Wednesday 17 July 2013 – Stromness to Talmine

No photos – not really that sort of day.
The weather and forecast seemed much better. After taking more advice about the Sound of Hoy we decided to leave against the last of the flood (the ebb tide is not recommended but is only dangerous when against incoming swell) giving 6 hours of favourable tide along the coast.  This meant leaving at 3:45, so we achieved our earliest ever start.  After slightly confused waves in the Sound of Hoy the sea settled down and we took a long tack (we were of course going to windward the whole way) almost to Strathy point.  No real problems with swell or waves, but the wind was quite strong and we needed 2 reefs most of the way.  A single long tack is good for making progress, but my arm gets tired – not the steering arm but the holding-on arm. We then had a slow beat along the coast to Talmine. The tide along the shore was now against us.  Although fairly weak it makes a big difference on a beat, so we were happy to stop at Talmine rather than go on to Loch Eriboll. In our tired state that would have been a loch too far.  We had a windy patch which was a bit much for our 2 reefs on the way in to Talmine. We borrowed a mooring as we would be on the boat if the owner needed it.
Follow the track of this day