Onward to Skye

We had a quiet night until 04:00 when the swell reappeared. Something in the bow began grumbling and complaining. It was not the anchor chain, or the bobstay which we had triced up, but it kept us mostly awake until 06:30 when we decided there was no reason to try to stay asleep.

Visibility was very poor, and we could not see the top of the cliff we were moored beneath on Garhn Eilean. However the mist lifted slightly by the time we had had porridge and a second cup of tea, so we decided to row to the landing spot and set foot on the island before leaving. This would not be like our visit ten years ago, when we just sailed though the anchorage.

The beach is made of pebbles, and very steep too. Perfect for landing. We pulled Worm slightly up the slope and wrapped her mooring line round a stone, but left her stern in the water since the tide was falling. Our visit was short, just enough time to take a couple of photos, but we wanted to be out of the anchorage by 09:30, and there was a lot of chain to haul up…

We exchanged friendly greetings with the French yacht as we rowed past them on the way back to Robinetta. We were heading in different directions, but I suspect they were not as worried about getting help from the tide as we were.

Julian managed to haul 50m of chain up in the same time he previously needed to haul 20m. His week on the tech team at HebCelt has definitely made him fitter!

We were away from the anchorage exactly on time, and got the main sail up as we headed south past the cliffs of Eilean an Tighe. We were uncertain if there would be enough wind to sail, but as soon as we were clear of the cliffs we got a fine sailing breeze, and the engine went off.

We would have the tide with us for 4 hours, but the wind would not let us sail the course I had laid in. However we could sail to go east of the Eugenie cardinal, rather than stay west of it, so that is what we did. The wind went light as we finally caught sight of the cardinal, less than ½ nm from it, and we had to put the engine back on.

There was a line of turbulence between Eugenie and Sgeir nam Maol, but nothing to cause us problems so Robinetta went straight through it, heading for Waternich Point. Not that we could see it. We saw nothing of the coast of Skye unless we were less than 1 nm from it.

The wind came back about noon, and we managed an hour of pure sailing before it went too light to keep us moving in the waves and we needed the engine to help. It was all a bit depressing. Nothing to see, or to aim at. I welcomed the sight of a cruise ship heading in the other direction, especially as we were well clear. Then there was a yacht, with its cruising chute deployed. Both were closer to the coast of Skye than I expected, so I had to check the chart plotter to see if I had laid in the correct course. I had.

Waternish Point lighthouse just visible

The wind rose again, so the engine could go off, and I finally caught sight of Waternish point at 14:15. I tried taking a photograph of the light house, but the camera lens could hardly pick it out from the murk. None the less it was good to know we had made it to this point before the tide turned against us. From here on the tidal streams were much lighter, and we would not need to worry about them.

By three in the afternoon we were sailing south east along the Waternish peninsula, towards Loch Dunveggan. The wind was now on the stern quarter, and too light to move us along, so the engine went on and stayed on. I am sure we were sailing through some lovely scenery, we just could not see any of it.

We had a lovely surprise when a pod of dolphins came to play alongside at 16:45. Photographing them was impossible, but Julian saw a calf leaping clear of the water. This was a great welcome to Loch Dunveggan.

We checked the CA’s Captain’s Mate for up to date information about the moorings at Dunveggan, and a post from 6 weeks ago reported them as good, so we headed past the anchorage and took one of the moorings rather than spending another night at anchor.

Once we had tidied Robinetta up, we got into Worm and rowed ashore to the pontoon. There are plenty of places to eat in Dunveggan, and 2 shops, as well as the castle to visit. We expect to spend at least 2 nights here. Our plan is to stay here until we can enjoy the scenery on our way out of the loch. We have plenty of time (5 weeks) before we need to be in Oban, so are slowing right down.