2025, May 30th, Day 62. Plockton to Tobermory.

Leaving Plockton

I was ready a bit early so left at 07:30 in a flat calm hoping to get some sailing in on the way to the Kyle Rhea, I did get to sail a couple of miles out from Skye Bridge to a miles or so beyond, making 3 knots or less, before I put the engine on the make slack water, such as it is, at the Kyle Rhea.

Skye Bridge

Entering Loch Alsh.

Slightly edited Facebook posts on the above:

[..] I think the boat in front is the big American boat that was across the pontoon from me in Stornoway, she came in from Broadford Bay, now on the hammerhead in Tobermory. It was fun catching he up in the v light wind 😀

Response from someone I know who is a keen and good racer [and he knows I did an awful lot at high level racing back in the day]

Now now Mr. Lashbrook, you are not racing, are you ? 😄

[..] heaven forfend. Anyway it wasn’t a fair fight, 40+ft of lumbering steel against 3.5 tonnes of A9m in 5 knots of wind broad reaching, me with a 150% deck scraper, his headsail rather smaller (nether of us put mains up till later, if I’d put the kite or chute [up for such a short distance, I guess you would have had a point?]) Mind you I’d swap for a transatlantic if someone would do the heavy lifting for me 🙂

Pleased with the timing despite some slow sailing,
planned arrival at the Kyle Rhea was 10:20.

I was the third of at least 6 yachts heading down the Kyle Rhea
at the beginning of the tide. I had hoped to cut the corner half
way through but a fish farm boat was coming the other way
against the tide.

Overfalls getting started just 20 minutes after the tide

turned. There is a better video of the overfalls here

from when I went through an hour into the tide in 2021 

opens in a new tab / window.

 

Plockton past Skye Bridge and through the
Kyle Rhea.

As I passed the Sandaig Islands at about 11:30 I was putting on the sun screen, 25 minutes later I was putting on the fleece and warm trousers and they stayed on for the rest of the day with oilies as evening approached.

I had a good but brief sail from south of Eigg for about an hour, the wind set in again sometime later but, after waiting to see if it would hold, it then backed 40 degrees in the time it took to unfurl and sheet in the headsail so it was back to motoring.

Ardnamuchan Point, the sea bigger than it looks but no problem
about 1.5 knots of adverse tide but an hour later I had slack
water for the last leg into Tobermory. Not for the first time as I
have past in the evening there were huge flocks of Guillemots
on the water east and north of the point. 

More pics may follow

Plockton to Tobermory, 58 NM in twelve and a
quarter hours, most of it motoring.

It now looks as if I will be stuck in Tobermory for some time, my Facebook post this morning:

"The plan now is to visit Coll / Tiree, the Treshnish Islands and perhaps western Mull but I could be here for some time. The UKMO & ECMWF agree on strong winds for a while with winds gusting >30 knots until Thursday or Friday, including 50 knots Monday night and > 40 on Tuesday night.

I guess I could go to a sheltered loch to anchor but even Loch Aline could be a bit iffy with the strong wings coming everywhere from c S through W to N. So I think I’ll stay on the mooring.

It was probably a good choice to opt for the mooring rather than a pontoon, assuming a place was available, cheaper, private and with all the wind no problem with electric power. The down side will be having the dinghy in the water in those winds and probably needing the engine on it to get ashore, but if there is no extended quite period I have fresh food to last through Tuesday so could easily wait till Wednesday to blow it up.

I just hope my last surviving carrot will last another couple of days for the spag boll the mince having the longest use by date."

The UKMO 03:30 and ECMWF models for Monday evening

 

Click her for a separate post on my stay here and the weather updates.

2025, May 29th, Day 61. Plockton - what next.

The urgency is off my return, at least for a week or two as my wife has been referred to a different consultant for a different type of surgery. 

However, the weather for next week around these parts is not good. It is miserable here at the moment raining with light occasionally quite fresh winds but should be improving, contrary to Wednesdays forecast,  Friday looks OK to move so, assuming that does not change, I will head south tomorrow to Tobermory before stronger winds Saturday. Or to the Small Islands or someplace else for a night if Saturdays weather gets delayed.

Models for mid day Friday. I will probably be motoring.

Inshore forecast today at 12:00:

The Minch - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Cyclonic becoming northwesterly, then variable later, 5 or 6 at first in south, otherwise 2 to 4. Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in south. Rain or showers. Good, occasionally moderate or poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Variable 2 to 4, becoming southeast 3 to 5, then veering southwest 4 to 6 later. Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate in south. Showers, becoming fair later. Good.

