2025 May 31st, Days 63 - 67 Tobermory

Saturday 31st

Slept late, checked engine oil (no loss / usage) and changed the gearbox oil that I omitted to do on the previous service but that was done early so no big deal.

With rain all afternoon I stayed put for a bit of blogging and did not blow up the dinghy to go ashore.

Sunday 1st June

Light winds early morning so I got the dinghy out and rowed ashore, 15 litres of diesel from the self service pump at the garage. Unusually they have a good stock of Campingaz 907 cylinders so I will be back as soon as the wind drops and they are open to get one before they are snaffled up by others.

I could have done without the cold shower rowing back to the boat after the hot one. It continued to rain until early afternoon, at the time of writing it is too windy to row ashore for shopping although I would be blown back to the boat, assuming I didn't miss, and it is not worth getting the engine on as it would have to come straight back aboard due to v strong winds coming, I don't need the dinghy to flip over and drown the engine.

The lunchtime inshore forecast is, if anything, worse than I thought it would be, Arnamurchan point is a few miles west of here so take you pick from:

Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Cyclonic 5 to 7, becoming northwest 4 or 5, backing south 5 to 7 later. Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough in northwest and slight in southeast. Showers. Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: South 5 to 7, increasing gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9, veering west 6 to gale 8 later. Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough in northwest and slight in southeast. Fair then rain then squally showers. Good, becoming moderate or poor.

---

The Minch - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Cyclonic 5 to 7, becoming northwest 4 to 6, backing southwest 6 or 7 later. Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth at first in central area and rough in south. Showers. Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwest 6 or 7, backing south 7 or gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9, veering west or southwest 6 to gale 8 later. Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough, occasionally very rough in south. Fair then rain then squally showers. Good becoming moderate or poor.

NW winds should be OK here, more N could be bad news as the harbour would then be a bit exposed  but I'm on a 15 Ton mooring so safe enough and I'll not be bashing against a pontoon. 

The wind so far has been very variable and swirling with boats sometimes pointing in all directions, now we are all pointing a little N or W with tight mooring lines.

Sunday Evening drama:

Yacht with a halyard wrap. More pics in the slide show on
the previous post.

I heard what sounded a bit like a yacht engine, but it kept going so after a while I poked my head out to take a look and saw a yacht at least 500 yards away in trouble with a partially furled headsail flogging in the strong breeze.

The charter boat from Oban, that I have seen quite a few times over the years, had what is known as a halyard wrap, the jib halyard looked to me to be very slack, this meant that the halyard could not keep the part of the furling gear at the top from turning and the halyard then gets wrapped around the forestay, as a result the bottom part of the sail furls whilst the top does not. They either did not recognise what was happening or kept on furling anyway making things worse. This can be a devil to sort out, and you have to know how. They gave up and tried to pick up a buoy encumbered by a lot of windage aloft in the very fresh wind.

On the 4th or 5th attempt, pictured above, they lost a boat hook but were very lucky, I did not see that but the skipper of the old boat next to me did and had a small ridged rowing dingy, he sculled out in 15 - 20 knots of wind with some gust quite a bit higher to retrieve it and helped them get onto a mooring at the end of the anchorage, then went aboard and helped secure the sail - but not before it had flogged a couple of long rips in the sail. 

Well done that man, and thankfully there was someone around with a dinghy that could be rowed in those conditions, mine couldn't be, at least up wind by me.

On Monday morning the boat made it into the marina with the sail removed, the end of their sailing holiday and are now likely to have an argument with the charter company and / or the insurers who generally do not cover damage to sails unless caused by something else breaking or by contact with something external.

Monday

After a windy and wet night it was sunny with no wind first thing so I was ashore shortly after eight to do a large bag of laundry and shop for a few things. Annoyingly they had change the combination on the front door, which is required for access before 09:00 and I had to wait 15 minutes for someone to come out before I could start the wash. Once it was in the dryer I did the shopping and went back to the boat with that and to pick up the empty gas cylinder, back on shore I got the replacement cylinder and the laundry making it back to the boat just as the wind started to blow up.

It still looks like blustery or gale force winds and serious seas west of Mull until Thursday so I paid for the last 3 nights and bought a discounted five day ticket that can be used at any time so hopefully I can wait for decent weather, spend a few days around the area then come back here for a night or two to get ready for a longer trip south.

