Tuesday 9 July 2013 – Fair Isle to Pierowall

No photos. Just not that sort of day!  Left a bit flustered after my plan to spring off the Swedish boat did not work and we ended up leaving forwards rather than astern.  We then sorted out ropes, fenders and mainsail in the sheltered water of North Haven.  Once outside we were glad to have already put in 2 reefs as gusts of winds came down from the cliffs although we were not really close.  This was not a suitable occasion for going in close to look at the birds!  At the south end of the island we came into some swell and confused rough water so we bobbed about and several times slammed into the wave after the one we had just been over.  At least the wind had steadied and we soon lost sight of Fair Isle in the mist and rain.  As we had left well before the favourable tide we found that starboard tack took us too far south.  Tacking onto port took us straight into the tide so we went very slowly, but at lease the poor visibility meant we could not see we were heading back to Fair Isle. After a while we tacked and completed the passage on starboard tack, with the wind slowly veering to the north.  We passed North Ronaldsay, the critical tidal gate of the passage, with fair tide and eventually reached Pierowall at 9pm in light wind.

The log had packed up on the way.  When I took it out to clean it I found the paddlewheel had fallen off.  It had stopped a couple of times in the previous passage but I had forgotten to check it afterwards.

Follow the track of this day