Winds over the weekend are blustery and especially on Saturday would be uncomfortable in the sound of Sleat but not in the sound of Mull.

Tuesday is not looking good.

I suspect I'll spend one, probably two days in Tobermory to get some laundry done, replace a used Campinggaz cylinder, a few days fresh food and replace the fuel I'll probably use tomorrow, only 10 litres or hopefully less if I get some wind but I would prefer to have everything I can carry. 

I need to think about what to do thereafter but I would either move south to to shelter in Loch Aline for Tuesday or somewhere closer if visiting the Treshnish Islands, Coll or Tiree.

Planning finished; my notes, tidied up with some explanation, are put here in case they are of interest to novices planning to do some coastal sailing.

Tobermory - Tobermory 30/5/25

Sources, tide tables, tidal atlas (Admiralty via Imray iPad App), CCC Pilot (after the Admiralty sailing directions), extract from a detail on Admiralty Chart 2540 Loch Alsh and Approaches.

HW Ullerpool 12:20 & 22:30, one day before springs,

Tidal Gates:

 Kyle Rhea

This is the key one, the tide though here can run faster than the boat will go and there can be overfalls to the south and strong eddies, so has to be done with the tide and although slower for a mile or so it is usually best done close to slack water so as to give the best tide on leaving if going any distance. South going from HW Ullerpool so be there at c 10:20. 

Extract from chart insert 2540-2 Kyle Rhea

Working backwards. 

Skye Bridge:

The tide under the Sky Bridge is not  insurmountable but can run at up to 4 knots so best to plan for it. It is very variable, at springs (neaps are different) usually east going HW Ullerpool - 3:00 to +3:30 but depends air pressure and particulalry on wind. 

So friendly from 07:20, best not to pass after 09:30 so as to be at the Kyle Rhea at slack water.

Point of Ardnamuchan.

Whilst not extreme the tide around the point will definitely slow you down significantly if adverse and can cause rough seas especially wind against tide, it is SW going from HW Ullerpool - 00:10 till +05:50 = 10:10 - 16:10. There is nothing to be done about that as even at better than 6 knots I would miss the tide, I'll just have to hope it is not that rough and stick it out.

The Route

Only being 8 miles from Skye bridge and another 4 with the tide to the Kyle Rhea the first part is easy, slip not later than 07:45 to give some time to clear the anchorage to make the entrance probably a bit before the tide turns (it could turn a bit early) at 10:20. Plug that into the route I already had from previous visits and let Seapro crunch the numbers and we get this.

SeaPro is only as good as the number of tidal "Diamonds" permit
and how unambiguous the interpolation between them is so in this
part of the world especially it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt in
places but this should be a reasonable plan (times UTC)

Click her for Tobermory.

2025, May 27th, Days 59 & 60. Loch Mariveg to Plockton.

WIP

Having given up on Loch Mariveg I decided to head for the mainland, the alternatives of heading back to Stornoway or further south did not appeal, both would have been a relatively late arrival with further to go next day. The question then was where to go so I set course to clear the Shiant Islands and gave it some thought.

Lochs Ewe, Gairloch or Torridon were all possibilities and easy to get to and into but I could then get stuck there and end up moving anchorages as the wind was likely to be coming from different directions in quite short order. I dismissed Loch Ewe, not for it's anchorages but the need thereafter to go round Ruba Reidh when moving out.

The wind was forecast to back so I hedged my bets a bit and opted to aim for west of Rona, if the wind backed I could go for Torridon, if it didn't, or didn't much, I could go down the Sound of Rassay, preferred as there are anchorages there and Portree although that is an uncomfortable anchorage / mooring in a strong wind, especially from the SW. or down the Inner Sound. Once well south I would have options to suite all winds from Broadford to Plockton to Loch Alsh.

Facebook post a short while later:

Pleasant sailing at the mo in W F5, sea smooth but that’s likely to change when I get past the Shiant Isles. I suspect the wind will be less by then which may help as long as it doesn’t go completely and I end up motoring.

As expected the wind did drop but not by that much and as I past the Shiant Islands the sea was benign. I got the main up and was reaching at 5 - 6 knots under full sail and was lucky when a very large cloud and heavy rain past just to the north of me. I was working quite hard for much of the night as the wind went up and down requiring frequent rolling in and out of the headsail and adjustments to sheeting as the direction changed a bit.

