through more than 6m of water to plant the anchor between the scatted weed and see the chain on the sea bed way out, certainly 20m and with polarized glasses I am fairly sure I could see the anchor 30m away. 

I got some dinner on the go and checked the forecast. Not good:

24 hour forecast [from 19:00]: Variable, becoming south 2 to 4, increasing 5 or 6 later. Slight or moderate. Rain or drizzle with fog patches, showers later. Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.

I might have lived with that but the models I later downloaded had very strong winds, >30 knots, arriving Thursday mid day ish, (later gusting 40) that could catch me out on the final bit to Lerwick. 

I contemplated wating for the midnight forecast but decided not to as I would not get the detailed models until the tide had turned foul in the Sound of Farray. So I had to work out when I could leave for Kirkwall, fortunately that was easy and the best start was just before eight so I could have a lie in.

Stromness to Gairsay: 32 miles in six hours.
Gairsay to Eday: 10 miles in 2 hours.

Click here for Kirkwall.

2025 29th April Day 31, heading north.

DRAFT WIP

I had intended to stay at Stromness for 2 nights to get laundry done, resupply etc., but despite an outside chance of a weather window for Shetland opening on Monday I was tired after the last few days, particularly the lost nights sleep in Loch a'Chadh-fi on Thursday, and with the necessity of an 03:30 alarm call to make the tide on Sunday morning I decided to stay another night and thought it would then be a leisurely few days around the northern Islands mainly sheltering from some serious wind on its way.

However the model downloads at 20:00 on Monday night looked encouraging for Wednesday but could I get to a sensible starting point in time? My previous research only covered options staring from Kirkwall with a couple of stops before heading out, so I had a busy hour or so checking things out. It is quite complicated (I may do a post later on some of the issues) and I needed to get to bed for an early alarm call, I did however determine that going to Pierowall in the NW, an obvious candidate and one others have used, was probably just out of reach. If I had pushed the boat hard under engine I would probably reach Papa Sound just as the tide turned foul and with a particulalry high spring tide I might well not make it through in time and be stuck at sea.

I therefore decided to head towards Kirkwall but to stop short and check further options that might open up as the tide turned north westwards later in the day, providing I did not procrastinate I would still have time to take the last of the flood south to Kirkwall.

I slipped at 05:15 in dull overcast, chilly weather.

Entering Hoy Sound about 3 minutes late - 27 mins
of west going tide remaining, after the Rost will
have subsided.

Leaving Hoy Mouth.

The hour from Hoy Mouth was seriously uncomfortable with a nasty sea on the beam making the boat roll and sailing not practical, I was making 2 knots in 12 knots of wind as the rolling took the power out of the sail and the boat used all its energy going up and down. So on went the engine. The second hour was somewhat better but no wind 😣 I started to sail off Brough Head in a decent sailing beaze, albeit gusty, that was likely to get worse as I went up Eynhallow Sound and anyway the wind was dropping again and sailing through the overfalls, where on a west going tide the infamous Burgar Rost forms, did not seem like a good idea. Back motoring again.

Eynhallow Sound just SE of Eynhallow Island. 

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The anchorage, Millburn Bay, Gairsay.

Stromness to Millburn Bay, Eday.
32 miles in 6 hours.

Click here for on to Fersness Bay, Eday..