Caolas, Scalpay 57:16.53N 05:59.89W
8 July
A marked contrast to Friday. The wind had picked up
over night and continued to do so. We had set the anchor on a northerly
breeze - but it was now in the south and F4 - and we were very slowly
dragging by early morning. I was woken by the GPS alarm at sunrise.
Having remarked our position I could see that we were very, very slowly moving
into the bay - but all good anchoring depth and clean sand and our rate of drag
was insufficient to bother resetting the anchor.
After a pleasant sail out of Loch Ewe we found that the wind
was now coming from where we were going - so sailing meant tacking, and as the
wind continued the sea built into short steep waves. If you mistimed one,
you end up slamming through 3 or 4 in succession, each slam costing maybe half
a knot of boat speed. I was on the helm for much of the day, with Peter
and Clare manning the sheets and Ann down below - tacking the fruit bowl (its
normal home in the sink being taken by plates from breakfast on the go).
We sailed for as long as we could - motoring into it was even less comfortable
- but then began to run out of time so were forced to resort to engine.
By now we were well down Raasay Sound and the sea was moderating a little.
All of this mix was washed down with squally showers - good for washing off the
salt spray - and periods of sun. We did at least see Skye most of the
time - and mainly at its brooding best.
Raasay Sound
After 60 logged miles (our route was 45 - so a few corners)
we picked up a mooring as planned behind Scalpay. It's good to be tied to
something solid - I sleep better. The Skye Boat Centre had changed
hands and whilst they had 3 fine moorings and a nice jetty to land on to buy
eggs or take a shower, there was no water hose or diesel - so we will
need to stop at Kyleakin tomorrow.
