Skullomie and 'Orrible Eriboll

I spent a few idyllic days in Skullomie, taking in the scenery and enjoying the remoteness. I had mobile phone signal if I wandered off up the hill, but only the barest trickle of internet access enough for the odd mail home. I was getting t'internet withdrawal symptoms.

I had moored at the head of the harbour over a smooth mud & sand bottom, so at low water Ruach dried out while waiting to be lifted by the next tide. The winds came mainly from the South West which meant I was totally protected in the harbour. The raising and falling of the tides was done with such gentleness that it never once disturbed my sleep. I just woke occasionally with this strange sensation of my head being lower than my feet when I moored the boat with the bows were pointing North.

Oystercatchers combed the intertidal line just feet from my cockpit. Different types of small fish competed for food amongst the seaweed in the shadow of my keel. All fascinating to watch. Sheep bleated across the bay and cows gave a long low moo at milking time up the hill. It was like being a million miles from nowhere.

Today's Factoid - Skullomie, pretty as it is, was only built for one purpose. It was never built as a fishing harbour, or even a supply harbour for the old VIC boats. The purpose of the harbour was to load boats full of a human cargo as part of the Scottish clearances.

One evening, about five o'clock, I decided to take a sail over to Talmine where my wife Penny and I had spent a land-based holiday some years previous. I sailed out North East past the tip of the Rabbit Islands, it was a really nice wind, the sails were pulling well over the flat calm sea. Ruach egged me on to keep going North East and I egged Ruach on, although unplanned maybe, just maybe, we were going to round Whiten Head and get into Loch Eriboll instead of reaching Talmine. Eight miles out and just about peeping into the entrance of Loch Eriboll the tide turned with a strength that said NO. So I turned Ruach's head around and we romped back across a now rolling sea to Skullomie like two naughty school children. We averaged 3.5 knots out and 6.5 knots back on almost a reciprocal track.

While I've been out in the wilderness I've not been idle. I had said that I intend bringing Ruach back in a better condition than when I left. So see the before and after shots below and see what you think?

Before.....

.....After

Just a start, plenty more to do!!

Today's Factoid 2 - In the eighteenth century the Kyle of Tongue was the scene of a sea battle between a French and a British battleship. It transpires that the British vessel won the skirmish and the French surrendered. But the irony of this is that both vessels were captained by the Irish Captains.

This leg of the trip over the North shore of this land has been remarkably remote with only one vessel spotted in the whole week since leaving Wick.

Ships that pass in the night day

The following day, the day I had originally set aside as the day to nip round to Loch Eriboll, or Loch 'Orrible as the seamen used to call it as they waited while mustering an Atlantic convoy in the war, the wind was fair so again I took the North East track past the Rabbit isles to Whiten Head and into the Loch. Once away from the Head and it's powerful tides I had a gentle run into the loch to Anchor on the South side of Ard Neckie. This Loch is quite spectacular for it's features. Pinnacle stacks of rock stand sentinel over the entrance, followed by caves on its north Eastern shore, then further in the shores widen with both high and low vistas. This was much different from the Loch 'Orrible I had imagined. I was very grateful in the security of the replacement anchor I had obtained in Wick as the main Danforth anchor I had brought with me had been bent in a blow way back in Elie which seems like years ago.

Whiten Head - Loch Eriboll

Caves - Loch Eriboll

My time in Eriboll was all to brief as the conditions the following day were perfect for an assult on Cape Wrath. 

        ........But more of that next time.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-)  )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Finally round the bend!

Promising sky the evening before setting off from Wick

I was (almost) up when I heard Andrew and a friend come down the pontoon. Yes, finally it looked like the weather was 'on' for this morning. A very light Northerly going wind met us in the bay, but there were some very black clouds to the South. Mudlark lead the way out of Wick harbour and once in the bay we both made sail, this was definitely going to be a topsail day.
I've annotated the sketch below to help the less nautically minded (Is that okay Bianca?)

Mudlark off Wick

It's been good having another Crabber around but, after playing together for a while towards Noss Head, I realised that if I were to make my appointment with the tide at the Pentland Firth I needed to head off. So with a wave I left Mudlark and headed North. The wind had filled in just a little and I was being chased by the rain. We were progressing at about 2.5 knots against the last of the South going tide. Unfortunately with this progress we were going to be late for our appointment so I started the engine to give me the required 4.5 knots to make my rendezvous at Duncansby Head. The wind sometimes came then died away along with the rain showers that still trailed me, so the engine went alternately on and off, just too keep up my average speed. It looked like I was keeping up with the front of the rain clouds too as I could see more persistent rain falling over the land astern and to port.

