The Worst Weather

Location: Peterhead


There are four of us on the boat. John Mitchell, Alan Taylor, David Levison and myself. We have all had different experience of sailing in the past but only John has done any long distance sailing.
The weather so far has been 'the worst May for winds I have seen'  harbour master at Kinlochbervie. 'Atrocious' according to Stornaway Coastguard.
We set off from Inverkip on the Clyde on Friday evening, 20th May. We had intended to leave on the Saturday morning but gale warnings including the Mull of Kintyre made us alter plans and head for the Crinan Canal instead. 
Our route so far has taken us between Cumbrae and Bute then up Loch Fyne to Ardrishaig, where we arrived at 3am and settled down for a short sleep with the boat on the sea pontoon waiting to enter the first lock. We transversed the canal with two other boats and their crews - it is always helpful to do this with others as there is much winding of sluices and pushing of gates.
From Crinan we sailed through the Doris Mor and up the sound of Luing between Scarba and the island of Luing. Then past Easdale and north into the Sound of Mull which we sailed mostly in the dark. We did not stop at Tobermory but continued round Ardnamurchan point and north through the Sound of Sleet between Skye and the mainland. We stopped briefly at Kyle of Lochalsh for water and to prepare the dinghy - our means of getting ashore if there is no pontoon or harbour wall.
Continuing north towards Applecross and up past Raasay the wind grew very strong (gusts up to 60 mph) and we went looking for shelter in Upper Loch Torridon. We anchored there for the next day as storm force 9 or 10 winds were sweeping the whole country. I have never see spume blown off the surface of a loch like this and we worried whether the anchor could really hold the yacht which was swinging and taut on the anchor chain. The holding ground must have been very good or we would have dragged the anchor and been in some difficulty.
After a day's wait we sailed north for a day and a night to Kinlochbervie where again we had to wait while a gale blew through. On the 26th we left in the evening to sail round Cape Wrath and on eastwards to Orkney. It took a long time to round the lighthouse whose beam showed for many miles. At one point we passed a cruise liner which was of course lit up like a Christmas tree. 
The next day we arrived in Stromness where a folk festival was in full swing. An evening with a cousin and her husband was most enjoyable.
After a day in the Orkneys we set off through Scapa Flow and then across the Pentland Firth - renowned for its fierce tides and currents. Fortunately we timed it well and were given a lift of several knots of tide as we crossed the firth. Then on across the Moray Firth with strong winds and showers as always so far. With another gale warning imminent we tucked into Peterhead Marina for Sunday evening. Approaching the harbour into an increasing wind the auxiiary engine gave is an alarm and we had to stop it. Fortunately we think it was simply due to running on high revs for a while and, after time to cool, it again worked well.
 
Life on board is quite strange. We run a watch system while sailing longer distances and while two are sleeping, the other two sail the boat with one helming and the other available to help, change sail, make cups of tea and other vital jobs. We have been pretty wet and windblown for the whole voyage so far and we are trying to adapt to a small shared living space which is thrown around by waves in ways impossible to predict. I hope we are developing 'sea legs' as it is unpleasant to be nauseous with no way of leaving. Small daily tasks can be quite difficult with the boat moving and crashing into waves. We all have the bruises to prove it.   We have done some runnng repairs to the spray hood - which protects those in the cockpit to a certain extent, and there is always cleaning, cooking, passage planning, navigating and so on. We are well supplied with GPS and even have a chart plotter on board, which can show us where the boat really is in relation to rocks, the coast, deep water, and it can give us the bearing of any chosen destination. We have a VHF radio which means we can hear the coastguard stations, get weather reports and speak, if necessary, to other boats or ships.
We are hoping for better weather as we go south!

Chris Levison round Britain

Welcome to my cruise blog.  I am trying to sail round Britain in a 34 foot yacht both as a challenge and to raise money for Myeloma UK.  The boat is a Bavaria 34 and there are four of us making up the crew. She is a bermudan sloop with an auxiliary engine, radio, GPS etc.
I will try to keep people posted as to where we are and how it is going. There will be times when we are out of touch altogether but I will  update the blog when possible.
We are sailing in a clockwise direction beginning at Inverkip on the Clyde. We will make several stops on the way and much will depend on the weather. The forecast today is for strong winds and rain so it is not particularly inviting. We have yet to decide just when we will set off.