Better to go back

We had been planning to stay put at Skullomie for two nights, but the forecast this morning made us think that we might be able to sail along to Scrabster. The met office said 4-6 SE from Ardnamuchan Point to Rattray Head, but XC weather suggested 4-5, and Windy made us think the stronger winds were elsewhere. Julian hauled up the anchor and we headed out into a flat sea. The calm was an illusion.

Julian hoisted the no2 jib, which unrolled itself as the Wykham Martin Gear was set to furl the opposite way. Julian brought it back on deck, but the time it was up, very badly set and with no other sail, made Robinetta almost uncontrollable. The Met office was right, and we had a force 6. I called Julian back from the foredeck, to tell him I wanted to go back to the anchorage, and he nodded, and said he had been thinking the same thing.

45 minutes after raising anchor we reset it in nearly the same place.

After an hour’s break to set things to rights and check the anchor had set properly we got into Worm, and I rowed us ashore for a lovely walk to the Kyle of Tongue Causeway with a lunch stop at the Norse Bakehouse. A much more sensible way to spend a bright and windy April day than pushing ourselves and our boat into a potentially risky trip along the coast.