We set off from Wick in bright sunshine, very little wind and a flat sea. On leaving the Wick estuary there was a surprising swell coming down from the North, maybe 1.5m giving us an undulating roller coaster ride. The weather forecast stated a F4/5 Westerly wind and we were looking forward to sailing but as the wind filled in it was from the south and later the South west. Smack on the nose.

Then all of a sudden it was blowing around 30 Knots and the sea was building. The combination of wind, waves and tide soon had us slowed right down to about 3 Knots over ground and what was to be a pleasant 4-5 hour sail became a 7 hour slog. Again! We arrived at Helmsdale around 5:30pm and came straight in without calling up. To our surprise the Harbour Master was waiting on the pontoon to take our lines, they normally knock off at 4:30pm. He looked relieved that we had arrived, and even congratulated us on making it. Was there something we didn’t know?

As an aside we noticed on the local news, that one of the larger Pentland ferries had run aground last Tuesday. MV Alfred is about the size of the condor ferry. News Link here

The wind is even stronger on Friday so we are staying in Helmsdale for at least two nights.

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