Loch Eriboll 58:33.827N 004:40.547W
Pelagia
Frans & Sarah Toonen
Wed 31 Jul 2013 00:11
| 31 July 2013 W3/4 Overcast and pitch dark. Having rounded the Cape we knew that because of the overfalls and strong tidal race we could not enter Hoy Sound in the Orkneys until slack water at 1300. We had to either slow right down or anchor and sleep for a couple of hours. We chose the later and did our first 'anchor in a strange rocky place in the dark'. This required excellent communications between the crew in translating the chart plotter below decks to what the helmsman can't see because it's so dark. There is a lag of unknown duration between the GPS updating the position on the plotter and of course the boat is moving through the water and over the ground - this is Sarah's story and she's sticking to it. First anchorage was inspected with the big searchlight when the chain was set and was found to be very adjacent to a large unfriendly rock. Second attempt held although quite deep at 15m meant we had to lay 55m of chain and peer into the dark for a radius of about 65m to check for swinging room. No problems with weighing anchor at 0400 though after 2 hours sleep. |