Duncansby Stacks

Duncansby Head

Just past Duncansby Stacks, as Ruach and I approached Duncansby Head the water got quite choppy and confused, the wind again had gone very light, so yet again it was on with the motor for the few hundred yards it took to get me to the head. On rounding the head the wind was still from the South so it became a gentle broad reach in flat calm water. I guess I was sailing through the water at about 2.5 knots, but due to the tides through the Pentland Firth in actual fact Ruach was flying at an unprecedented 10 knots. The only time Ruach has ever done over 10 knots before will have been on her road trailer. 

John O'Groats

Within a matter of minutes we were at that imposter of the far North - John O'Groats. It used to boast that it was "the furthest North you can get by road", but in recent years it has changed its boast to "Our claim to fame: Not the most northern village... but the northerly end of the longest distance between two points on the British mainland. Land's End being the other". 

Eh? Not only does this mouthful hardly trip off the tongue, but now it barely even makes sense.

How about this one for them "John O'Groats, not quite as far North as you can get" See, much easier and factually correct.

Dodging between the mainland and the island of Stroma, my next obstacle was the Merry Men O' Mey; this is an area of confused water that can be extremely dangerous in a West going tide. They run North West from the 'Men of Mey' Rocks to the island of Hoy. For me though today they were only doing a gentle dance which hardly impeded  my progress.

Passing Dunnet Head, the real 'most Northerly point on the British mainland', I had planned to turn into Thurso Bay and spend a night in Scrabster, but because of the fantastic progress made with wind and tide working in concert it was still only 11:30, not even lunchtime. At this time I was also still racing along at 8 knots so I pressed on. My next potential stopover was the remote Sandside Bay, a little past the Sphere of the Dounreay atomic power station. By now I had slowed to a sedate 5.8 knots (Usually for Ruach this would be a fast 5.8 knots) and it was still only 13:30. I calculated that if I were prepared do take a couple of hours of foul tide on the nose at the end of the day I could press on and make it to the Kyle of Tongue, 62 miles from my start point that day. This wind and tide were too good to waste, so off West we sped.

About 10 miles from Tongue the wind departed and the tide turned foul, thankfully the tide is much weaker this far West, so I turned on the engine and watched the isle of Eliean nan Ron slowly grow in my view.
But then, quite suddenly an evil menacing cloud appeared over the island, engulfed it and eradicated it. My horizon was drawing in fast. I doused the topsail and staysail just in case. I guessed that whatever was coming was either going to steal the last of the wind, or increase it, potentially violently. On it's arrival, the sky above me was leaden then I heard the shhhhhh of the rain, a powerful dousing rain that took all visibility, stung the skin where it touched and totally flattened any waves. The wind increased, but nowhere near to the extent that I expected, it changed direction by 180 degrees, so was now from the North,  then we were off, no engine needed now, sailing towards the goal. Now sailing a compass course as the island was gone from sight.

The approach of the cloud

By the time I reached Eliean nan Ron the rain and wind had gone so I motored into the small derelict harbour of Skullomie in the Kyle of Tongue.

A man with a very satisfied grin on his face.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-)  )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.

I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Let's go round again....

Not a lot to tell you today. I was glum this morning due to the weather not playing ball.
I had a couple of phone calls to help me wake, thanks guys, much apriciated :-). Then had a couple of txt's from worried folk that I'd either overslept or forgotten to turn the tracking device on. (this was before they were awake enough to read my last blog entry.
It's comforting to know that you guys are keeping an eye on me.

• I walked a couple of miles to restock with some fresh provisions.
• Read part of two books. Charles Stock's 'Sailing just for fun', just in case I needed a reminder and 'The Grace Outpouring' by Roy Godwin and my old mate Dave Roberts, an amazing story of God's work at Ffald-Y-Brenin. 
• I practised a little Ukulele; Now I wonder should that read 'I practised on a little Ukulele' or 'I practised for a short while on the Ukulele'? You make up your own mind.
• I turned Ruach around, nose to the wind, so she thinks that this time we are 'going for it' (Also to stop the bloomin' cold wind getting into the cabin). Whatever reason, it gives me a different vista as I write this.

