The Long Way Round - 2018

Our visit to Westray was cut short by forecasts of strong SE winds rising to gale force in two days time. We were already experiencing uncomfortable swells inside the harbour and had rigged two long lines to the windward quayside to keep us from pounding against the pontoon.  SE F8 was not a good prospect! Having ruled out anchorage options on the other islands, we decided to make our escape to the sheltered marina in Kirkwall before things got worse. Our marina berth had us moored into one corner with a perpendicular harbour wall just ahead of us and the wind blowing us sideways onto the pontoon - not the easiest spot to break away from! In 24 knot winds (F6), Doug reversed us away from the pontoon while our neighbour tended a slipping line from our windward mid cleat to a strong ring on the quayside.  This prevented us from being blown onto the rest of the yachts and allowed us to pivot our stern into the wind.  The quayside line was slipped and Doug gunned us as...

Having visited the sights of Rousay we decided to head north and west to the island of Westray. After consulting the pilot book to decipher the devious Orkney tidal flows, we charted our way in fair weather through the complex pattern of Orkney's northern islands to the small marina at Pierowall on Westray. Pierowall Harbour on Westray Westray Marina Inside Pierowall Harbour The marina is pretty small and had only just re-opened after the pontoons had been replaced.  In fact the whole harbour was in the process of being upgraded and work was still underway by teams of builders who were pouring concrete and running new power cables.  Large diggers and a concrete lorry were constantly dashing along the quaysides and apart from the noise, there was also a quantity of dust in the air that started to collect on our decks. The marina pontoons were currently without power or water and there was only one shower for all the boats.  The work was behind time and the...

A short sail from Kirkwall to the island of Egilsay continued our trail to discover more of Orkney's history and there is certainly A LOT of it! Anchored off the Pier at Egilsay We rowed ashore to climb the hill up to Saint Magnus' Church, built in 1136 to mark the spot where he had been murdered. Saint Magnus' Church on Egilsay The church is roofless now but is remarkably complete otherwise and has an unusually tall circular tower attached to it. View from Egilsay to Neighbouring Rousay - a typically beautiful Orkney panorama :) Later in the day, we up-anchored and crossed the Sound to pick up the visitor's buoy at Rousay Island. Rapport on the Visitor's Buoy at Rousay At short notice, we were luckily able to book ourselves onto an island tour for the next day. Our host was Paddy Maguire, a well informed local resident, who drove us round the island stopping his minibus to show us the many sights from local landmarks, to wildlife and o...

Back in 1117 in Orkney history, Saint Magnus or Earl Magnus Erlendsson, as he was then, was murdered by his dastardly rival and cousin Earl Hakon Paulsson.  Earl Hakon tricked him into coming to Egilsay Island for peace talks and then got his cook to kill him with an axe. St Magnus Meeting His Fate - from an illustration by Arran schoolchildren to commemorate the 900th anniversary. This is in St Magnus Cathedral. Magnus was well liked and known to be a peaceable sort of person, so his death was a great shock to many.  As a result, Magnus' nephew, Earl Rognvald, decided to honour him by building the truly magnificent St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.  The building started in 1137 and it took over 300 years to complete.  No expense was spared and they even used masons from Durham Cathedral to help with the work. I really love Durham Cathedral, so I was keen to visit Kirkwall and see this building. It had to be a very special place to find in these remote i...

We spent 5 days in Stromness and really got to like the place.  It's a friendly marina and the Orcadians we met were so welcoming.  This is what we did during our stay (apart from the very necessary boat clean-up after her time at sea). We watched some of the events in "Shopping Week" - a week of fun held every year in Stromness. The Daft Raft Race - part of Stromness "Shopping Week" We visited the quirky Stromness Museum with it's displays on the Royal Navy and Scapa Flow, whaling, island wildlife, shipwrecks and the famous Arctic explorer, Dr John Rae who discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage and the fate of the lost expedition of Captain Sir John Franklin. I had been reading up for the past weeks on the mind boggling extent of history and archaeology available to the Orkney visitor.  So we hired bicycles and set off in search of our first day's worth of sights. The man at the hire-shop advised us to divert to the c...

Our gentle days in the Western Isles were behind us and we were back on the edge of a real ocean, with threatening skies advancing from windward.   Large swells and cross waves rolled in from the Atlantic and the rain clouds swept towards us, reducing visibility to our own little patch of sea, as each shower drove past us. Night fell, ever so slowly, but never became pitch black.   The moon was somewhere behind the clouds giving some blue light.   Rapport pitched and rolled, rushing down the bigger waves under full main and no headsail.   The wind, which had been fluky and contrary, now blew strong from astern and the full main needed concentration on the helm, to avoid a gybe.   Half an hour before, when I took over the watch, we had been motor-sailing into a gentle headwind, genoa furled.   Now I wondered whether to reef the main and to unfurl some headsail.   However, Rapport seemed to be balanced enough and remained under control.   On...

It seemed about time to leave the West coast of Scotland behind us and to start a new chapter in our journey. And that meant rounding Cape Wrath - the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain.   [By the way, it seems that the name Cape Wrath is derived from an Old Norse word "hvarf" meaning turning point - so it doesn't have to strike fear into our hearts - although it did!] We needed to get our sums right for this - the tides both round the Cape and at the entrance to Scapa Flow in the Orkneys are very strong and need to be with us.  We must also try to avoid the condition of wind over tide that can generate big seas.  AND it would be nice to have the usual requirement of a wind, from a good direction not too strong and not too light!  This required much thought and consulting of the tea leaves or should it be seaweed? (the online weather forecasts).   Anyway, we decreed that we should sail from Lochinver at 08:00 on Friday 13th July - ancho...

The forecast was for light breezes and then rising winds, but from a favourable direction, so it looked like a gentle start followed later by a wild dash across the Minch and into harbour.   Rosie wore her new Lewis hat, in preparation for the wild weather. Rosie In Lewis Heavy Weather Hat The promising early breeze then faded away and left us to motor into Loch Inver, past the local seal on a port navigation buoy. Furry Picture of Furry seal Lochinver in Loch Inver is a fishing port.   We saw a few small local boats, mostly tied up, and three large Spanish trawlers, offloading large quantities of fish which were destined for Spain, by road. Lochinver- Spanish Trawler Unloading The economics of this seems a little strange.  Are the Spanish prepared to pay so much more than us for fish or is this another facet of wasteful EU fisheries policies (our fish go to mainland Europe and we get ours from somewhere else)?  Or don't the British ...

From sleepy Scalpay to spirited Stornoway was a gentle afternoon run up the bleak and beautiful coast of Harris and Lewis.   We sailed into Stornoway harbour and found ourselves in a real town, with busy traffic, shops, restaurants and bars.  The harbour master won our affection by complementing us on our smooth sail handling as we came in.  In fact we didn't do anything very clever but the previous yacht had somehow managed to hit a portside channel marker, so I think that the competition made us look better! Fresh from the sea, our pockets full of money (actually a debit card), me and me maties (actually Rosie) headed for the bar (actually an Indian restaurant).   So that song didn’t apply too well.   With re-victualing and washing all dealt with, it was time for some sightseeing.   A local walk around the harbour took us along some lovely tracks, via a cafe (as usual). Stornoway From Lews Castle Grounds We travelled by local bu...