After a quite night I left at 07:40 for Loch Stornoway, I was sailing immediately but the wind did not last that long and I motored for three and three-quarter hours of the six hours it took to get there.
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Making some way under the cruising chute.
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| But it wasn't enough so I tried the spinnaker but soon that was no help so on went the iron topsail. |
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| Less tide than expected in the Sound of Ghia. |
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| This annoys me, a plastic balloon released for a birthday, cluttering up the sea with plastic, and it is not the first I have seen this cruis. There was one off Dundalk Bay and a few miles from me a survey ship was about to change course thinking another was a pot buoy that could have got entangled with its towed equipment, the guard ship managed to get there first and identified it for what its worth. Possibly all from the same party. |
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| Ardminsh Bay, Gigha and, apart from when I was at Howth only the second yacht seen since Milford Haven. |
The Loch Stornoway anchorage has a bad reputation with a specific warning on the Admiralty chart of its dangers in a south-westerly wind / swell, the CCC pilot is slightly less negative but, I agree with the notes on the Antares chart , with a reliable engine to get you out if things turn nasty (beating out between the reefs could be a bit of a struggle) and with better weather forecasts the warnings do seem a bit misplaced as the anchorage is well sheltered from other directions and has good holding in clean sand.
Of course having been motoring with a SE wind of 2 - 3 knots about a mile out the wind turned to the south west at 9 knots. The local forecast had shown a SW wind for a few hours but later and at only 2 - 4 knots.
I decided to carry on and see what happened, I need not have worried as 4 or 5 hours later there was no wind and over night the wind went round to the forecast direction of north east.
Loch Stornoway, best viewed with the sound on. My
young grand nephew was worried that the birds would
keep me awake.
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| 22.9 miles in 6 hours |
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