Beyond Cape Wrath – Night Watch

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.  One more force of wind and I would have had to call Rosie from her sleep, to help me reef.  That extra wind never came.

We had debated whether to nip around Cape Wrath and then anchor in Loch Eriboll but decided instead to go on overnight to Stromness.  A night passage meant that we would have favourable tides around Cape Wrath and also into the race off Stromness.  However, we didn’t want to arrive too early, wind astern against a strong spring tide, so we really needed to slow down.  At the moment however, slowing down wasn’t an option, without reefing, so I steered on.

Two hours later, gentle dawn was well advanced.  As I handed the watch back to Rosie, the wind was already dying.  In my cosy bunk, through my sleep, I heard the engine start and we motored on.