Saturday 22 May. Holm Sound to Wick. 40 nm

Knowing we were crossing the Pentland Firth today I was relieved that it had been calm overnight and dawned bright. The anchor Trip buoy wasn’t far away, another reassurance that we hadn’t moved much in the night. Every so often a bit of swell had come in to the bay, but after a few rocks had gone away again. Very odd. Possibly a cruise liner or other ship somewhere out there? …we set off with Full sails up and out, as it was a calm morning. The wind was mostly southerly unfortunately but we were going a little west so managed to point in the right direction and even to come inside the Pentland Skerries. In fact we were temporarily becalmed just to the right of them and considered putting the engine on. It was even a bit sunny with some blue sky. We always do one hour shifts on the helm / on watch and I did do the shift helming across the Pentland Firth which is a bit of an achievement! The fact that it was calm day with flat water a bonus! Julian’s tidal calculations were spot on, and we headed for Duncansby head but we’re actually swept down the east side of Scotland by the tide. Leaving Orkney we had mixed feelings. It felt good to be going south , but sad to leave such a special place with such wonderful people behind. As we progressed south and towards Wick our next destination , the wind and the sea increased. We went through some squally weather which meant hard hitting rain and wind in your face. My goretex over gloves a god send. It stated getting up to 20 knots again and an uncomfortable chop in-the waves. Going into the wind, the apparent wind strength is even more, and the boat was quite heeled over. When the wind is inconsistent, it’s difficult to have the perfect sail pattern out. When there’s just two of us on board in heavy seas, Putting reefs in and out isn’t easy. Anyway we tacked eventually towards Wick harbour entrance and contacted the HM to let him know we were approaching. Once the sails were down and we were inside the harbour walls , all seemed peaceful and calm. None of the visitor pontoon s were occupied so we went starboard side too and stepped onto Wick.

Once all was sorted, and John had been to see us…. we took a walk into Wick to explore. It couldn’t have rained harder! I had taken my waterproof trousers with me so put them in in the bus shelter. We then took refuge in Weatherspoons …. the Alexander Bain . Who was he ? Well he invented the electric clock and the fax machine. Born on the outskirts of Wick. We had a beer there to basically get out of the rain, before the entire Wick football supporting community arrived, which meant it was impossible to hear anything. So we went back to the boat.

What I learned today …. the importance of Alexander Bain! 🕰

Sue x

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