Tobermory is quickly filling up in advance of the Gale(s), at 14:00 the marina is full and I can only see a couple of 15 Tones moorings left, from 28? (according to the web site but I suspect a few have been added)

Tuesday

It was pretty windy last night but with maximum gusts of 32 knots recorded locally it was not as windy as forecast so those down in Loch Aline who reported deploying two anchors did the right thing, but now they have to get them up. Storonoway though were getting gusts of over 40 Knots so it looks as though we were lucky.

We might not be as lucky later as the domestic forecast for Tobermory has gust of 42 Knots this evening.

Annoyingly the swirling wind means I have to keep all of the hatches closed for much of the time to keep the rain out and we are promised showers for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow looks like a non starter as well, Thursday is much better.

But with > 5m waves off Coll tomorrow its will be a few days
before I'll want to go there or to the Treshnish Islands so perhaps
 an exploration of  Loch Sunart will be in order although shelter
it rather variable and the good anchorages may be full. Some
research will keep me busy for a while.

Wednesday.

There was no wind first thing so I made an 07:00 quick run ashore for fresh food in case I can leave tomorrow. After lunch with a wind that would blow me back to the boat I squeezed in another between squalls for water and booze - Scottish law only allows sales after 10:00 and to avoid mistakes all the main supermarkets and the coop include zero alcohol drinks in that ban.

The weather is not looking that promising tomorrow morning, the lunchtime inshore forecast:

Mull of Kintyre to Ardnamurchan Point - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: West or southwest 4 to 6, occasionally 7 at first and 3 later. Very rough at first in west, otherwise moderate or rough, but becoming slight or moderate in east. Showers, squally at first. Good, occasionally moderate.

The Minch - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: West or southwest 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 at first, then decreasing 4 or 5 later. Moderate or rough becoming slight or moderate, becoming smooth or slight later just north and east of Skye. Showers, squally at first. Good, occasionally poor at first and moderate later.

F4 or 5 is not a problem normally but not attractive for west of Mull anchorages with the accompanying seas.

I'll wait until the morning to decide and have a last minute shower if it looks sensible to leave later, perhaps to Loch Sunart for a day sail if the rather limited anchorages there do not look attractive for an overnight stay. Having a couple of days mooring in the bank here I don't particularly want to pay for one of the limited moorings or pontoon berths at Salen if one was available.

Thursday

My Facebook post:

Not a good day so far and it is not yet 9 o'clock and I am waiting for the rain to stop. The latest forecasts are showing fresh NE winds on Saturday which with F6 today rather puts the kybosh on The Treshnish Islands. It also shows rain most days for a good while and not very helpful winds to get south next week. 

Added to that for several days to come the tides are not helpful to get through the Sounds of Islay or Luing.

Finally whilst clearing a blocked sink, the plug in the other popped out as I was using the plunger and I got a face full of very dirty water. A good job that happened before my shower rather than after.

So, what next? I gave up trying to do a detailed long term plan as there are just too many variables. After a shower and a bit of last minute shopping, hopefully avoiding the rain showers, I am going to head down the Sound of Mull, probably this afternoon when the tide turns or first thing tomorrow. Then take it from there, light winds tomorrow so probably quite a bit of motoring and the Sound of Islay looks favourite for Friday evening or Saturday but we shall see.

Click here for the move south. 

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 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.

Plockton - 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 as it turns favourable 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 it is 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 it depends on air pressure and particulalry on the 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.

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 seem sensible, 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 I could go down the Inner Sound, and once well south by either route 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.

The Shiant Islands

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:

A 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 well over 30 knots. I was making > 7 knots (I'm not sure the of the top speed or wind as I was literally 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

Into and later out of Plockton.

Some care is required going in especially 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 and people keep bumping into them. 

Here is an example! No damage but they
were there for a tide cycle.

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.

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

Click here for Plockton and what comes next.

2022 St Kilda Day 61 Plockton to Armadale Bay.

At last a window long enough to get somewhere meaningful, I needed to be at the north end of the Kyle Rhea with a favourable tide, there is no point in trying to battle a tide that runs faster than the boat will go even at Neaps, and it easies to go through just after the tide turns rather than go through the big eddies and over-falls that are at their strongest during the mid hours of the tide. The optimal time was 14:00 and it would take 2 - 4 hours to get there, rather than hang around all morning and then have an adverse tide through the narrows under Skye Bridge, I decided to leave early and explore the eastern end of Loch Elsh and the lower end of Loch Duich where there is a well know beauty spot and En Donnan Castle.

I did however wait for the rain to stop and was away at 07:15.

About to leave the Plockton anchorage.