Another post [expanded a bit and with a few edits for language etc.] at 02:42:

At quick and comfortable passage so far except for a squall at about 01:00, I saw the cloud but no rain coming my way so put a few more rolls in the headsail, to smaller than a working jib, and the 2nd slab in the main.

it was a good job I did, a few minutes later there was torrential rain and for a few minutes the wind veered 30 degrees and was above 30 knots. I was making > 7 knots (I'm not sure the of the top speed or wind as I was keeping my head down to try and stay dry), I was on a beam reach before the wind veer, then over sheeted, and with perhaps only 10 degrees of heal, Sancerre went dead straight and the autopilot had little work to do. This boat still surprises me at times 🙂

02:42 and Rona Light House will be abeam in half an hour, making 5 knots in 10 knots of wind, should be back to 5.5 knots shortly as the wind will surely come back.

Although I have seen them all in daylight I had not really appreciated how well supplied with light houses the Minch is, previously I have only crossed in daylight or with visibility restricted. Although so far north and a few weeks from the longest day it was never darker than Nautical Twilight (when you can see the brightest stars and have a clear horizon) I could see lights from multiple directions.

The wind had not yet backed so I went down the Sound of Raasay and was able to sail until Portree, albeit somewhat slower as the wind dropped. The question now was where to go? The available forecasts still showed strong winds from various directions, the best option was Plockton and a relatively cheap mooring rather than risk having the anchor screwed out by the changing winds.

Under engine for an hour to get through the Raasay narrows 
then running in light winds until just before Plockton.

Approaching the turn into Plockton

Some care is required going in especially close to the anchorage
at close to high water as some of the rocks are hidden but lurking.
The infamous Plockton Rocks are marked close to the edge and
are reasonably steep too but are close to the mooring buoys people
keep bumping into them. In bad weather I would probably go
north of Sgeir Golach but in decent weather this track is safe
but don't run into Dogha Dubh Sgeir that could be difficult to
see in poor visibility when the light is not on.

The disused light house 

 

Plockton.

Slide show of Plockton to follow

Stornoway to Plockton via Witches Pool.
75 NM in total in 18.5 hours

Click here for Plockton and what comes next.

2025, May 27th, Day 59 Stornoway to Loch Mariveg.

 WIP

I left at 16:15 after the radar and associated forecast had shown the last squall had passed, it was almost correct but it was only a minor wetting.

Leaving Stornoway harbour.

Approaching the entrance to Loch Mariveg.

A bit further in.

Hopefully better Pics to follow.

From Facebook

Gave up on Loch Mariveg after 8 failed attempts to anchor in 4 different locations due to weed, wasting almost 2 hours. Heading for the mainland, not worth going to Loch Shell at this time.

I tried 4 times in the pool 3 near the entrance, 1 further in (that one in a lot of wind) kelp. 2 in a pool S of there, thick matted weed of some sort and again in a pool to the north. All in places recommended on the Antares chart.

Failed attempts to anchor, the single attempt in the N of the
witches pool was in a strong NW wind and not attempted a second
time as I came very close to the leeward shore. Others were in
light or moderate winds those to the S in almost none. 

After flaking out 30 - 40 metres of chain 8 times I had had enough and headed out to sea to decide what to do next.

Click here for the trip across The Minch to Plockton.

2025, May 27th, Day 59 Stornoway to ?

Tuesday am.

It is still very breezy at 09:00 but the forecast and outlook are improving. The 07:00 inshore forecast:

The Minch - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: West or southwest 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough near entrances. Showers, squally at first. Good, occasionally poor at first.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: West 4 or 5, backing southwest 3 or 4, then south or southeast 4 to 6 later. Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in central area. Showers, rain later. Good, becoming moderate or poor later.

"At first" is an undefined term but should be < 6 hours and certainly < 12 hours (after that it would be "Later", and by implication it is < 6 hours or it should just say "becoming") The "Squally" bit is the part I don't like as gust can be severe but I am happy to plan on Loch Shell tonight but I am also thinking about going to the mainland this afternoon or evening. 

At 5 knots, which I should easily achieve under sail, Loch Gairloch is about 7 hours away once clear of the harbour so leaving after lunch I'd be at anchor in time for a good nights sleep before moving further south on Wednesday. With a quicker passage I could also make Portree or the anchorages in Rassay narrows in daylight (the anchorages are unlit although not difficult).

That just might be advantageous as the UK and European models are coming into agreement about the winds on Thursday and they are both suggesting that the stronger winds will be further south perhaps South of Mull according to the ECMWF and not as strong as on yesterdays models.

