Awoke to find Ian already in the cockpit with the outboard in pieces and standing in a bucket (the engine, not Ian), trying to adjust the running speed, which continued to be hard to fix (in the end with no clear result).  We put the dinghy on the foredeck and were ready to leave by 1100, and sailed off the anchor. Our target was quite an ambitious one, depending on the wind and sea state, to sail over the top of Skye to Portree on the east coast.  The wind proved kind to us after we exited the Loch, with 16knots on the beam, and we were broad reaching at 6.8k for a time. We rounded the various rocks and islands  lying off the north coast, and at 1400 we reached N58:43'.27 W006:22'.35,the most northerly point we will hit on the Malts Cruise, and the furthest north Vega has been.  We sailed goose-winged for a time on a dead run east along the top of Skye, with Spray of Wight coming up behind us (not making up on us, mind) under full sail.  She messaged on the VHF to say they were heading across to Loch Torridan on the mainland, but we did not change our plans in order to rendezvous with them for whisky nosings. During the afternoon's sail we had wonderful views of the spectacular cliffs and mountains of the east coast of Skye.  I recalled the land-based holiday Cate and I had enjoyed there, in particular the climb of the Quaraing, whose high Tolkien-esque peaks stood out against the clear sky, the mountain profile of the Old Man of Storr, and the impressive tartan patterns in the high basalt columns of the Kilt Rocks. Although the wind was usually a kindly 12-16k, this area is notorious for sudden and unpredictable downblasts from the cliffs, which on many occasions knocked the boat almost on her ear: one gust was measured at 32knots (F6), with an equally abrupt drop back to 12k, requiring constant vigilance from the helmsmen. At around 1500 we were at last graced by a pod of dolphins, playing and leaping alongside the boat, until they tired of us and headed off to find another game.  We made Portree at 1800, as usual to find a number of other Malts boats already on moorings, but we were lucky enough to find a vacant buoy and secured ourselves for the night without the effort and anxiety of lying to anchor in a strong wind.  We changed our Evening Prayers routine by starting with a single glass of fine malt whisky (57N) before our tastes were too jaded to enjoy it, which proved to be a good move.  Our various information sources said we could get showers in one of the harbourside hotels, but when we dinghied ashore we found this was not so!  We booked a meal in one of the seafood restaurants by the harbour and went to the bar of the Pier Hotel to drink away the interim.  This was a very small bar, crammed with locals, most well-lathered by now and all very loud.  The barmaid said this was the only pub in town, a statement we were to discover the next day was a downright lie, as there are several more salubrious-looking establishments up the hill from the seafront!
Nevertheless we enjoyed the craic and several pints, and then a meal of oysters from Sleat, scallops from Barra and langoustine from Mallaig, all delicious and fresh. Time to go home.  It is a well-known fact that the most hazardous point of sailing is when three men travel back from a night at the pub in an unstable rubber dinghy. On this occasion the transfers were made OK, but a small error of navigation did lead to a gentle collision with a large, stationary, fishing trawler, much to the amusement of the young fisherman up on deck.  The rest of the motor back to Vega was uneventful, and Ian and Benj had another glass of malt to round off a good day's sailing.