There was little or no wind so I motored for three quarters of an hour going slowly at a little over 3 knots as the batteries were quite low (thanks to the failed wind generator) and the alternator was already stressing it's belt continuously generating over 50 amps.

A variable and gusty wind set in, I would probably be on a run through Loch Alsh and I was in no hurry so I didn't bother with the mainsail, just as well as I was winding the headsail in and out for much of the trip. Unfortunately, the rain came back and by the time I got to Skye Bridge I was wet and cold, the new waterproofs were relegated later in the day in favour of an old set.

The rain eased as I got to Sky Bridge, my third time under the
bridge and this could have been taken on any of them, it
would be nice to see it in the sun.

I got to the entrance to the Kyle Rhea at 10:30 but being wet and cold and with rain starting again I decided to forego my site seeing trip and anchor, change clothes, warm up and have lunch. The diesel heater really was a good idea, by lunch time I was nice and warm and the weather had changed for the better.

I weighed anchor at 13:15 and shortly after found the tide had turned a bit early so I headed through and had a trouble free passage although I did go a bit wide to keep clear of a fish farm service ship coming along behind.

The northern entrance to Kyle Rhea as the weather cleared, I had
anchored just off the right of the picture behind some rocks marked
by the pillar.

Leaving the Kyle into the Sound of Sleat, a ship collecting fish
coming up behind.

It was nice to see an otter fishing, last year I saw none but the year before I saw three families in the Kyle and an individual in the Sound of Sleat. Perhaps it is not surprising they are seen here, even with the strong tide, as Gavin Maxwell was at the Sandaig Islands about 4 miles further down the Sound where his book "Ring of Bright Water" is set. 

With a fair tide I made good time so rather than stopping overnight at Ornsay I went a bit further to Armadale bay. As things turned out, with very light winds, I had a good quite night but I would probably not stop there again as the anchorage is deep with lots of weed.

Looking south from the Armadale anchorage.

Plockton to Armadale.

27 miles in 10 hours.

Click here for the next leg to Tobermory.

Weather doom and gloom, and not just for me.

Well, after bugging out of S Uist last week I have been hiding behind Skye for 8 days, I have had a couple of very nice days with no wind, a couple wet with iffy winds when I went shopping by boat (shopping in Plockton is almost non-existent) and four days of strong winds and rain, on two of those days I have seen more than 45 knots and I only have the anemometer on occasionally and not overnight. Today it is still blowing old boots (F5-7 forecast) and I just measured a 30 knot (F7 almost F8) gust. 

The guys doing the OSTAR (single handed to the USA) are having a hard time of it and one competitor who I know, appears to have retired and is heading this way in his "Open 40" racer and I am standing by to meet him to help out if necessary.

Update: shortly after the report of him heading for Scotland his tracker failed, he was next seen off Ireland and the lifeboat went out to pick him up, which surprised him as he was quietly making his way to safety with no electrics, engine or self-steering and the first he knew of the rescue effort was an Irish Coastguard helicopter hovering overhead, he did not know that the sealed, battery powered tracker had failed so did not know an alert was out. With the lifeboat on hand, he naturally accepted the tow 30 or 40 miles to Ireland where he remained for weeks repairing the storm damage. Watch a video of Neil's account of what happened (opens in a new window)

I was a little late in turning the instruments on (it was raining and
was hunkered down in the cabin), 46 knots = F9 and, if sustained,
only 2 knots below Storm F10. Note how gusty it was (10th May).

The only way to stop the dinghy from taking off or flipping, which
would have done the outboard no good at all, was to haul it onto the
transom. On this occasion I had left the motor on the dinghy as it had
been raining when I got back from the village and such extreme gusts
where not in the forecast. 

The weather should improve over the weekend, hopefully this afternoon so I can eat ashore this evening, but strong winds and rain will be here again next week, although the models disagree on when.

Some pictures from the mooring 9th & 10th May, not the worst weather 

as I was not inclined to go out in the rain! 

I have been checking out multiple forecasts from operational models and some from "ensemble" medium range models, all show poor weather and some strong winds through next week but I saw a possible improvement from the 20th or 21st but the models available to me are not good at that range so I just spoke to a forecaster at weatherweb.net who do a lot of work on medium range forecasts.

They confirm that there should be better weather from around the 21st but that might not be long enough to let me get to St Kilda (the sea will need several days to calm down), it could also get messed up in the north if the expected high pressure that should give good weather in the south, does not get far enough north, a distinct possibility especially 50 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. Worse the analogue models (these compare current and recent weather with previous years to see what happened then) and others are suggesting weather in June and possibly July is likely to be very changeable and generally not good.