UKMO and ECMWF 03:00 runs this morning showing the
prediction for 13:00

It is far to close to call but if the ecmwf is correct, and especially if both show a drift further south it may be possible to get into the sound of Sleat Thursday and to Tobermory on Friday or Saturday before the next depression arrives Saturday evening. Going over today would also avoid the head winds late tomorrow evening.

The most likely destination is Loch Shell leaving there c 08:00 from there tomorrow, to avoid a strong adverse tide earlier.

I will make a decision when I see the domestic forecasts and the next inshore forecast at lunch time, or possibly when I see what the sea state and weather is like when I am 10 miles south of here and in a good position to head for the mainland passing well clear of the Shiant Islands and south of  the Shiant Islands East Bank which is likely to be a bit rougher than in the deeper water.

Update 10:42: Having run the numbers the Witches Pool, Loch Mariveg is a possible alternate to Loch Shell, it is closer to Stornoway and further from the mainland but the extra distance on Wednesday could be balanced by an earlier start; starting v early from Loch Shell means crossing a strong southerly tide going inside the Shiant Islands and that means I could probably get further south from Mariveg earlier in the day giving more options.

If the wind and squalls do not moderate soon then the Witches pool would be favourite as it is less exposed and closer and I could leave here later.

Click here for the off to Witches Pool.

Some interesting number crunching.

I have filled the tank with diesel until the fuel was into the feed pipe a couple of inches from the top. I did the same 102 and 68 engine hours ago. This gives a usage of 1.18 Litres per hour at my now normal, more restrained, cruising speed of 5.4 knots with a reasonably clean hull, albeit 6 months in the water.

This compares with an historic average of 1.54 Litres / hour when I often cruised at c 6 knots and to 1.6 - 1.7 litres an hour for much of last season when I had a dirty hull after wintering on the Hamble (but scrubbing at the start of the season) and several foulings from weed and plastic bags on the shaft or propeller.

With a static waterline length of 25 feet the generally accepted economic cruise speed is 5 knots, that appears to be pretty close. 

The theoretical maximum hull speed is 6.81 knots. With Sancerre's big engine I have done over 7.2 knots with a clean hull but I have no idea how much extra fuel that would cost as I have only done it briefly.

It also validates the fuel gauge readings. The theoretical best accuracy with the pillar sensor in this tank is, iirc, +/- 2 Litres. I record fuel level and hours at every stop in Excel and the biggest deviation has been 3.9 litres and the vast majority have been within 2 litres with the gauge showing less than the calculation.

2025 May 21st, Days 53 - 58 In Stornoway.

Most of this page has already been posted on Facebook, to jump to my moving out on Tuesday click here.

Wednesday 21st.

The forecast gets worse, although the worst of it appears to be a
little south of here, the Loch Boisdale area is going to get a
hammering but the marina is very well sheltered, but I would
rather be here!

Visited today by Tim, another member of the Achilles Facebook group for a long natter.

The "town" marina, it feels a bit more roomy than when I was
here in 2021, perhaps bad memory or they may have adjusted
the fingers after the new marina was built.

Thursday 22nd

Facebook Post:

Thursday will be a make and mend day, mainly using the (forecast) lovely weather to catch up with the external varnishing I couldn't get done last winter when I did most of the rest.

The weather was not that good, sunny intervals rather than sun all day and a bitter wind but I had the varnishing done, including prep work before 9:30 after an early start and it was dry by early afternoon.

All back together by late afternoon, outside of washboards, trim
to hatch, piece behind instruments and the grove the washboards
fit in all varnished.

Friday 23rd.

So far the weather has been very good today and reasonably warm. Currently the bad weather looks to be arriving tomorrow and could last through Monday and perhaps Tuesday, then possibly more at the end of the week.

The Minch - Strong wind warning 

24 hour forecast: South 3 or 4, increasing 5 or 6, then veering southwest 4 or 5 later. Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth at first. Rain at times. Moderate or good, occasionally poor. 

Outlook for the following 24 hours: South or southwest 4 or 5, veering west 6 to gale 8 later. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later. Rain or showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Todays work included taking the engine box apart to access and lubricate the gear box linkage which has been giving problems going from astern to forward, a bit of a problem going onto a berth! Both ends lubricated and it is now much easier to operate and tested alongside it worked fine changing at minimum revs without problem rather than having to push the leaver to high revs (the leaver is both the gear change and throttle, the normal thing on sailing boats).

