Cape Wrath and the Orkneys

Ullapool returned to its more peaceful state after the skiff racing finished and we spent Sunday doing mundane stuff like shopping. Evening drinks on board with Isobel and David off Glance, a 120 year old cutter from Strangford Lough finished off the day nicely. On Monday morning we went alongside the quay to top up with water and await the bus delivering our third crew member for the trip over the top. John Thorn, from Torquay, fresh from Royal Torbay Yacht Club offshore week duly arrived after an epic journey of missed flight, train to London, sleeper train to Inverness and bus to Ullapool. We were only half an hour late leaving Ullapool, not bad!

Alongside for water and awaiting John.

Our destination from Ullapool was Kinlochbervie, a sheltered fishing port 47 miles North and only 14.5 miles from Cape Wrath. The trip introduced John to the grey Scottish mist and drizzle, a far cry from the sunshine and warmth of the Channel Islands! At least there was a little breeze allowing us to sail as soon as we were out of Loch Broom and even set the spinnaker for a while until the wind started to fail in the evening, needing the engine for our approach to Loch Inchard and Kinlochbervie. We had a few slightly anxious moments trying to identify the entrance to Loch Inchard. The beacon shown on the chart to the North of the entrance is actually quite small and not easy to see until you are quite close in. Nevertheless we were in, tied up and enjoying a venison casserole by 20.15.

Berthed at Kilochbervie.

Kinlochbervie has obviously been a successful, busy, fishing port. There are packing sheds and infrastructure to deal with a large number of trawlers but one thing that was absent during our visit was fishing boats! Rachael at the harbour office said that at busy times the port supported over 40 trawlers, now reduced to 7 or 8, only a couple of which were deep sea boats, but they did still land white fish rather than the crabs, lobsters and prawns which Stornoway had reverted to.

The empty fishing port.

We planned for a late afternoon start on Tuesday, giving us a fair tide around Cape Wrath and into Hoy Sound on Orkney on Wednesday morning. The weather improved enough for a walk from Kinlochbervie before we left and rewarded us with our first sighting of an eagle, circling the hill tops and flying off into the distance before we could get the cameras out.

We left Kinlochbervie at 15.40 on Tuesday afternoon in bright sunshine but only light winds. We attempted to sail when we were outside the loch but the wind was too light to maintain our boat speed so we motor sailed Northwards. The weather did reward us with bright sunshine for rounding Cape Wrath. The last Cape we rounded was Cape Cornwall, at the other end of the country and a major milestone achieved and duly recorded on photograph!

Cape Wrath

We were there!

And so was John!

After rounding the Cape the sea flattened off and we settled into our watch routine for the 50 mile leg overnight to Stromness. Having a third crew member on board allowed us the luxury of 2 hours on, 4 hours off. There was enough wind for an hours sailing in the night otherwise we motored the whole way. It never got fully dark so we could see Hoy from a long way off and entered Hoy Sound at 0500, berthing in Stromness Marina at 0535.

After a couple of hours sleep and a late breakfast we tried and failed to hire a car to explore the islands. The Orkneys were obviously busy! John found a bus tour which visited some of the major historical sites which proved to be better than a car hire. An open top bus (bit chilly but when the sun shines shame not to enjoy it) took us to Scara Brae, a Stone Age village, dating from 3100BC, which had been exposed in 1850 by a storm washing away the sand. Careful excavation has revealed a sophisticated civilisation. Amazing to see domestic life from all that long ago.

Scara Brae

Stone Age living.

Adjacent the site is Skaill House, a splendid Manor House first built in 1620 for Bishop George Graham and much extended over the years and restored and opened to the public in 1997.

The tour continued with a visit to the Ring of Brodgar, a Stonehenge like circle of sandstones, passing another archeological dig at the Ness of Brodgar. The Orkneys obviously had a thriving Stone Age population!

A couple of old relics and some stones!

The bus tour finished in Kirkwall. We had a brief walk and coffee stop before catching the normal bus service back to Stromness. In amongst the yachts in the marina is a fleet of Orkney Yoles, beamy open fishing boats now raced from Stromness as well as fished from with an active association.

Orkney Yole.

We have a forecast gale to sit out tomorrow and are intending to sail to Widewall Bay on South Ronaldsay to sit out Friday before crossing Pentland Firth on Saturday, heading for Wick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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