The conclusion is that I will sit it out for another week hopefully with some day sailing and review towards the end of next week, in any case dodging the weather I could probably only get as far as Tobermory in a week if I gave up now.  If a good enough window does not show to be opening I'll use the somewhat better weather to head for home as and when the weather permits, otherwise I'll not be home early enough to go for an autumn  cruise. For the same reason, if I get to St Kilda I will almost certainly head south rather than try for Shetland.

Plockton station before the rain and then the train arrived.

On Monday the 16th I went to Kyle of Lochalsh on a shopping trip, with my arthritic feet it was rather a long walk to the station in the dry, then the rain started a minute of so before the train arrived and was steady until just before I got back. By walking quickly to and from the large coop I was able to catch the same train as I had arrived on as it started its return trip avoiding a long wait and getting me back to Plockton in time for a second, less extravagant meal at the Plockton Inn.

Click for the next post.

2022 St Kilda, Weather bound at Plockton.

Arriving in rain at Plockton on Thursday the forecast was for a possibly blustery, overcast day on Friday with some showers, a nice day on Saturday and a gale arriving on Sunday with intermittent bad weather for up to a week so rather than anchor I took the option of a reduced mooring charge for 7 days (7 for the price of 5) making the charge more reasonable than most, especially as it included use of the dinghy pontoon which otherwise costs £5 more than I have seen anywhere else and in most places it’s free; you can however use the beach that is closer to the hotel etc. but you could be left with a long carry given the tide.  The plan was to take the odd night away and / or do some day sailing as the weather permitted,

On Friday the 6th I took the opportunity of going up to Lochcarron village in the upper loch where, as I found last year, there is an excellent award winning family run shop with the best supplies I have come across in a smallish village, the tiny shop in Plockton, linked to a Tea shop / café, has very little although it does have a small off-licence. 

After a lot of rain waterfalls all-round the area looked impressive
but generally out of photographic range from a moving boat in
poor light. This small one about halfway along upper Loch Carron.

Turning onto the transit to pass through the reef off of Lochcarron,
possibly a central glacial moraine. The transit is the fence line
highlighted on the picture with a red "T" at each end.

Tracks in and out through the reef following the transit backed
up by GPS and the Antares chart on the iPad plus the chart plotter.

One of this years favourite "made dish" (the other is
 my chicken curry that is easier to make but needs
fresh chicken so is only made a day or two after
shopping) - Corned Beef Hash with lots of Garlic
and herbs. I have not been able to get the spicy
meatballs I was using for last years favourite but
this only needs fresh unions and preferably potatoes
 and I think it is nicer.

I had thought to anchor off for the night and perhaps eat at the hotel but the brisk south-westerly wind that had sprung up whilst I was ashore would have made it rather uncomfortable, so I sailed most of the 6 miles back to Plockton for dinner aboard.

The miserable weather meant dreary photos, there are better ones on the post about my visit last year (opens in a new window).

By Friday night the forecast had changed a little with the really bad weather coming in a bit later, probably late Sunday, in the event the strongest winds arrived on Tuesday and there was little or no wind for much of the weekend and contrary to the forecast Sunday, like Saturday, was nice and sunny. On Saturday I managed to get a table at the Plockton Inn for an excellent albeit expensive meal, but I did have King Scallops for the main course, and on Sunday I had fish and chips from the tiny chip shop - good fish, very average chips. 

Slide show of Plockton pictures, best full screen by clicking on the centre of the picture (opens in new window):

Lochcarron slide show from trips on Friday the 6th and Wednesday 11th:

The forecast as of Monday morning shows rain or showers every day through Friday and winds gusting to 30 knots or more every day with the possible exception of Wednesday when they may only reach 25! Experience says this will change if not in strength at least in timing but it looks like I will be stuck here for the rest of the week. The good news is that the wind here is not much more than half that being reported just a few miles away at Portrea.

Click here for weather doom and gloom.

2022 St Kilda Days 42 & 43 Skipport to Braes Beach (Skye) and Plockton.

The weather forecast looked no better, the GFS model was a little better but the UKMO, ECMWF and others were moving closer to the GFS, also the GFS & ECMWF looking 10 days out showed no windows for St Kilda and gales, perhaps severe gales, early next week and I would want to be somewhere very secure for that. 

