Strong Tides and Stronger Winds
On Tuesday 21st August we left Stromness for the last time and had a cold and blustery sail against a SE wind to Long Hope on the island of South Walls, attached to Hoy.
From here, we could wait for the best time to set out into the notorious Pentland Firth (the water between Scotland and the Orkneys) with its ferocious tides. This had loomed large in my imagination for quite some time and the Pilot Book had plenty of sobering advice to ensure we paid careful attention.
"One should expect the unexpected. The change from smooth to broken water can occur very quickly. Any swell opposing the tide causes such severe conditions that the safety of a small vessel can be in jeopardy. The hatches and scuttles of all yachts should be secured and the safety harnesses of the crew should be properly attached before the passage is started. If any of these conditions are present, the passage should not be undertaken: swell, spring tides, wind against tide, wind over Force 4 and fog."
The chart warned us that extreme tidal streams of 16 knots had been reported.
Gulp.
The east-going tide for the following day started at 3:30 am and at 4:00 pm. We didn't fancy setting off into the dark and the wind was blowing W F6 at dawn. So we decided to try for an afternoon passage.
It was a slow day but at last we cast off at 3:00 pm. It was still blowing quite hard, W F5/6 and we sailed away from the mooring under bare poles at 3 knots. We hoisted the working jib alone and we quickly reached a speed of 5 knots. Before leaving the shelter of South Walls, we hoisted the main with one reef. No turning back as we pressed south into the Firth. There were a few overfalls as we passed Cantick Head and Swoma Island but these were not severe.
We were ready for anything but in fact, the tides were not extreme and had not yet set up their easterly flow. We were about 30 mins early but the strong wind pushed us ahead at 7 knots through the water which easily overcame the remaining 2.5 knot westerly tidal flow. We carefully passed midway between the islands of Swoma and Stroma and began to pick up a bit of east-going tide. Still quite mild really and by the time we left the Firth and passed Duncansby Head, we had reached a speed over the ground of 9 knots - OK but not exactly extreme.. A bit of a damp squib after all!
We turned south and carried a fair tide to reach Wick on the Scottish mainland just as the light was starting to fail. We were rather tired and glad of meal shore in the local Indian restaurant before bed.
Keen to make progress south while we had westerly winds, we set off again the following morning at 5:00 am headed towards Peterhead 75 miles away.
We made good speed at first between 6 and 7 knots but then the wind started to head us and go light which meant motoring to maintain speed. The wind came and went and we could sometimes turn off the engine only to find it had changed from west to east and turned light again. Very frustrating and then we had to overcome a foul northerly tide as well.
Then we suddenly encountered a violent squall that caught us totally unawares.
We had all sail up and had been going along rather slowly in a NW F3 when we were suddenly aware of a line of very dark cloud approaching us. In no time at all, maybe 2 minutes, we found ourselves in a NW F9 with heavy rain, hail and zero visibility. I scrabbled for my harness lanyard while the Autohelm went into alarm as it was forced off course. I took the helm as Doug came up on deck without his oilskin top, life jacket or harness. He just had to get some sail off her as I was struggling to stop her broaching.
Doug slotted in the hatch boards to keep water from getting below as the boat heeled over sharply to port. Then he wound in almost all the Genoa and things became more controlled. I resumed our course line from the chart plotter as I had been disorientated by the complete loss of visibility.
In heavy rain, we made fast progress along the coast towards Peterhead and luckily the wind started to ease as we got nearer.
We were really glad to finally tie up in Peterhead marina and felt so lucky that this had not happened at night. This was a big lesson to take good notice of unusual clouds coming our way!
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| On the Visitor's Mooring at Long Hope |
From here, we could wait for the best time to set out into the notorious Pentland Firth (the water between Scotland and the Orkneys) with its ferocious tides. This had loomed large in my imagination for quite some time and the Pilot Book had plenty of sobering advice to ensure we paid careful attention.
"One should expect the unexpected. The change from smooth to broken water can occur very quickly. Any swell opposing the tide causes such severe conditions that the safety of a small vessel can be in jeopardy. The hatches and scuttles of all yachts should be secured and the safety harnesses of the crew should be properly attached before the passage is started. If any of these conditions are present, the passage should not be undertaken: swell, spring tides, wind against tide, wind over Force 4 and fog."
The chart warned us that extreme tidal streams of 16 knots had been reported.
Gulp.
The east-going tide for the following day started at 3:30 am and at 4:00 pm. We didn't fancy setting off into the dark and the wind was blowing W F6 at dawn. So we decided to try for an afternoon passage.
It was a slow day but at last we cast off at 3:00 pm. It was still blowing quite hard, W F5/6 and we sailed away from the mooring under bare poles at 3 knots. We hoisted the working jib alone and we quickly reached a speed of 5 knots. Before leaving the shelter of South Walls, we hoisted the main with one reef. No turning back as we pressed south into the Firth. There were a few overfalls as we passed Cantick Head and Swoma Island but these were not severe.
We were ready for anything but in fact, the tides were not extreme and had not yet set up their easterly flow. We were about 30 mins early but the strong wind pushed us ahead at 7 knots through the water which easily overcame the remaining 2.5 knot westerly tidal flow. We carefully passed midway between the islands of Swoma and Stroma and began to pick up a bit of east-going tide. Still quite mild really and by the time we left the Firth and passed Duncansby Head, we had reached a speed over the ground of 9 knots - OK but not exactly extreme.. A bit of a damp squib after all!
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| Approaching Duncansby Head at the Eastern End of the Pentland Firth |
We turned south and carried a fair tide to reach Wick on the Scottish mainland just as the light was starting to fail. We were rather tired and glad of meal shore in the local Indian restaurant before bed.
Keen to make progress south while we had westerly winds, we set off again the following morning at 5:00 am headed towards Peterhead 75 miles away.
We made good speed at first between 6 and 7 knots but then the wind started to head us and go light which meant motoring to maintain speed. The wind came and went and we could sometimes turn off the engine only to find it had changed from west to east and turned light again. Very frustrating and then we had to overcome a foul northerly tide as well.
Then we suddenly encountered a violent squall that caught us totally unawares.
We had all sail up and had been going along rather slowly in a NW F3 when we were suddenly aware of a line of very dark cloud approaching us. In no time at all, maybe 2 minutes, we found ourselves in a NW F9 with heavy rain, hail and zero visibility. I scrabbled for my harness lanyard while the Autohelm went into alarm as it was forced off course. I took the helm as Doug came up on deck without his oilskin top, life jacket or harness. He just had to get some sail off her as I was struggling to stop her broaching.
Doug slotted in the hatch boards to keep water from getting below as the boat heeled over sharply to port. Then he wound in almost all the Genoa and things became more controlled. I resumed our course line from the chart plotter as I had been disorientated by the complete loss of visibility.
The
hail and rain were powerful and a lighting strike nearby made our wind
instrument go haywire, spinning wildly on wind direction and showing an
unreadable wind speed symbol. The highest wind speed it recorded before
going AWOL was 44 knots!
In heavy rain, we made fast progress along the coast towards Peterhead and luckily the wind started to ease as we got nearer.
We were really glad to finally tie up in Peterhead marina and felt so lucky that this had not happened at night. This was a big lesson to take good notice of unusual clouds coming our way!
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| Safe and Sound in Peterhead Marina |
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