The crossing to Scotland, 5-8 September
We departed the seas off Torshavn at 4pm, after completing our wet MOB drill in record time and hoisting the sails for the long leg to Scotland.
Despite the gales forecast, the first part of the passage was dry, but windy and bumpy. Peter’s watch agreed that the weather was more ‘spicy’ than ‘fruity’, like the crossing from Iceland. With all three sails up it was exhilarating, if a little terrifying, racing across the ocean with no other craft, not even Hummingbird, in sight. It was reassuring to know that Bluejay has already sailed around the world four times so that whilst some of us might be new to this, our yacht was not.
Peter and his watch were on dinner rota and did a surprisingly good job of bangers and mash. The wind was building up and the oven swinging haphazardly on its gimbal. Andrew had to strap himself to the stove to be able to cook and Peter brace himself whilst sorting the potatoes out.
Lynne was on watch from 21.00 till midnight. It was never quite dark, but definitely no sign of the Northern Lights. We had to reef the Mainsail in the dark, which required careful manoeuvring on the bashing foredeck.
Another night of disturbed sleep and hanging on to our bunks as we crashed against the waves and rolled in the swell. We crashed around below deck, accumulating bruises. Once, when negotiating the Head, Lynne got caught in the eye by the metal zip, whilst standing on tiptoes to hang the tarpaulin up. On another occasion she fell backwards taking the tap with her. We fared better when we learnt the ‘top tip’ – to remove the plastic loo seat and sit directly on the ceramic bowl, as the seat had a tendency to skite, taking its occupant with it! Why were we surprised by the number of sores and bruises accumulated, doing the most mundane chores?
It is worth noting that the Head was manually operated! After finishing, the seat and lid had to be closed, making sure rubber strips created a vacuum tight seal. Then the handle needed to be pulled about 15 times, then, after a short wait, another 5-10 times. The flushing of the toilet, plus the pumps for the water and drains all made quite a racket.
It was cold on deck, with spray soaking us every so often. Taking the helm was tough and tiring with the swell and the winds hitting 32 knots. At times the boat heeled at 45 degrees.
With the rota system, 3 hours on deck and 6 off, one lost track of time and even mealtimes. But our clothes were always damp. Lynne can sadly confirm that if you get into a sleeping bag wearing damp thermals, they will dry on your warm body as you sleep!
Once Peter and his shift tacked, changing direction for Stornoway, we were hugely grateful that we didn’t need to hold on tight to stay in our bunks; that fell to our companions with bunks on the port-side.
When the wind speed reached 42 knots (Force 8 = Gale) we had to lower the Yankee sail in the dark of night. That required additional experienced hands on deck. Colin was knocked over by a huge wave as he lowered the sail, so that he gave the appearance of swimming on deck. Lynne sat in the galley out of the way; just the twenty minutes or so the operation took was enough to bring on feelings of nausea. After the dangerous sail work was secured, she was straight back out into the cold of the cockpit to regain her composure.
Lynne would get up out of her bunk 50 minutes before her shifts, as she needed an unhurried opportunity to get on all her layers of gear, (including her thermals, fleeces, Fladen suit and foulies) as it was nigh impossible to stand. Also, she wanted to make a hot drink for the lads who were coming off their shift. And this included her 3am shift as she valued 5 minutes in the cockpit with Peter before he retired to his bunk. After all, we were supposed to be on holiday together!
On the way to Scotland, we enjoyed the company of dolphins swimming playfully alongside the boat. Lynne missed the sight of a breaching whale as she was at the helm with eyes fixed firmly ahead.
We finally spied the coast of Scotland on the morning of the third day, but with bad weather forecast our skipper determined to keep going with shelter from the strong winds provided by land on both sides of the Minches, the strait between the mainland and the Outer Hebrides.
On Peter’s, Andrew’s and Bill’s watch, we were quite emotional passing the incredible Northwestern coastline, especially our Scottish shipmate Andrew. Peter had thoughtfully, before leaving London, downloaded the album Highland Cathedral – one of the finest of Scottish bagpipes, played by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. He played it on a Bluetooth speaker on deck (thank you Neil). Andrew, on the helm, was nearly brought to tears with emotion, and Peter wasn’t far behind. Bill, from the US, wanted to play Jerry Lee Lewis, but Peter demurred, as it didn’t quite fit the moment.
We all enjoyed the dramatic scenery of the North-West Coast (surely, one of the world’s greatest coastlines), without rain. Lynne has marvelled at the views from land from Cape Wrath, Ullapool and Gairloch but never expected to be viewing these same cliffs and beaches from the sea! We also saw oil rigs and a huge FPSO vessel (Floating Production Supply and Offloading).
It was Lynne and Colin’s turn to make dinner: chicken fajitas. A good choice for Lynne to be involved in as it required her approach to puzzle-solving. We were making chicken fajitas, but one crew member was not a meat-eater, but definitely wanted garlic in the sauce. Lynne wanted chicken without garlic, so we ended up catering for 3 different sauces, with only 2 hobs; meanwhile we had to provide for gluten free wraps as well. The galley is not really expected to cater for so many options!
It was not for another twenty one hours and another night aboard ship that we finally reached Skye, passing under the bridge by the Kyle of Lochalsh with just 5 meters height to spare. Timing was crucial to navigate the narrow Sound of Sleat after the bridge when the tide would only make that possible between 8-12 in the morning.
We had hoped to anchor near Skye, but we pressed on. Now we had to look out for other craft and avoid the rocks and lobster pots. We started to navigate with the radar map on an iPad. The aim was to reach Mallaig which we did in the early afternoon, being careful to avoid the ferry in the harbour.
After 73 hours of continuous sailing, dry land at last!
Spot on with the bagpipes Peter.