Not really a lot to show for the day, however I have been pawing over all sorts of weather forecasts and synoptic charts to try to make sense of what is going on. I've come to the conclusion that the forecasters have as much of an idea as I do about what will happen say twelve hours from now. As it stands we are on again for tomorrow morning, so up at six tomorrow to meet the tide at the Pentland Firth. At least that is an additional hour in bed compared to this morning.

Take note:

Assuming I get onto the North coast sometime soon there is a chance that I will be going 'dark' on you. I'm told that there is minimal coverage for blogging on the North coast, so don't worry about me keeping up this tirade of blog updates, it won't last. But the good news is that the tracker on the main website will continue to function as it uses a different technology.

That's about it for now. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-)  )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.

I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Weather to go, or not it seems

Just a quicky....
    You may notice that on the main website on the 'where am I' page there is no track moving effortlessly across the screen this morning. this is despite receiving the early morning wake up phone calls (Thank folks). The weather has decided not to play ball, instead of being the nice force four as forecast and required for this passage, I woke to a force five. gusting six. This is not what I ordered!
Oh well, breakfast on some excellent organic Noss beef sausages and baked beans plus a mug of builder strength tea. H'mm, I feel better for that.
BTW I've updated the map on the front page of the main website to show where I am to date. End of the red line top right.

Pertinent to the charity I am asking you to support while I'm on this trip it was sad to hear that Lieutenant Columbo has died. Actor Peter Falk passed away on Friday following a long bout with Alzheimer's disease.

The man in the mac

So, what to do today? I'm sure I will find something.


If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-)  )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland


Catch you later.
David H.

In and around Wick

Last evening I had a trip on another vessel (Third on this trip). I went out with a fellow Mk1 owner Andrew on his Crabber Mudlark. We have both had our boats a similar amount of time, so we have been comparing and contrasting our two craft over the last couple of days.
It has been the first time for both of us to see another Mk1 Crabber in the flesh as it were. Great fun.

Andrew, skipper of Mudlark

While I have been having this enforced stay in Wick waiting for the right combination of tide and wind I have been keeping myself busy with the local area. Did you know for example that Wick has the shortest street in the world! At just 6'9" Ebernezer Place is recognised as such in the Guinness Book of Records.
The street has only one door, it is No1 surprisingly. You wouldn't think it needed a number really would you.

No1 Ebernezer Place

Also while we are on this track, pun intended, Wick railway station has the claim to fame of being the terminus of the 'Far North Line', even though it is not the furthest North. The railway actually goes up to Thurso then back down to Wick. In my youth I remember students travelling immense distances on the railway for peanuts on a special ticket for students. The deal was something like 'travel anywhere on the rail network for a fixed sum' which was something like a £5'er. So they would plan trips from all over the UK to Wick to get the most value out of their bargain priced ticket, just because they can!

Wick Station

After these facts all I can say is I can't wait to get sailing again. Hopefully tomorrow (Saturday) morning the wind will be from the forecast South East as the tide is at it's weakest (neaps) to allow me to sneak round the corner onto the North shore of this fair land. I need a 5am kick off to meet the tide.
To make sure I'm up and about in time give me a quick call on the mobile if you are up :-)

Thanks for the emails of support you guys have sent me. However a couple of people have made comments along the lines of "I wish the photos were a bit bigger"
Well they can be!! Just click your mouse on a picture and it will expand, use the back button or arrow in your browser to get back to the blog.
While we are at it, any orange word is also a clickable link, Just click on one see where it goes.

Hope that helps.


If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-)  )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland


Regards,
David H.

Lybster to Wick

The departure from Lybster was much less dramatic than the arrival. We just slipped the shore lines and motored out onto an almost flat calm sea. Otto took over the helm while I hoisted the sails. Once the sails were drawing well we shared the helm between Otto, Ruach and me. Because the conditions were so calm and the coast here is very steep to with few off lying dangers I sailed in close to get a good look at the cliffs, accompanied by the ‘maw, maw, maw’ of the gulls swirling across its face. For some reason gulls around here are known as maws, I wonder why?
We were headed for Wick, about 16 miles to our North East. As we left we were at the top of the tide and it was about to start ebbing out of the Moray Firth adding to my speed through the water.

