Predictably a difficult decision about the passage plan, with strong overnight winds and some long legs ahead, so I set my alarm for 0515 and popped out to inspect the elements. It was still blowing old boots, but the forecast was for the wind to drop away later. The prospect of another 24hrs on our mooring was not enticing, and nor was a trip ashore by dinghy, so we sat it out until an early lunch at 1200 and cast off at 1230, motoring out into thick fog, with nav lights and radar on.  As forecast, the wind had dropped to nothing, and the fog gradually cleared. As it did, we were greeted by an enormous pod of dolphins between Skye and Raasay, probably more than 30 in number, some of them leaping well clear of the water, frustrating any attempt to get good camera shots of course! I had to do some fiddling with the autohelm again, as Otto seems to have developed some problem getting the compass heading right, but he did find his way, a great relief as we didn't relish the idea of hand steering under motor for hours at a time. We passed the impressive Storr on Skye, but the famous Old Man was mostly obscured by low cloud, with only what we believe to be his priapic organ poking out!  As for the plan, it would now be too late to aim for Ullapool, so we opted for the shorter run to Gairloch, 27nM, and we entered the Loch at 1630. The current pilotage book said we might be able to get onto a pontoon, and even get showers and a shop, but by the time we arrived everything was just closed. (That included the little shop which holds the key to the showers in the sailing club - disappointing as we had now not showered for 4 days, and despite wet wipes we may have been getting a little 'ripe'!)  The pontoon, tucked in behind the main jetty for the fishing boats, is quite small, and there was already a motor boat with a yacht rafted outside it, leaving just enough length on the near end for Vega. We came alongside, and were helped by the sailor from the yacht who took our line and assisted us to turn the boat round head to wind, which was brisk enough now to make manoeuvring tricky, and at 1710 I was reporting the end of our passage to Stornoway coastguard.  We set off for The Old Inn, which gets good reports in the Highlands and Islands guide, had a couple of beers (the local brew, Blind Piper, for me) and followed the track to the Flowerdale Falls, half an hour's walk away, which were very pretty, and worth the effort. Back to the Old Inn for an excellent meal - stir-fried baby scallops in a piquant sauce, calamari with garlic mash, succulent venison steak, and a rich chocolate slice! (And a pint of Corncrake, an Orkney Ale, for me.) Back at the pontoon we filled up the water tank.  We also put diesel from our 20L can into the fuel tank, as it is not possible to get fuel in Gairloch, even if anywhere was open, since the harbourmaster retired and has not been replaced. That lifted the fuel guage to more than half full (capacity is 100L) which if necessary would give us enough motoring hours to get us even to Orkney, though we expect to be able to refuel before rounding Cape Wrath anyway. Early night again for a planned 0600 start next day.