We had a sail! I was expecting to motor all the way today but we managed to sail a good part of the 18 nm from Helmsdale to Portmahomac.
High water was 6 am this morning. We put the No jib on last night, checking first that it was rolled up the same way as the No 2, which we'd used last. Hopefully no more surprises.
We got away as planned at 7 and motored out. The breeze in the harbour wasn't replicated outside and the sea was flat. We got George out but he resolutely refused to power on. The noise from the engine made working near the engine bay horrid, so Alison helmed with the engine off, making .8 of a knot in the right direction. Luckily the tide was with us.
By the time I had completed removed all the wiring and the new bulkhead socket, and buzzed everything with the multimeter, it looked like the neutral inline plug was faulty. I pulled it apart and the crimp looked good. Once out of its shell, it buzzed OK too. So I put everything back and it all worked. Grr. Once my head was out of the engine bay the noise of the engine began again.
George did sterling work across the Dornoch Firth. The wind came in gently from the south-east and let us sail. For once we kept George in place even after turning the engine off, and put the solar panel on to help power him. Eventually the battery voltage started to drop and we went to hand steering.
It wasn't very sunny, but there was lots of blue sky and it's a very pretty Firth. It was a lovely morning. the first truly relaxing day on the water since we sailed around Bressay.
We dropped anchor as planned at dead low water with 2 m under the keel, and rowed ashore. For once, I got to row! We planned to go to the beach, but Alison spotted that there seemed to be enough water to get to the pontoon in the harbour. This was into the wind, and a test of my rowing, but it all worked.
We had a chat with a friendly local and then walked to the Tarbat Ness Discovery Centre. In the 1990s, archaeologists discovered a major Pictish monastery here. The most remarkable feature was a vellum factory, the only one yet found in the Pictish area of Scotland. There is evidence that the vellum made here could have been used in the famous Book of Kells. If so, the book might have been written here, which would mean we DO have Pictish writings! That would be a major development.
It's a diet day. So no afternoon tea and no ice cream. So we rowed straight back to Robinetta.
We are expecting a calm night at anchor, but the wind direction is variable, so some of the time we will get some fetch to the little swell there will be.