058:31.864 N
004:25.554 W

Talmine, Kyle of Tongue, north coast of Scotland

Today dawned sunny and calm in the harbour, with plans to cast off at midday, it was a beautiful birthday breakfast in the cockpit contemplating the day ahead. Having never seen them before, I am very pleased with my birthday present of ‘Cloud Flashcards’ !

Despite scaremongering on the pontoon with talk of 30 knots and warnings to keep 3-5 miles off Cape Wrath due to the constant, enormous swell, we decided to go. After rechecking Windy, Predict Wind, XC Weather, Met Office and the BBC, the worse forecast said gusting 28 knot so we knew it was going to be a challenging day. However, we’re working as one now, very in-tune with each other, TC reefs in under a minute, we have a very strong Harry with us and the direction was good; there is a two-day window to get to Stromness, thereafter the wind is negligible and all over the place, then coming from the east, it was now or next week.

We lashed everything down, clipped harnesses in the cockpit, would be diligent about reefing early, left with 2 reefs in the main, filled the food bag full of snacks, filled the thermos with hot water and, a tad apprehensively, were underway by midday.

Champagne sailing conditions greeted us for the first two hours, it was thrilling to see Cape Wrath appear and we had a fabulous broad reach until we were abeam with the lighthouse. As TC flew on, the north coast of Scotland became visible, another exhilarating sight. Then the three of us did the most significant gybe of the trip, setting TC east towards the Orkneys, an hour later ‘Shetland Coastguard’ was giving out weather updates.

The wind did come, it was max for about 2-3hrs and the jib worked hard, it went in and out many times and fortunately we stayed just ahead of the gusts; for one 30+ knot gust the jib was already tucked away. Bol was in and out with the mainsheet enabling TC to fly at up to 10 knots on occasions, it was an absolute roller coaster of a day and we’re all exhausted!

So we flew past the stunning and highly dramatic north coast, cloud formations were striking against a blue sky, Harry clicked away on his camera, his 400mm lens capturing the wildlife as it passed us at high speeds and TC rode it all out beautifully.

As we’d planned to do 2 x 40nm days instead of 1 x 80nm day to Stromness, we are now anchored off Talmine Beach at the entrance to the Kyle of Tongue. Strong gusts are still passing through the anchorage but TC is sitting comfortably and we sat down to birthday tea at 8pm.

What an absolutely wonderful and memorable birthday.