A gust map for Monday showing steady winds of gale force (>=34knts)
with gusts of 49 knots (F10) in The Minch and more further west.

The main options were Stornoway or the mainland, I opted for the mainland as it might allow some local sailing in the shelter of Skye and it is closer to the Sound of Harris, one of the two ways through the Outer Hebrides, for an attempt on St Kilda.

Getting there would take a day or two, the problem was the tide, there are strong currents around the northern tip of Skye that leads to over-falls there and for several miles down the east coast when the wind is against tide. The tide was due to turn there at about 12:00, that would mean a very early start, but with no moon starting before twilight would make getting out of the anchorage, with the channel only a few boat lengths wide, totally dependant on GPS and even with two independent sources rather risky (the plotter and an iPad with accurate highly detailed, Antares charts - my PC which is a third independent service is in the cabin so not practical manoeuvring in a confined space). Pictures of the entrance are in my previous post.

The Almanac showed:

• 03:34  Start of Nautical Twilight azimuth 032°
• 04:44  Start of Civil Twilight azimuth 047°

So I decide to leave at 04:00, it would still be quite dark but even with a likely overcast I should be able to see the land. That start time meant that I needed to make 4.5 knots through the water all of the way past Skye and accept 30 - 60 minutes of adverse tide down the east coast before clearing the over-falls. If I could not do that without using the engine I would divert into one of the lochs on the west or northern Skye coast, either to stay the night or, more likely, to wait for the start of the next favourable tide starting around 18:30 then anchor just around the corner at Staffin Bay which should be well sheltered from a south westerly.

At about 03:40 I could clearly see the land around the anchorage and the exit, but as I weighed anchor at 03:50 it started to rain, wiping my specs frequently I could just make out the headlands as I went out, but only just.

Guy Cotten trousers

Once clear of the loch the wind was blowing F3 from the port quarter, with the promise of more to come (the forecast was F3 - F5 with some models from the previous evening showing a tad more in the gusts) so not for the first time I did not bother with the mainsail sailing under just the Genoa. The north going tide kicked in after a couple of hours and I made excellent time to Skye due to the F5 wind I had most of the way with only brief spells above and below. The downside was frequent showers and some longer periods of rain that got me very wet. 

A rant post on leaking waterproofs may well follow here or on Facebook, especially regarding the trousers which were new for this trip and not cheap.

Update Sept: When in Newlyn later in the trip I got some French made trousers as used by commercial fisherman, they were cheaper than "yachty" ones and although it is easier to sweat up in them and movement is not as easy I have yet to get wet from sitting on a wet seat! And they are tough, repairable, easy to get on and have a working fly.

Passing through the 3/4 mile wide passage between Eilean
Trodday and Skye and some nice calm water.

I made the tidal gate with about an hour to spare under sail alone but used the engine for almost an hour rounding the top of Skye as I was on a dead run with a very fluky wind and in a confused, but not particularly rough sea. 

The trip down the Sound of Rassay was routine but, like the trip across the Little Minch I was forever reefing and un-reefing the headsail. The wind gave out just north of Portree so on went the engine for the last three or four miles to the narrows.

Plockton was too far to contemplate and in any case, I would arrive after dark which would make finding a visitor's mooring and avoiding others tricky. With strong SW winds forecast overnight I decided against Portree which can be exposed in those winds so motored on to the Rassay Narrows. Last year I anchored off Churchton Bay on the east (Rassay) side but that would be untenable with the SW wind so I went to a good anchorage off of Braes Beach on Skye and had a good nights sleep, not that difficult after a hard days sailing and a fitful short sleep the previous night.

65 miles in 13 hours.

The trip to Plockton followed the same pattern as last year, again under headsail only but with more wind and rain getting me wet again. 

Rather gusty conditions as I approached Plockton as this
boat left, a rather shaky pic due to the weather and blurred with
rain on the camera lens.

I arrived at 12:00 and by mid-afternoon the wind had moderated enough to row ashore for some shopping (I did not want to make the effort of putting the outboard on the dinghy then having to put it on board again if I was to sail next day or if the wind increased).  The very small shop there, attached to a cafe, has a very limited stock but I did get some critical stores, mainly wine and fruit. I got caught in a shower without my wet waterproofs and decided to stay on board for the evening rather than go ashore and get wet a third time in one day. The heater is working overtime drying me and my cloths out.

18 miles in 4 hours.

Click here for my time at and around Plockton.

