To the Mainland - and a bumpy arrival in Orkney

 

Tidal race in Orkney

Two nights of anchorages on the mainland were a brief interlude between our island explorations of Lewis and Orkney. Not that the mainland stop-overs delivered any kind of facilities or civilisation - there's not a lot of that kind of thing around the north-west tip of Scotland!

The first anchorage was in Loch Laxford, a remote spot that's famous for being the base of John Ridgway's adventure training centre.

Our track into the anchorage

The Ridgway Adventure centre at Ardmore. The famous Bowman ketch English Rose VI is on the bank.

One of the reasons we were keen to visit Loch Laxford was that it was here that our friends Colin and Ana first met as instructors at the centre. Colin went on to work on English Rose VI to prepare her for the 1977-78 Whitbread Round the World Race. He was asked to join the crew on the yacht, which was branded as Debenhams for the race and was featured in an ITV documentary called Round the World with Ridgway. Colin probably isn't going to thank us for having found a YouTube version of the film, but it's here and we enjoyed him looking totally unenthusiastic during John Ridgway's safety briefing at 6 minutes, 20 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNlDKlUjl3U

From Loch Laxford, our next challenge was the rounding of Cape Wrath and the north west tip of the mainland. In the event, we had good wind and sea conditions and then a lively sail along the north coast.

Goose-winged towards Cape Wrath

Rounding the Cape and looking east

We decided to enjoy a stopover in Loch Eriboll rather than making the longer passage to Orkney in one go, and we liked the look of a little natural harbour called Rispond Bay. When the sun peeked out briefly that evening, it was absolutely beautiful and Di was delighted to, at last, spot a sea otter scampering along the rocks next to us.

Clear water and a sandy bottom, though the various moorings and lobster pots prevented us from anchoring closer in.

There's a drying arm of the bay with a small stone quay used by local fishermen

Dramatic skies

The early-morning departure (not quite early enough, it would transpire) for Orkney gave us enough wind to sail for an hour before the breeze fizzled out and we had to motor. We had great views of a sea stack on the eastern side of Loch Eriboll and of the famous Old Man of Hoy as we approached Orkney.

Old Man of Hoy

Even in calm weather the relentless swell pounding the cliffs creates a mini haze along the waterline

The cliffs are important seabird nesting sites

Our entry into the Orkney islands was via Hoy Mouth where tides run fast, creating standing waves (where the wavy patterns are shown in the photo below) and, in strong onshore winds, it can be a very dangerous place to be at the wrong stage of tide.

Unfortunately for us, the light winds and slower than expected east-going current on the crossing meant that we arrived about 30 minutes later than planned. The ebb tide had already just begun and we had to motor very hard to get in through the narrows before it reached its full 8 knot flow (which would have been faster than we can motor!) and the tidal waves developed. We were very pleased to get into the tidy little marina in Stromness and the anchor beer tasted especially good! It was a useful if salutary lesson on the power of Orkney tidal streams - it's no wonder that the place is now the UK centre for tidal electricity generation!

Stromness Marina

Had there been any wind, the conditions in Hoy Mouth would have been very uncomfortable. The following day, with the beginning of near-gale conditions (oh, yes, again!) we walked out to look across the entrance, just as the ferry from Scrabster arrived.

The powerful ferry doing about 18 knots against the 7 knot ebb tide

Standing waves developing in the narrows

As the ebb current develops, the whole sound is a mass of white water

The RNLI lifeboat launched as we watched

We are getting to know the little town of Stromness pretty well as, once again, we are gale-bound. 

Yesterday's conditions

We have good shelter in the marina but the wind and rain whistling through the rigging is a bit wearing. Graham has inducted several unoccupied yachts into The Dishonourable Fellowship of the Hairy String - tying flapping, tinging ropes away from their metal masts where the wind was causing a cacophonous ringing that drives you mad. He uses the grottiest bits of string or rope available and uses lots of difficult-to-undo knots, just to make the point!

The town itself has some interesting buildings, an unusual flag-stoned road that snakes between them and some fascinating glimpses of historic events of significance.

A traditional Orkney Yole at acnhor

Limited views and no on-street parking

Michael Palin has written a fascinating book called Eribus that charts the story of the Franklin expedition; thoroughly recommended,

The wind is forecast to drop tonight (at last!) but the sea-state in Hoy Mouth will remain unpleasant for a couple of days, according to the locals, so we plan to do an 'east-about', as they are known here. This will involve sailing out through the southern entrance of Scapa Flow and then up the east coast of South Ronaldsay and around to the main port of Kirkwall (the excellent Highland Park distillery has to be visited again!); if conditions allow, we'll then sail north up to the island of Westray. 

Finally, we have been hearing how trying the heatwave conditions have been back home. By contrast, Dianne is wearing the latest Orkney summer fashion: