Whitehills

We left Nairn harbour at 5am and even then, at high tide, for one or two spots we only had a metre of water below our keel as we made our way up the channel and over the sand bar. The day was cold, misty and overcast, which reminded us how fortunate we have been on this journey sailing round the UK, because we have hardly had a dull day. We motor sailed in light north-easterly winds and took it in turns to sleep. Pete slept fitfully for an hour and arose to take his turn at the helm. Mark then slept like a log for three hours. We perhaps need a large ship’s bell to call the change-over. It is 30th June 2021.



The day brightened up and eventually we reached Whitehills harbour. This is a lovely, sheltered, stone-built harbour with a good deep channel leading in and well-planned pontoons in the outer and inner sections of the harbour. We were welcomed by a local fisherman and the harbour master was very friendly and helpful. A quality restaurant overlooks the harbour and there is an interesting pottery nearby. The interesting town has a variety of stone-built cottages and winding streets and still has a fish factory and shop on the sea front which is a remnant of its previous role as a busy fishing port. With local and European funding the harbour still supports half a dozen working fishing boats but also has been developed to become a small marina with a mix of yachts and fishing or leisure motor boats. Northern Ireland struck us as being so welcoming and friendly, but the small towns along this stretch of coastline have a similar feel and similar welcome.

We anticipate an early start to catch the tide and hope to reach the stream of northerly winds that seems to have been blowing down the east coast while we are still within in the quieter area of the Moray Firth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unfinished Business Sailing North

Image
 With a good dose of déjà vu I rise at an ungodly hour of the morning, click the kettle on, and turn back to my bed to stuff my sleeping bag into a dry bag. My brother Mark, with the help of crew mates from his sailing club – Martin, Jackie and Christine - have sailed his 30-foot yacht, Kindred Spirit II, up here to Edinburgh so that we are in position to tackle some unfinished business. During May to June 2021, we set off from Blackwater Sailing Club in the south-east and spent 59 days sailing clockwise round the UK, crossing the Thames then heading via the Isles of Scilly, Holyhead, Northern Ireland and then the Scottish Islands to eventually travel down the east coast back to our starting point ion Essex. However, we took a short cut through the Caledonian Canal, which runs from Fort William in the west to Inverness in the east. We therefore feel that we have a date with destiny in the far north, specifically we would like to sail round The Orkney Isles and Cape Wrath. We now ha...
Read more

Sailing Round the Top

Image
Wow! After so much thinking and planning and buying a yacht and upgrading it and sailing (almost) round the UK last year, today was a fantastic day. We motored out of Stromness to catch the tail end of the westerly-going flow, just so that we could escape from the Hoy Sound without a roost (rough water overfall). We motor sailed for a couple of hours in a feeble east south easterly breeze. It was brilliant to sail past The Old Man of Hoy, one of the most famous, exciting and inaccessible rock climbs in Britain. But then the wind picked up and backed to become an east north easterly blowing around 14 knots and gaining so we ran for eight hours at an increasing speed. By the time we came close to our destination of Loch Eriboll we added a bit of tidal flow in our favour and hit 9.1 knots of speed. This is comparable to a fast runner but us sailors get excited whenever the speed goes beyond a fast walk. As we sailed into the wider section of Loch Eriboll, Mark was enjoying himself on th...
Read more

Getting Wet

Image
  Kindred Spirit II sits sleekly as the rising tide gently laps her newly painted bottom, gradually lifting her from the confines of the launching trailer and back into the watery habitat she was designed for. She shrugs impatiently, keen to be off, bobbing on the grey sea water. Three kind friends brave the cold breeze to take photos and wave us off from the sailing club jetty. It is 13th May 2021.   After puffing and panting a little and coughing out some oily water the engine rumbled into life, much to Mark’s relief. After a nervous double check below decks, to make sure nothing was leaking, we tentatively set sail on the first leg of our long journey around the UK. Heading east down the Blackwater estuary under engine, after half an hour we raised the sails and turn off the engine to make best use of a modest 12 knot south easterly breeze. There is a steady drizzle and eventually Mark, getting cold, arguably may have expressed the first slight ‘whinge’ of the trip, althoug...
Read more