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

26 August 2024 | Wick Marina

Ann and Steve Crome

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.

I originally thought to write 'Two uneventful nights....' and the I remembered! We have a crane to help move the outboard motor from the pushpit of CG to the dinghy. The time-approved successful method of doing this is to attach the outboard to the crane rope before lifting it off the pushpit rail and letting go of it. On this occasion.... Now, when we were taught to sail a looong time ago we were taught to always tie the outboard to the yacht with a safety line before moving it. We've done this hundreds of time over the last 35 years or so of yachting, often wondering why we bother. On this occasion we were really glad we do this! Without that line we would have lost the outboard in about 10m of depth. As I saw the outboard falling past me and into the sea I grabbed the safety line and pulled, reducing the immersion time to about 1 second. A lot of rinsing in fresh water later it started on the third pull. Phew!

I might have mentioned that it's windy in Orkney? Photo shows the lengths mobile home owners have to go to to make sure there home is still there when they get back from work.

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