China Girl, UK Circumnavigation - Year 6

From Cromarty to Inverness, CG's winter home was only 17 miles, the wind was very light, we got 10 minutes of sailing in our last trip of the season but essentially it was a motoring day.

05 September 2024

Cromarthy firth

This is the view from CG looking the other way in Cromarty Firth. No so good.

05 September 2024

Wick to Cromarty in our passage plan was 55 miles, mostly on a heading of about 220 (SSW). The wind had been south-westerly for days and we didn't fancy a 55 mile beat so we delayed and watched the weather like hawks. Eventually a day of Westerlies, not too strong was forecast so we went for it. We [...]

05 September 2024 | Castle of May

Castle of May

Dunrobin Castle and Castle May are both well worth the visit if you are ever up that way. The latter has been kept just as HM The Queen Mother left it the last time she visited in 2001. The lady that introduced us to the castle had been working there since she was a child, she was probably in her 70s. [...]

26 August 2024 | Wick Marina

Bye Bye Orkney

It's time to leave Orkney and head south back to mainland Scotland on our way to our winter base in Inverness. Landfall on the mainland will be Wick. Much thought and head scratching has gone in to this trip: timing, distance, tides and mostly the sodding weather. Perm all these. From where we are [...]

26 August 2024 | Wick Marina

Washing the outboard

From Calf sound a 2 hour trip on the motor to Whitehall in Papa Sound on the northern end of Stronsay. It was mostly upwind and we couldn't be bothered to tack all the way. Two nights on a visitors buoy and a look around the village.

Made it...

26 September 2023

Ann and Steve Crome

From Bangor we need to get to Troon, CG's home for the winter. The weather is doing its best to stop us. Even at this late stage we had a few doubts about making it. It's spot the weather window again. Ray arrived on the 20th, a window opened up on the 21st to get to Glenarm, just up the NI coast and making the trip to Troon a bit short. 22nd hiding in Glenarm (lovely gardens to visit there), very strong north-easterlies. 23rd another window, it's 60 miles to Troon so we have to make progress. Forecast is too little wind to sail in the morning, filling in at lunchtime, blowing a hooghly by the evening. so we set off at 0700, motoring in the end until 1500, the promised lunchtime wind was a measly 4-8 kts. We got a short sail from 1500, wind up to 15 kts, arriving in Troon at 1653. By the evening the promised hooghly had arrived and it hasn't really dropped since (26th).

We did have some company however, see photo.

So Ray didn't get as much sailing as we hoped, but we kept him well fed and it was great to have the company.

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