Cleaning this afternoon, mainly exterior as I have access to fresh water. 

Saturday 24th

Raining off and on after quite a lot overnight. I have run out of things I feel like doing and there aren’t many others I can do here and in the rain. Probably the only thing today is draining, flushing out and refilling the fresh water tank, I sterilised it over winter and replaced the filter but it is getting a nasty chemical smell, perhaps I have been overdoing the treatment tabs.

The forecast is not encouraging, as expected bad tomorrow (and Tuesday), this morning inshore 07:00 forecast:

The Minch - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Southwesterly backing southeasterly later, 3 to 5, veering westerly or northwesterly 6 to gale 8 later. Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth north of skye until later, becoming rough in south. Rain at times. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Westerly or northwesterly 6 to gale 8, occasionally severe gale 9 at first in north. Slight or moderate, but rough, but rough in north and south entrance. Rain at first, then showers. Good, occasionally poor at first.

And Tuesday is also not good with models showing gusts into the mid or high 20s and later in the day on the nose going south. And much the same Wednesday with stronger winds south of Harris thereafter. But but I don’t put much credence in anything past Tuesday as it depends on the exact position of a low passing over or close to Stornoway.

UKMO prediction for Wednesday as of the 03:00 run Saturday.

And the main models disagree. Hopefully the ECMWF is
nearer the mark, although that has some nasty weather  coming
on Friday and worse on Monday week.

I suspect I am going to be dodging weather systems as I move south until making a dash for the mainland, hopefully from Barra but I would not be surprised if I ended up not getting that far and heading for The Small Isles or, with a sense of déjà vu, down the east coast of Skye.

Sunday 25th a.m.

Last night  it looked as though I would be able to escape Stornoway adn marina fees late on Monday and, with some help from Tim, an ex Achilles owner who lives here, I had decided to move about 6 NM south to a good anchorage at the  Camas Thormaid aka the Witches Pool  in Loch Mariveg. This mornings inshore and domestic forecasts and the models say that that is now unlikely as I don't fancy 30 knot gusts at any time let alone going through a very narrow channel to get in.

Sunday 25th p.m.

All change again. There is a strong possibility that the lady wife will be going in for a knee replacement shortly, that will not be confirmed until Thursday but if I continue south towards Barra there is every chance I could be stuck there for some time. Although the models disagree, the UKMO model shows 30-40 knots from the SW on Friday whilst the ecmwf shows light northerlies. So Tuesday or Wednesday I'll be making a dash to the east side of Skye and as far south as I can get with the wind - I have no intention of going down the Sound of Sleat against 30 knots of wind or anything close to that! 

If it is a false alarm (unlikely) or the operation date is well in the future, also probably unlikely as the NHS have referred her to a private clinic and things are moving quickly I can replan my extended cruise, otherwise it will be a dash or a relatively quick trip back to Milford.

Monday 26th

The ukmo and ecmwf now agree on more strong winds coming and that they will be here Thursday rather than Friday but they don’t agree on the direction that may complicate choosing where to shelter. The American GFS disagrees but it often does and is not as reliable as the other two.

The UKMO and ECMWF models from this mornings 03:00 run,
showing the predicted situation on Thursday afternoon.

and the inshore forecast from Monday lunch time:

The Minch - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Westerly or southwesterly 4 to 6. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough near entrances. Squally showers. Good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Westerly or southwesterly 4 to 6, occasionally 3 later in south. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough near entrances. Showers, squally at first. Good, occasionally moderate.

At the time of writing (Monday 15:00) the problem is the squalls with gusts of F7 or above for short periods. The models do however indicate a local slackening tomorrow evening.

  

The need to get going is a little less urgent as I will get stuck Thursday at pretty much the same place if I leave any of the next three days and the weather looks reasonable on Wednesday, although the wind could be on the nose later in the day so I would end up motoring down past Skye.

If necessary in a day I can make Portree (secure but not the most comfortable place to be in a ston SW wind and best on a mooring rather than at anchor), Plockton or Loch Alsh (the tide is fair for Sky Bridge from 17:00 on Wednesday) but depending on later forecasts I may move (motor?) about 15 miles south to Loch Shell today or tomorrow to shorten the trip to Skye and to get a better angle on the wind Wednesday, in the lee of the land the sea should be ok in F4-6, probably not the case in the middle of The Minch!

On Friday, if the wind has abated, I could get through the Kyle Rhea from 10:00, not ideal if I am close as it would be a late arrival in Tobermory but good if I am further north.

