Heading for Helmsdale

We spent 3 nights in Wick, going to visit Lybster by bus on Thursday, then having a lazy Friday 13th in Wick while the sun shone warmly and the swell decreased. In the evening we looked at the forecast and decided we should be fine to head south towards Helmsdale. Knowing this has a bar across the entrance that constrains entry to 3 hours either side of high water we decided to get up early to make sure we could get in. With high water at 14:43, and 28nm to travel we decided that leaving at 05:00 should give us plenty of time. We could have left later, but all the forecasts were telling us that the morning would be sunny, but to expect rain in the afternoon. “Windy” also showed a westerly kicking in, which would let us sail. The Met Office and XCWeather had cyclonic, going northerly for a time… We prepared Robinetta before heading to bed, bending on the no2 jib and taking off the sail covers, then set our alarm for 04:15.

There was no sign of the sun as we left Wick, heading out into swell that made me very glad we had not tried to leave yesterday when it would have been higher. Julian got the main sail up, but we kept it centred as we turned onto our course along the coast. The wind was from behind, and too gentle to use.

The sun never appeared, and visibility was poor. I had laid in a course last night that kept us within .5nm of the shore, but even then the cliffs were too indistinct for photography. After an hour Julian was dozing off and I suggested he go below for some sleep, which he did. It began to rain, and the swell was rolling Robinetta relentlessly. We were travelling across it, which helped make the wavelength seem longer, but it was no fun.

After an hour Julian stirred, and when I told him it was raining he put his salopettes on. I had been wearing mine from the start, knowing I would struggle to get them on in a moving boat. By the time he came up he looked a little pale, and said he needed to go on the tiller as he felt nauseous. I was glad to hand it over.

The rain came and went, but the visibility got no better, and the engine stayed on

We took turn about on the helm until about 10:30, when the wind from astern became a sailing breeze. Julian sent me forward with the preventer line in case of gybing. This was my first bit of rope handling out of the cockpit since I damaged my elbow 17 days ago, and it showed that I was not really ready for the job at hand. I did manage it, but had to take an extra dose of painkillers straight after.

Once we turned the engine off the day became more enjoyable, although it got no brighter or dryer. Julian had to stay on the helm as the mainsail was out to port, but we were making good time, with the chart plotter suggesting we would arrive at noon. That was within the three hours either side of high water, but I was slightly concerned that the swell height would increase our risk of grounding.

Taking the preventer off was much easier than putting it on, and Julian made sure he tacked, rather than gybing to give us space to put the engine on and get the sail down. Once we were head to wind I took the helm, and Julian did all the rope work.

In the event we entered harbour at 12:15, using the leading lights to keep us straight. The right turn into the harbour itself was not a problem, but the remnants of swell that followed us into the narrow entrance meant I needed more revs on the engine than I prefer to keep us heading straight through the rather narrow gap.

Once inside the harbour I could see that there was no one on the visitor berth, which was a relief. Slowing down to get ropes and fenders out to go alongside was not so easy, but turning Robinetta round to go alongside slowed us enough that we could get the ropes onto the pontoon, which has a nice thick rubber fender of its own.

I shut the engine off at 12:25, glad we had been in this harbour before (back in 2014) so I had known what to expect.

When we moored 1m showed beneath the keel, by 19:12 it was much less, although we were still just about afloat.