Across the Minch

 Very light winds were forecast for today, so we had no great expectations. We expected the 36nm from Loch Roe to Stornoway to be done under motor, hopefully with George on the helm. 

After a very peaceful night Julian began hauling up the anchor at 06:50. This meant we would be leaving at the same state of the tide as when we came into Loch Roe, so no problems getting over any shallow patches. The anchor chain came up muddy, so Julian began to rinse it off with a bucket of sea water as I motored gently forward. For the first time ever Worm did not just fall into line behind. Her tow line was caught around something at the stern.

I called Julian back, and he turned the engine off immediately. There was plenty of water around us, and Robinetta carried her way so I could hold a safe course while Julian checked the rope was no where near the prop. It turned out to be wrapped wound our stern mounted depth gauge sensor, and once it was pulled free I got the engine back on and in gear to head slowly over the shallow patch and out.

We had stowed the jib in its bag last night, so protect it from the bright sunshine, and we still had that sunshine today. It took Julian a little longer than normal to set the jib, and it got tangled with the staysail halyard, but everything was ready by the time we were clear of the entrance to Loch Roe. The sea was as flat as expected, but I could feel a breeze, and once the stay sail was up it filled beautifully. Once the main sail went up and we turned on course I immediately throttled back on the engine. We had a good sailing wind, although as a pure easterly we might gybe if I headed on our direct course to Stornoway. Julian rigged the preventer on the main sail, and flew the jib, and we were suddenly sailing at over 5 knots, only 10 degrees off our slight line course. 

For an exhilarating 15 minutes I was helming us on a very broad reach, touching 6 knots at times, and verging on the edge of control. I thought about reefing, but this was a land breeze, and would fade with distance, so I just set the helping hands to work, and revelled in it. I did offer Julian the helm, but he wanted a rest after doing all the hard work of raising the anchor, sorting the foredeck, and raising the mainsail. By the time he was ready to take the helm the wind had abated slightly, but we were still doing nearly 5 knots.

By 09:30 we were far enough away from the land for the lovely wind to have died away, so after a few minutes of fruitless fishing we furled the jib and got the engine back on, before setting George to work. We expected it to stay that way for the rest of the day. Small waves had kicked up from astern while we had the wind, but the sea was now almost oily calm, with a very gentle underlying swell.

Bird life was plentiful. Flocks of guillemots rested on the water, diving out of the way as soon as we came close. Razorbills did the same. The more solitary puffins tended to take off, with ungainly flapping and bumping off the top of the wavelets until they were far enough away to feel safe. Gannets were much more elegant, lifting off the water with apparently effortless grace. With so much bird life sitting on the water there must have been fish there earlier, despite us catching none.

The dolphins were obviously still hunting for food. Three separate groups came past us in the morning, heading across our bows and not stopping to play. It was lovely to see them though.

I lowered the engine revs at lunch time, just for some peace, and realised that we could make 2 knots under sail. We had made good time so far, and sailing slowly for a while would not make us too late at our destination. We left George on the helm, and got the solar panel on to keep the battery charge up as much as possible. It turned out that on this bright and cloudless day the panel was enough to keep George working as long as we wanted.

By 15:00 we had seen another 2 lots of dolphins, one set of which came close and played around us for a couple of minutes. That made me hyper aware of them, and when I heard the unmistakable sound of a blow I turned my head immediately. Crossing our track, just behind Worm, was the small fin, and long black back that had to belong to a Minke whale. By the time I called Julian it had dived again, but I can now state with certainty that I have seen one.

The wind increased in the afternoon, and as our speed got up to 3-4 knots and the wavelets grew larger Julian took over the steering. Then, 6nm short of Stornoway, as we came under the wind shadow of the peninsula east of there, the wind failed us and the engine had to go back on.

By 17:45 we were securely moored up in Stornoway old marina.We had radioed for a berth on our approach, and there were two harbour workers ready to direct us to the berth and take our lines. This had been a nearly perfect day on the water Nearly? Longer periods with a sailing breeze would have made it absolutely perfect.

Getting from Stromness to Stornoway in a week had been possible despite the weather, and now we were here Robinetta would be going nowhere for another week. Julian would be working as a volunteer at the HebCelt music festival, and I was heading south again on the ferry for family commitments.