Friday 7 August Lochmaddy to Scalpay 34 nm

Definitely a day of two halves! The wind blew all night. There was no creaking as it was so strong that we were continually squashed tight against the pontoon… just leaning over a bit and The pontoons were bouncing all over the place . Realising that we wouldn’t be going anywhere in a hurry in the morning, J cooked one his “breakfasts” even included “baked beans WITH sausages” which he’d bought by mistake. We all agreed that we secretly loved them😬! I then ( having more wet weather clothes than anyone else on the boat) volunteered to go to the shop in the village for bread, bacon and deodorant . It could not have been more bleak. Raining ++++ with wind and drizzle blowing in off the loch. The mist was down and zero visibility out to sea. I returned to the boat very pleased that I had also been able to get mango chutney and poppadoms! To go with the curry for later. I did however explain on arrival that “I won’t be going anywhere in this!” However, after a lesson in monopoly deal and general time wasting, there was a sudden and obvious lull in the wind. It diminished from 25 knots to about 10 in a period of Half an hour . Bliss! The cessation of the noise of wind is a total relief. By this time it 3 pm. The water went flat the sun came out and off we went. Scotland is so weird. It can change SO quickly. Our destination for the night was always going to be The pontoon at Scalpay and we had a fantastic sail up the coast past the sound of Harris and onto Lewis. There was (nice)wind , there was sunshine and after the previous few days we were very relieved that Sue and Tim at last had something to enjoy!

We arrived at our destination after 34 miles, quite late in the evening. Another boat just pipped is to the post and snuck into the obvious best spot on the pontoon, leaving us no choice but to try and wedge ourselves into a tight space further down. Apart from temporarily using someone’s rubber dinghy as a fender, all went well and we were tied up securely in a beautiful place ……Scalpay harbour , by about 8 pm. Having prepared the curry the night before, at least the meal was quick to get ready despite the gas cylinder running out half way though cooking . After eating ( drinking) and a game of monopoly deal went to a peaceful sleep.

What I learned today …………..

Apparently our mast is 17 m high. The bridge we have to go under tomorrow is 20 m at HAT which means highest astronomical tide. So all should be well…….👍

Sue x