2021Round GB Day 41. Plockton - Loch Na Dal

Last night I could not make up my mind if it would be worth leaving early today to head for Eigg or to wait until the afternoon and do a quick hop to Ornsay, the problems were the weather forecast at 19:00 showing probably acceptable winds but rain, the second the need to be at the north end of the Kyle Rhea at 07:00 or about 19:30, the tide runs at up to 8 knots so you need to go through just as the tide sets favourable.

In the end I did not bother setting the alarm and left it to chance, waking up at 04:00 I checked the midnight forecast which was OK and it was calm and dry outside so I was underway in not much more than half an hour, initially under engine but picking up a good northerly breeze half an hour later and I was off towards Sky Bridge at a good pace, making up most of the time from not starting a bit earlier.

Approaching Skye Bridge

Just after taking the above picture the trouble started when the headsail furling jammed. I thought I had fixed this after the incident off Dover by changing the lead angle but it looks like I went to far the other way, this time the sail had been let out completely under control. The riding was deeply buried so the sail had to come down in case there was a sudden squall, a likely possibility as the 06:00 forecast was significantly worse than that at midnight with winds forecast to be F4-6.

Plockton through Skye Bridge.

Kyle Akin, just past the bridge.

The passage through Kyle Rhea was uneventful but wet, despite being half way between spring and neap tides and only just after slack water there was still 4 - 5 knots of tide and occasionally 6.

 

The entrance to Kyle Rhea

The video (best viewed full screen if you have the bandwidth) was taken at the southern end of Kyle Rhea about an hour after the tide turned south and outside of the charted area for the worst of the over-falls, the water was still quite disturbed with the bow sometimes quickly swinging 30-40 degrees of course before the autopilot corrected.

Once I was in the Sound of Sleat the weather turned for the worse with winds of F5 & 6, one particularly strong gust coming off of the mountains flipped over the dinghy I was towing, fortunately the securing points for the bridle held until I could take way off and with some difficulty I righted it and shortened the tow line so the dinghy was snugged up under the transom and sheltered from the wind.

With the wind in the north the Ornsay anchorage looked a bit exposed and would likely become more uncomfortable if, as forecast, the wind veered to the NE, so I turned right into Lock Na Dal. Another yacht was in "position A" and the water ahead of her was a little shallow so I tried to anchor to the left of her. 

Skye Bridge through Kyle Rhea to Loch Na Dal.

In pouring rain that failed as the anchor skidded over weed and it took 3 more attempts to get it to hold by this time well behind the other yacht (which shortly sailed away!). During this kerfuffle the dinghy painter, which had fallen out when the dinghy was inverted, got wrapped around the skeg / rudder making the last attempt tricky. Fortunately I was able to clear it with the boat hook once I was anchored.

Loch Na Dal anchorage.

Looking out of the anchorage

Now I have to wait for the wind to drop so I can get the genoa hoisted - a pain to do single handed - and I will hopefully be able to get away tomorrow, probably for Tobermory for fresh food, a shower and a session in the laundry room.

18 miles in 5.5 hours (with all the messing about trying to anchor).

Slide show of all my pictures from Plockton to Loch Na Dal, page through by clicking the arrows or click in the centre of the pic to view from Flickr in a new window or full screen:

Click here for Day 21, Loch Na Dal to Tobermory.

2021 Round GB Day 39-40. Plockton.

The various weather models do not agree, not surprising with a depression going almost overhead, the inshore forecast and the UK model predict up to F7 today (Sunday) which is similar to other models, tomorrow the forecasts start to diverge, the UKMO again suggest F7 gusts for Monday but possibly OK for a Tuesday evening departure which would mean a v late arrival at Ornsay.

UK Met Office model

I'll need to review this at least twice a day, a complication is that I need a safe anchorage in the Sound of Sleat for the night of the day I leave and reasonable conditions to round Ardnamurchan Point the following day - I don't particularly want to go that in one day but that would be possible with a 03:00 start on Tuesday or 04:00 on Wednesday. 

A trip out to one or more of Canna, Rum, Muck or Eigg before going round Ardnamurchan Point would be nice but is probably not going to be an option given the weather, I also want to get a shower sooner rather than later! 

Hoping for an evening meal ashore, its a bit windy to row ashore for (or rather back from) lunch and I suspect with the cold all inside dining paces are going to be full for Sunday lunch. Surprisingly given the popularity of Plockton with cruising sailors and its suitability for hiding from the weather there is only one other visiting boat here, also single handed I think.

Click here for day 41, Plockton - Loch Na Dal.