Leaving Orkney and Searching for Nessie

 

Sunrise over Loch Ness

Our trip across the fearsome Pentland Firth, where peak tides create fierce white-water standing waves that threaten the safety of even large vessels at the wrong time, was perfectly calm. The anchorage in East Weddel Sound, next to one of the Churchill Barriers, allowed us to reach the southern tip of South Ronaldsay, 11nm away, at the optimum moment.

Our final Orkney anchorage - with the wreck of a blockship beside the Churchill Barrier

The complete absence of wind meant that, apart from a little left-over swell, the 30nm passage to Wick was an easy motor and the approach to Wick Harbour, which can be tricky in strong SE winds, was a doddle. 

The route back (in pink) to the mainland

We rather liked Wick for its industrial history and architecture, although the town centre is pretty impoverished, with lots of empty shops and a faintly depressed air.

The middle and inner harbours of Wick, with the little marina to the left

The harbour in rather busier times, with a huge fleet of herring drifters

In the heyday of the herring fishing boom, the massive harbour was built by Thomas Telford (who was also responsible for the design of the Caledonian Canal) and a new settlement called Pultneytown was commissioned by Sir William Pultney to both service the increasing fishing fleet and to provide jobs and good accommodation for Gaels evicted from the land during the Highland Clearances in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Sir William’s legacy is an impressive set of buildings, some of which are sadly in need of restoration.

Interesting building in need of a new purpose

Managers' houses...

... and workers' cottages

Wick’s fishing boom and the 1980’s oil boom are distant memories but there’s a new industry in town that’s creating some C21 jobs; a huge offshore wind farm is being extended, so vast supply vessels are based in Wick harbour to support it.

Our onward passage from Wick to Inverness had to be re-planned slightly. The calm weather that finally followed a long period of strong winds had suddenly encouraged an armada of yachts to head towards the Caledonian Canal so it transpired that Inverness Marina was fully booked. We therefore decided to make the 70mn coastal passage to an overnight anchorage in Cromarty Firth and took a break from the motoring (no wind at all) to investigate the little harbour of Helmsdale.

The straight-line track of motoring along the coast, with a stop at Helmsdale.
Note the windfarm to the SE of Wick

Helmsdale from the land - the little man-made harbour requires a bit of a handbrake turn to enter and you need to arrive near high tide to clear the shoals

We would have liked to stay a night but the visitor's berth where we moored only has about 1.1m depth of water at low tide and we need 1.8m!

An RNLI fundraising tableau on the dockside...

.... Dianne met Gary, its creator, He put it together as a lockdown project and encourages visitors to make a donation. So far he's raised over £14,000!

The view in Cromarty Firth. A yard that previously built and serviced oil rigs is now assembling the foundations for wind turbines

On Sunday we made the final move round to Inverness and the entrance to the Caledonian Canal. It was a cracking sail in a pretty brisk wind, so we were glad to reach the calm water of the Clachnaharry Sea Lock.

The final beat into Inverness, under the impressive Kessock road bridge.
The Clachnaharry sea lock is to the bottom left of the chart

The sea lock. Maunie shares it with two Norwegian and one Dutch boat.
We've been surprised to find that British yachts are outnumbered by European ones on the canal

Graham’s dad, Geoff, joined us in Inverness for the Canal transit and, so far (three days in), we’ve had a great time in some mixed weather. The initial Muirtown staircase of four locks took us into a tranquil section; the canal doesn't leave the River Ness very far away:

A lunch stop at Dochgarroch lock, with the river to the right

Looking SW from Dochgarroch towards Loch Ness

The visitor pontoons and shore toilets / showers are excellent

Day 1 on Loch Ness and Geoff enjoys some lovely sailing

An overnight stop near the imposing Urquhart Castle on the north side of the loch

The Force 6-7 on the nose in the second half of Loch Ness the following morning  came as a bit of a surprise!

Motor-sailing against the fierce wind and choppy water

38 short tacks up to Fort Augustus at the SW end of the loch

This morning, by contrast, we had calm sunshine as we prepared to leave Fort Augustus to climb its staircase of five locks.

Looking towards the Fort Augustus locks

The large Victorian building to the left was a monastery and is now a hotel

Early morning in Fort Augustus before the crowds of tourists arrive.
The locks are left full overnight in case anyone tumbles in after overdoing things at the Lock Inn!

These locks were followed by another single lock to head into Loch Oich which is the summit of the Canal system. From there we have motored through the very leafy Laggan Avenue section to moor up just before the two Laggan locks which are the first down-hill chambers of the route.

Tomorrow we’ll pass through these, cross Loch Lochy and head down towards Fort William. We’ll be hoping that the cloud lifts to give a view of Ben Nevis as we go.