Sailing (well, mostly motoring) West

I do hope that my readership was not worrying about not seeing a new posting on this blog for a day or so. It's just that last night we were in a remote area, where 20th Century technology*,let alone modern stuff**, has not yet reached.

You'll remeber that we were alongside a pontoon in Stromness, Orkney: I was planning to leave on the beginning of the outgoing tide on Friday 13th June for a 50 odd mile trip to a place called Loch Eribol, on the North coast of Scotland, as close to Cape Wrath as we could "park" for the night.

This would have meant that we couldn't leave Stromness until about 11:00, when the flow in Hoy sound changed to outward: we would be arriving at the entrance to Loch Eribol until at least 22:00, when it would be getting dark***. The forecast was that it would be over cast, possibly foggy and with little wind. Arriving at somewhere in the gloaming in these conditions didn't seem too great. Perplexed, I went to bed early. I woke at about half past two in the morning to find that my subconcious had been working over time.

 Why not go now, the tide will be flowing outward until about 5 o'clock. 

So we did. Sandwiches were made in record time, Vagabond was made ready for sea and we were off at about 0430. It was raining and misty. I hoisted a sail, to pretend we were sailing and lit my sailing navigation lights****

Once clear of land, we were immersed in a cocoon of gray, wet mist. and stayed that way until about 10 o'clock, when the sun burnt through it. The forecat Easterly breeze failed to materialise, so Freddie barked onward. 

Land loomed to the South, shrouded in low cloud. Dounray, it said on the chart. I didn't think we wanted to go there, so we carried on. 

Lunch came and went. Afternnoon coffee went the same way. Radio 4 carried on - explaing what was going on in Iraq, Syria, Afganistan and the Ukraine. It was silenced during the Archers.*****

At last we rounded the headland at the entrance to Loch Eribol and motored into a wall of mist. With the aid of the GPS we found our  way into Rispond Bay, a little cleft in the surrounding cliffs, where there is a small (drying) pier and a protected pool with a number of mooring buoys of unknown provenance. I chose the one that looked least decrepit, hooked on and made a cup of tea.

We'd arrived without seeing another boat, any birds and only one solatary seal, that greeted us as we arrived....

Now, would the batteries have enough power stored in them to recharge the Ipad (essential for navigation) and to run for anther day - when we should be rounding Cape Wrath

 * Mobile phones

** Wi Fi tobroadband 

*** It's the middle of June - getting dark in this north western part of Scotland is a relative term, provided the weather is fine.

**** Vagabond is not fitted with "steaming' navigation lights

***** A long running "every day story of country folk" .......