Going Round the Top

There are, three steps, to heaven. Just listen and you will plainly see. Step one, crossing the Pentland Firth. Step two, sailing from Stromness to Kyle of Tongue. Step three, rounding Cape Wrath and reaching the shelter of Kinlochbervie harbour. And as life travels on, and things do go wrong, just follow steps one to and three. (With apologies to Showaddywaddy). 

Today we completed step one. We motored out of Wick harbour at 11am and enjoyed a couple of hours sailing on a brisk north-easterly breeze. As the wind gradually veered to a northerly on our nose we eventually gave up and motor sailed. The aim was to arrive at Duncansby Head at 3.15pm, just when the formidable east-going flow through the Pentland Firth should switch to a strong but more reasonable west-going flow. Duncansby Head is the top right-hand corner, north-west, of the UK mainland. It is just to the east and north of the more well-known John O’ Groats. In the event we arrived a little bit early but more importantly the wind backed and really picked up as we cleared the headland. We sailed out into the Pentland Firth in bright sunshine. 

Leaving Wick harbour

We were about a year later than originally planned. When we sailed clockwise round the UK (almost) last May and June we always intended to go round the top, but with pressure from time and weather we went through the Caledonian Canal and missed out on Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth. Over the winter this short cut started to bother us and we hatched a plan to come up this summer and complete our unfinished business. To add a twist we are going round the top anti-clockwise, from Wick in the east to Kinlochbervie in the west, via The Orkneys. The fierce reputation of tidal flows and overfalls (roosts) in Pentland Firth and off Cape Wrath, together with the famously exposed northern coastline of Scotland, which offers only infrequently placed and only partially sheltered anchorages in bad weather, means that in many ways this stretch of the round UK sailing trip is the most formidable. We now feel that the sea has kindly allowed us to cross the Pentland Firth and reach the relative shelter of Scapa Flow. But in effect we are only at camp one on our mountain. A rest day tomorrow merely involves pottering across Scapa Flow and reaching the harbour of Stromness. On Monday we will attempt to reach camp two, anchorage in Kyle of Tongue or possibly Loch Eribol. On Tuesday we will then try for the summit, rounding Cape Wrath, before scurrying back down our mountain to reach the safety of Kinlochbervie. 

Sailing past Duncansby Head

There was another boat on Pentland Firth today
From a pint about a mile off Duncansby Head we set off, in a north-west wind, for the gap between Swona (the small island on the left / west) and South Ronaldsay (the large island on the right/ east). We had east-going flow at first pushing us towards Muckle Skerry (marked as the Pentland Skerries) but then the flow switched to west-going and pushed us strongly towards Swona. We had aimed off so eventually we made our waymark no2 and pushed northwards towards Scapa Flow.

 The sailing today was brilliant, and it had us enthralled. There was a build-up of tension as we journeyed from Wick to Duncansby Head, trying to be off the headland at the correct time to catch the change in tidal flow. Then the exhilaration of sailing out, with good wind and bright sunshine, into the Pentland Firth, the most notorious channel of the UK due to its ferocious tidal flows. 

Approaching the entrance to Scapa Flow

The relief of reaching the entrance to Scapa Flow, which is a relatively sheltered and safe body of water because it is encircled by the many southern islands of Orkney. And then the relaxation of picking up the visitor mooring in St Mary’s Bay and enjoying a tranquil evening sitting on deck, soaking up the views and atmosphere. We will enjoy an easy day tomorrow in sheltered waters and try not to worry too much about setting off from Stromness on Monday into the exposed wilderness of the north coast of Scotland. With step one successfully completed, we just need to make good decisions on steps two and three.

Comments

  1. Anonymous5 June 2022 at 14:02

    Hi you two. Sleep well.I hope the tides and winds are going your way tomorrow! LOV mum

    ReplyDelete

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