A Foggy Day

We have had a foggy week with very little wind. You can just about see the boat moored at Stonehaven. 

To the left you can see our view of Dunnottar Castle this week.
To the right is the Castle in glorious sunshine (unfortunately this is not our picture!)

Stonehaven is a lovely little town where you can moor against the stone wall in calm conditions. 

All that fog is a bit much for the crew....

Another week, another crew!

This week's crew: Richard, Graham and Simon. Welcome aboard!

4am Fright!

Last week (sorry for the delay of this post):
John joined the crew last Sunday as we continued to sail around the Shetland Islands and anchored in Sumburgh.
Monday was a sail to North Orkney with an anchorage at Otterwick on Sanday Island. We had a fair bit of drama in the middle of the night as a sudden squall developed at 4am causing the anchor to drag and the boat to drift! Luckily, we woke up and managed to get the engine on and manoeuvre away from the approaching shoreline...phew! A close one! All was then well for the rest of the night.

Pierowall  - a village off the coast of the Scottish mainland

Later in the week we spent a few days in Kirkwell (capital of the Orkney Island) where we spent the days exploring the island on bicycles!

A 24 mile bike ride!

Orkney and Shetland Islands

                          

                                        An 18 1/2 hour passage from Orkney to the Shetland Islands. Arrival time: 1.30am. Phew!           

This is taken from the northern most point of the Shetland Islands - a place called Muckle Flugga!

 Taking the tender inside caves to explore!

Leg Nine

The small but essential crew of leg nine: Rob, Andrew and myself.

On day one we travelled from Lockiver to Kinlochberie on Loch Inchard (West coast of Scotland).
We then went for a swim at this lovely anchorage at the Isle of Handa.








On day two we visited Stomness in Orkney and saw the 'Old Man of Hoy' - a 137 metre sea stack on the Isle of Hoy. Impressive!

Puffins, pollock and a change of plan

On Tuesday we had a fantastic day, setting sail for Stornaway. There was no wind; the sea was completely calm. We then visited the Shiant Isles - home to 240,000 puffins and thousands of other sea birds. A spot of fishing resulted in Gary catching a pollock (lunch sorted for the day).
Wednesday saw pretty dreadful weather, with a force 8 and gusts of a force 10. Therefore, a change of plans is in order for the next few days as we are a little behind schedule!

One of many minke whales we saw on Tuesday

Wish You Were Here?

We have spent the

Loch Moidart after sunset

last few nights in Loch Moidart, Loch Scavaig, and walking up the Coulin Mountains. Wish you were here? 

Gary admiring the view of the Coulin Mountains

We walked to the foot of the Mountains. What a view! If you look closely, you can see Ann taking in the scenery (in the left of the picture). 

And we're off again!

After a week's break from sailing (hence the lack of posts), we are off again on leg 8. Ken, Ann, Roger, Gary and I headed off from Lock Moidart to anchor near a castle. Tomorrow we are then sailing towards Skye at Lock Scavaig.

Highlights of Leg Seven

We have had very little signal this week so we apologise for the delaying in sharing these photos with you...

A beautiful sunset over the Isle of Eigg (taken in Arisaig on the first night)

After visiting Lunga Island with the crew of leg 6, I wanted Paul, John and Joe to see these amazing birds close-up. Here are just a few of the many photos taken...

                                                   

Macleod's Maidens Loch Bracadale in Skye

A la carte

Paul is an excellent chef! We ate on board most nights this week - delicious, freshly-made meals!

Here is John admiring Paul's pavlova made in the Raven oven!!

Leg 7

Welcome to Paul, John and Joe who are the crew on Leg 7.

Leg 6 - end of the week

 We are now on changeover day and the leg six crew are departing. In the latter half of this week, we have seen some castles, endured a force 7 and even ventured to take part in singing on another yacht!

We endured rains and gusts up to a Force 7 at the
foot of the Cuillen Mountains. Two hours of rain and this
waterfall appeared!

We had a great evening when we were invited onto a neighbouring yacht in Loch Moidart! There was much singing and drinking into the early hours...

Guillemots Galore!

Ever seen a guillemot's egg? 

You have now!

Beautiful oyster catcher

So much to 'sea'...

Monday was one of the best days of the trip so far... In the morning we sailed around Staffa Island and saw the amazing, Fingal's Cave. We then went onto Lunga Island and were surrounded by puffins, guillemots, and razorbills. Finally, we sailed onto a quiet anchorage at Ulba for a relaxing evening.

Eat your heart out David Attenborough!

Carsaig Bay

Awww!

Anchoring at Carsaig Bay turned out to be a great idea after we spotted a sea otter, a great number of seals and even a little seal pup. We had a great day in force 5, sailing on a broad reach. After that we anchored 'Tinker's Hole' - a lovely anchorage, just off the Isle of Mull. 

Leg Six

It has been difficult to email pictures and send information back home but we have finally got a signal! Here are the crew of leg six: Russell, Sue, Daniel and Peter. 

Welcome aboard!

Visiting Laphroaig Distillery

Couldn't possibly stop at the Isle of Islay without visiting the Laphroaig Distillery!

Leg 5

We are now well into leg 5 and have reached the Scottish coast! Today we left Northern Island and headed for Port Ellen on Islay Island. We celebrated Tim's birthday yesterday and saw a beautiful sunset at Portrush.

FORTY dolphins!

Here is another video of the forty dolphins that accompanied us for part of leg four (not four dolphins as previously stated!)

More of Leg 4

Andrew, Pete and I at the top of  Slievemore Peak

It has been difficult to get a signal to update the blog this week so these photos are of the past few days in various locations. We have had clear blue skies but little wind so plenty of motoring!

Keem Bay

Downpatrick Head near Killybegs