A ruin of a fishing station close to Lybster

Waterfall

  

On arrival at Wick I was met at the gate to the pontoon by Malcolm Bremner the harbour master. He asked about me and the trip I was on, then happened to mentioned that he was just about to take the Isabella Fortuna out for a test run after completing some work on her engine. This was a chance too good to miss so I asked if I could come along too. Even though I had just arrived in Wick harbour, within half an hour I was heading back out to sea for a short proving trip on this historic ship. The highlight of the trip for me was being handed the helm for the return leg to the harbour, not only that but being able to helm this 120 year old,  40 ton vessel back to her berth under Malcolm’s watchful eye. The Isabella Fortuna is a herring fishing vessel of a type known as a Fifie. Of the many hundreds of these vessels that existed there are now only around four left in existence. 

 The Isabella Fortuna

The next leg of my journey will take me through the perilous Pentland Firth which not only requires careful timing due to the tides but also it requires a wind less than a force 4 with a lot of East in it. So it looks like I am to be in Wick for a few days. The current forecast is that I will have the right winds with me on Saturday 25th June, which is also a neap tide (Which also incidentally is my Dad's Birthday too. Happy Birthday Dad!)

.....and finally - Is this a pirates curse?

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-)  )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Lossiemouth to Helmsdale, erm Lybster

16 miles off the Caithness coast

Set off towards Helmsdale with glorious sunshine, the wind again straight up the tailpipe, which started off being terrific as the miles counted off, 1, 2, 3.. 7 miles offshore, 18 more to go; then the wind tailed off a little, changed direction by about 15 degrees which left a very sloppy sea with waves coming from two directions, the motion was up and down from the back and corkscrewing from the starboard aft quarter (Back right-hand corner for you landlubbers). A horrible motion that I knew I couldn’t cope with for too long. Although I have gained a set of sea-legs while on this journey, I wasn’t confident that they would stand up for another three hours plus of this motion. What to do? I could either sail off slightly away from my intended destination to give the boat a better motion, then kind of tack downwind to achieve my goal, or maybe I could switch goals to the tiny port of Lybster, 26 miles away, an extra eight miles but in a more comfortable direction, with probably faster sailing. The decision was easy, the course was plotted and the Ruach took off in the new direction towards Lybster. We were flying, almost 7 knots, leaping from wave to wave. I called the harbourmaster to ensure that in these conditions a landing at Lybster would be tenable. No response! It was now up to my skill and judgment to decide to enter or not. Lybster is just a small indentation in the coast, the pilot books state that it is safe for winds from all directions ONCE INSIDE. The entrance is just 9 metres wide with unwelcoming rocks on one side. Two miles off I decided to get most sail off of Ruach. This was going to be interesting as the surf was blowing off the top of most waves.  I furled away the jib (front sail), I dropped the mains’l (The big main one). This left me with just the staysail to help counter the bucking bronco the seas were throwing up. Using the engine to control my approach I aimed for the lighthouse, then when almost within touching distance turned to glide into the harbour. The tumult instantly subsided. We had arrived! The fun wasn’t quite over as Lybster harbour is made up of an inner and outer harbour. The outer being further inland than the inner one, so once in the outer harbour a 180 degree turn is required to enter the inner harbour. (If this sounds a little like the rules of cricket take a look at the picture below, simple really).

Lybster Harbour

Just as I turned the engine puttered to a stop. Quick as a flash I dropped the anchor and stowed the staysail. I then poked my nose into the engine compartment to see what had happened? It looks like I still have some dirt in the fuel tank as the fuel filter was empty with the tank a quarter full. I’m not surprised really, the tank had had a real shakeup for the last few hours.  I looked up and one of the small fishing boats were just on their way out from the inner harbour to lend me a hand, but the engine started and they were not required, I was welcomed into the harbour and directed to tie up to one of the fishing boats by Louise. As soon as we were made fast I was offered a cuppa, a shower, a dram up at the house which, once I had changed into dry clothing, I accepted the cuppa in the big warm kitchen. The house was full of international guests attending a house-painting party. Louise and Mano open their house to ‘couch surfers’ to help bring a bit of variety into their small community. I stayed in this warm kitchen until after midnight debating the world and everything. Once we had put all that to rights it was back to Ruach for a long heavy sleep.

Louise & Mano's freshly painted house. 

The following day I had the privilege to be invited back to the newly painted Inver House for a BBQ tea. Where I met a number of the locals as well as the international guests.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-)  )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.