Making progress, Lochinver to Kinlochbervie

 Our aim today was to reach Kinlochbervie, 25 nm away. We had thought about being very leisurely as we had been last time we were in the area, but the weather made us feel we should get a bit further. We put the engine on at 08:35, and by 09:05 we were clear of the harbour area, and sailing on full main and no1 jib. We were close hauled, but only needed a single tack to clear the islands and headland before letting off the main a little and reaching along the coast in a straight line for the Point of Stoer at 4 -4.5 knots. It was a lovely sail, with the swell not too big, and the sun bright enough for me to need my sunglasses.

We knew it would not last. The current S or SW2-4 wind was due to go NE3-5 in the evening, so sometime around lunch time we would loose the lovely wind. And so it proved; we had to come onto a near run to clear the point of Stoer and once we gybed to get closer to the land again we were not making very good progress, so after a couple of gybes we centred the main and put the engine on at 13:10.

Meanwhile we had other problems. Almost as soon as we gybed round Robinetta began to pump. Lovely clear water, which means it was new into the bilges. 45 minutes later she did it again. Julian went below to see if he could find the source of the ingress, and traced it to a number of seeps around the mast foot. This is good news in a way. She is probably just taking up, and with full sail she often pumped every hour in previous seasons. We had hoped the new floor bolts would have fixed the problem, but apparently not.

The bad news was that to find this out Julian had taken up some of the lead. There are 5 big ingots closly packed and obviously cast to fit. Once up he could not get them back in again. I had a go, and could not do it either. We decided to leave the floor up for a while.

With the engine on we put George on the helm and he coped well with the swell, and we were now making good speed towards Kinlochbervie. The sun was still shining, but the wind that began to come in was northerly, although still light. None the less we needed a change, and Julian began to look at Handa. We had thought about anchoring there when we were first planning the day, and the tide would help us through the Sound, so we changed course to do this.

As we passed the empty Portean Eilean anchorage Julian decided we should definitely stop, so we got the main sail down, and motored in to drop the hook in 5m. As we were on a falling tide, and only intending to stay a couple of hours, Julian laid out 15m of chain.

I rowed us ashore in Worm onto a lovely fine golden sand beach, where we were greeted by 2 young wardens who agreed that we were allowed to land. They led us up to the information hut for a briefing. Right next to this was a composting toilet (the only toilet on the island). Julian had put his walking trainers on, but I had come ashore in my sea boots which are not great for walking. I walked about a kilometre with him, then turned back, while he went on to do the whole circuit.

It was absolutely wonderful weather for visiting Handa; bright sunshine and a warm breeze. Julian and I both stripped down to tee-shirts, and I regretted having a warm layer beneath my jeans. The seabird nests were all on the cliff side of the island which I did not reach, but I saw many small land birds, and a crow being mobbed by a Great Skua ( or Bonxie as they are known locally) I startled a common lizard that was sunning itself on a rock, but the multitude of rabbits were much less worried by human visitors.

 I did a bit of beach cleaning while waiting for Julian to finish his walk. Mostly small bits of twine, with a couple of longer bits of rope all mixed in with the sea weed at the top of the beach.

Once Julian got back from his walk we got the anchor up and motored to Kinlochbervie, going through the reefs to the south of the entrance to Loch Inchard rather than giving them an offing. Coming into Kinlochbervie Harbour felt like coming home. We had left Robinetta there for 3 weeks a couple of years ago so it felt very familiar.

This time the visitor pontoon as totally empty, so we pulled Worm up onto it, and connected our electric hook up without any problems. Then it was time to get the lead put back into place (which we did not quite manage) before refitting the floor boards. We now have a shaped lead ingot lying on its side in a slightly different part of the forepeak; still doing its job, but not as tidily as before.