So a reasonable chance of making Tobermory Friday, or Saturday if the wind is still strong and / or the Sound of Sleat is rough on Friday, to refuel if necessary and I should not then need to stop at a place with fuel until Milford. 

After another trip to the petrol station this morning for a last 10 litres of diesel I am now fully fuelled, the tank into the feed pipe and 33 litres in cans for 105 - 106 Litres in total. In theory at the current consumption of 1.18 Litres / hour validated over the last 102 hours, I have a range of 480 NM @ 5.4 knots in reasonable conditions  but, of course, I need a reserve and fuel sloshing in the tank would stop the last of the fuel getting to the engine but I still have a conservative range of 350 NM, I just hope I don't have to use it, sailing is generally a lot more comfortable and quieter.

For the move out of Stornoway click here.

2025, May 20th, Day 52, Loch Roe to Stornoway.

 WIP

A very bumpy crossing with steep, although not particularly high, waves coming from the north rolling the boat badly until about 10 miles out when the wind increased and I was able to sail which stabilised the boat.

LochInver Trent class lifeboat overtaking me about 2/3rds of
the way across making 20+ knots. by the time I arrived she had
already been lifted out, presumably for cleaning etc.

Facebook Post:

It looks like I could be here for a good deal longer than two nights. I just checked this mornings models issued after I left.

 

The UKMO and ECMWF do not agree on all the details or timing but both say strong winds coming Friday/ Saturday and gales (severe?) Sunday / Monday. Whilst there are some decent anchorages around iirc there are only 2 other secure marinas in the outer isles, [edit: I was forgetting Tarbert, which I understand is quite small and unprotected from theSE] Castle Bay being exposed to the SW. loch Maddy is only moderately protected and has reduced capacity due to a dredger  destroying part of it in 2023 and Loch Boisdale is a long way south. I could get there but would miss out on the places in between.

I’ll review tomorrow when the new forecasts come in. I have been to all 4 marinas and some of the best anchorages and my gut says stay here.

Tuesday mornings UKMO & ECMWF.

Some lifting and carrying during the afternoon, getting it out of the way before a welcome shower. Two trips to Tesco's for vital supplies of beer, a trip to the local garage for diesel, only 10 or 12 minutes away on good pavements so probably quicker than getting it from the marina.

Click here for the stay in Stornoway.

2025 May 19th, Day 51. Loch Inchard to Loch Roe.

 WIP

The wind was lighter than forecast and very variable,  I lost count of the number of times I turned the engine on to make the tide at Stoer Head but it was at least half a dozen, and I still didn't make it as the tide turned foul at least an hour ahead of schedule, again I suspect due to the high pressure. The waves were awkward and on the quarter, generally not big but every know and then a big set would come through. 

The Old Man of Stoer

Close in to Stoer Head for comfort, reducing the angle of the
quartering sea. 

Still the occasional big set coming through as I leave Stoer Head.

 

Facebook posts:

Afternoon:

This morning the inshore forecast at 07:00 was F2-4 occ 5 at first (that’s what I had coming here) I was tempted to go direct to Stornoway but all 3 models (UKMO Global, ECMWF & GFS) I have access to that have gust predictions showed gusts in excess of 25 knots late afternoon . I couldn’t reconcile them 🤔 so carried on with my plan.

The lunchtime forecast now says  “Northeasterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first [this afternoon] in north [where I am]. Feeling smug 😏😏

Shows why it is best to have multiple sources of info and take the worst credible rather than the one you like.

My problem now is the 12:00 forecast also has a strong wind warning for tomorrow, hopefully that is the bad weather in this mornings model for Wednesday (gust >30) arriving tomorrow evening after I would expect to be in Stornoway.

Evening:

[..] looking good for tomorrow

The Minch 

24 hour forecast: North or northeast 3 to 5. Smooth or slight, occasionally moderate at first in north. Fair. Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: North or northeast 3 or 4, increasing 5 or 6 later. Smooth or slight, becoming moderate in north. Mainly fair. Good.

The UKMO Global and ECMWF are also fine at least until quite late tomorrow. Assuming no big change on the midnight forecast I’ll be off when I wake up, certainly before 07:00. Must remember to go carefully out of here as low water is 07:20 and we are close to neaps so some rocks will not be showing.

Photos of Loch Roe to follow.
 

27.5 miles in 8 hours.

Click here for the crossing to Stornoway.

2025 May 18th, Day 50. 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.

Click here for Loch Roe.

2025 May 16th, Days 48 - 50. 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.