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Moonshine's Circumnavigation of Britain

That night in Wick was spent with Ian silently practising the lambasting he was going to give J. for being so inflexible and for putting the entire trip at risk.  I was feeling guilty for not having explained the situation thoroughly.  Awakened on the 16th at about 6 o'clock by a cry from the dockside - "Ahoy Moonshine" and J. had arrived - having put in a 4 hour night drive from Edinburgh.  The relay had worked! 

Much relieved, we set off after lunch, working the tide so as to be off Duncansby Head at slack water, deciding later that we were probably still an hour too early.  Apart from the tide, conditions weren't exactly ideal.  A very light wind on our starboard quarter meant we had to motor and visibility was varying from 1/2 mile to begin with to 1 mile off Duncansby Head.  I don't mind sailing in fog if I have to, as Moonshine has a good radar system, but it did mean we didn't have any view to enjoy which was a pity.  By the time we got to Scapa Flow, though, we had 3 miles vis., which was good. 

The stratagem of going to Stromness, rather than hugging the coast to Thurso and Scrabster, seemed eminently sensible as it avoids the "Merry Men of Mey" - the worst of a series of overfalls between Sutherland and Orkney.  Added to which, the Orkneys are an attractive destination themselves and, had our schedule allowed, it would have been nice to linger and explore.  In the event, we spent two days ashore; hiring a car on the second and seeing as much of Mainland as we could.  There is a lot to see and we found it fascinating: the terrain more like Western England than Northern Scotland: extraordinary historic and prehistoric sites. 

Exit from Stromness was, again, very tide dependant.  Up to 8kn can be found in the Sound of Hoy, though less at neaps, so we timed our departure accordingly and recorded about 5kn, in our favour,  for about an hour and a half.  Wind direction was favourable, and we were zooming along under reefed jib alone.  Once more, tidal calculations played a big part - we wanted to arrive at Cape Wrath, about 60 miles away, at slack water, so we didn't want to go too fast.  The day was overcast and there was a big swell, but visibility was fair.  If the weather deteriorated we were prepared to go into Loch Eriboll ( 'orrible, as the locals called it), but with the wind abating from  Force 5 toForce 4 as we approached the Cape, and staying Northerly, we decided to press on to Kinlochbervie, about 15 miles further on.  The sun came out as we arrived, and we were delighted to find a pontoon where we could raft up against one other boat. 

This berth turned out to be quite fortuitous: yachts are usually required to moor alongside the harbour wall on the side by the fish dock, with all the hassle that that entails.  Our neighbour, Patrick Boddy,  was also passage making, but larger than us, and with no immediate plans to leave, was an ideal craft to be alongside.  The following day the weather turned.  We'd been lucky to get in and we couldn't have found a more secure harbour.  Added to which, there was every amenity on hand and lots of shore-side interest, starting with the Royal Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen , opened in 1986 by the Duchess of Westminster, where we were able to get excellent showers and, later, a superb fish and chip supper followed by spotted dick. 

For anyone interested in World Cup football (not us) the Kinlochbervie Hotel had a wide-screen TV and a bar open all day, serving excellent Bellhaven beer.  What's happened to Scotland? This turned out be the norm, now; no more closing at 2 o'clock and we even found restaurants serving food till 10 at night.   Incredible. 

The fish market in Kinlochbervie was very interesting.  We were lucky enough to watch an auction one afternoon, with all sorts of strange looking fish being sold, alongside various others we recognised.  The big disappointment was not being able to obtain any langoustine.  The one boat that came in with a catch wouldn't part with any as they'd already been sprayed with some preservative.  We never found out what that was, but we did get a 4lb halibut by way of compensation, which was delicious.

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Last modified: January 03, 2007