The run from Balfour was mostly in a fresh to strong breeze from the north west - a fine direction for us. We started in flat conditions as the Orkney islands were between us and the wind. As we crossed the outer reaches of the Pentland Firth, we met the feared combination of wind over current - a northerly strong breeze and a north going current. For half an hour the sea was an inferno of short steep waves from different directions, meeting and crashing together, throwing spray high into the air. This part of the day was not much fun, and I had to hand steer as the autopilot was not doing a good job. Fortunately it only lasted half an hour, and we were soom out into almost flat sea again, enjoying a fast run towards Wick. We arrived just before 3, making the run just under 7 hours. We rewarded ourselves for the effort with an anchor-dram. Wick harbour has no facilities for visiting boats, and we made our home for the night tied up outside a motor sailer who again was tied up outside an old fishing boat. We "did" Wick in under the hour, picking up bread and some pork pies for lunch tomorrow on the way. Getting up and down the harbour wall is a nightmare, so we will not venture out again - I can see no reason to do so either as Wick seems a pretty uninspiring place.