58:36.67N 03:32.89W Alarm 0430 and away at 0500 on the dot, the brief is to make the most of the daylight as our journey is a projected 15 ½ hours. ‘The road is long…’ (OK I know he didn’t sing it originally but, for me, the song is Neil Diamond). Gentle sail to start and we’re off to round Cape Wrath and move from the west to the north coast.  Cape Wrath is spectacular, it’s bleak even in the sunshine and there is a splendid isolation about it that emphasises how few people visit this corner of GB.  We’re lucky and the Cape is gentle to us and we round it with humility and joy.  Once we’re round we’re surprised to find ourselves back in puffin country, and they’re all around us.  Their antics in the water are lovely to watch and they ‘plop’ under the water as we approach.  We’re also delighted to see two dolphins put on a display, leaping fully out of the water as they pass us by.  Once round we have an easterly wind on the nose and we try to sail but it’s a straight line from the cape to Scrabster  so we have to settle for motor-sailing - ‘… with many a winding turn’ – we wish!  It’s a long hot day and I’d happily swap the sprayhood for a bimini to keep off the sun, but it’s great to be heading right along the top of Scotland.  Unfortunately, as soon as we round the corner to Scrabster and I can make radio contact, the harbour master (HM) tells us to stay outside because there’s a cruise ship about to leave and a ferry approaching.  So we play outside for a while and I’m quite amused to hear the HM advise the ferry that the cruise ship is leaving and ‘there’s a small yacht out there somewhere’.  Still, we’re soon tied up against the harbour wall and it’s good to be in. Photos: The stack at Stoer in the early morning sun, Cape Wrath,  the cliffs off Scrabster, the cruise ship just leaving,