From our Kinlochbervie correspondent
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:39 pm
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Saturday 12th June 2010-06-10
We decide we were definitely not going to carry on North until the sea had gone down and the wind had either moderated or adopted a more congenial direction.
A tough looking steel boat of the sort the French are fond of came in mid-morning. The skipper turned out to be a Kiwi six years out from NZ and currently cruising with and schooling his 14 year old daughter. He and his wife had crujised he Pacific to Japan and wintered in Vladivostock, where only potatoes were reliable over the Win ter as a foodstuff with meat occasionally available but no eggs or dairy produce until the Spring. They had subsequently spent the best part of two seasons in South Georgia and then worked in the Falklands for a year and a half to replenish their crujis g budget. His wife was currently working on a ship near the Cape Verdes studying the processing of blufin tuna catches.
In the afternoon a 24ft yacht came in from Harris with a Danish couple and their two young children on board. They had had to motor most of the way – with just an outboard. It was a joy to see people cruising long distance on a boat smaller than Fairwinds.
The other yacht that came in during the day was a HR42 called Swift that we had seen in Tobermory. She flew a white ensign and was on passage from Lymington to Shetland.
Mostly a lazy day reading papers and books, though I also caught up with work by logging on at the community centre, which is only a couple of hundred yards from the pontoon. No crises, put out a quotation and dealt with a minor problem on an ecommerce site. I decanted the remaining diesel in cans into the tank, only to discover it was full of dirt and water. Luckily we always fill the main tank via a very effective filter funnel, and I was alerted to the problem when it ceased to pass diesel. I cleaned it by reverse flushing it with WD40 spray from close up and threw the rest of the dirtiest can away. After that I wandered down to the harbour office and had a shower. (Free, gents only).
Pasta and veg for tea. After tea we went for a walk up Billy’s Path, which starts almost across the road from then pontoon, then back by the Higgledy Piggledy path. Highly recommended.
Sunday 13th June 2010-06-10
The plan today was to arrive at the notorious Point of Stoer at slack water (16:40) . All seemed sensilbe – the sea had gone right down, and though headwinds were forecast they were 3-4 NE, which would mean a bit of a lee and no big seas. A quick weather check at lunchtime revealed the possibility of 4-5 N or NE, but it was still calm. The guys on Swift had arranged for the diesel guy to come down and top them up at 2.30, so we decided to wait and fill our two empty cans. I checked the primary fuel filter –p the bowl was nearly ful of water and gunge, which I drained.
We got the cans filled and left Lochinver just after three in an almost flat calm. Off Stoer village the wind perked up a bit and we raised sail. We arrived at Stoerhead just as the tide began to pick up, and with twelve knots or so over the deck we were able to beat round close in with the tide helping us tack through 90 degrees or less. The tide race even in a F3 was enough to make you realise that you didn’t want to be here in a stronger wind over tide situation.
Swift caught us up here and took some pics of us under full sail against the cliffs and the Old Man of Stoer. They called us up on the VHF to let us know and we gave them our email address. They then bore away, still motoring with bare poles, intending to gain some searoom before rounding Cape Wrath and heading for Shetland. We tacked in for a closer look at the Old Man, but the wind – and the sea- perked up and we decided to gain some sea room ourselves as the seas were building rapidly. Within five minutes we had the genoa rolled away and were motor-sailing our best course to windward with 21 knots over the deck. This steadily increased as we approached Handa Island until we had a steady 25 knots from the North. This meant the sea was coming all the way from Cape Wrath and the Arctic beyond, and it soon got very wet, crashy and generally unpleasant pounding into short steep seas of a metre or more. I couldn’t help thinking abut what this was doing to the dirty diesel and spent the next three hours expecting the engine to splutter to a halt at any minute. By the time we were passing through Rock Alley on the approach to Kinlochbervie we had 27 knots indicated and had to motor-tack down the frothy toothy channel. Thank god for the plotter – without it I would not have taken the inshore route in those conditions, which would have added a painful extra mile or so to the journey.
To my continuing amazement the Beta continued to beat and finally we got a lee as we turned into Loch Inchard. Coming into Kinlochbervie harbour we discovered a new pontoon, but with no space without rafting up. The original tiny pontoon in the top corner still said ‘Visiting Yachts Berth Here’. We tried but there just wasn’t room, so we turned back to the new pontoon and went alongside a nice looking big old wooden motor sailor which had a load of welcoming fenders out.
Blissfully at rest we mopped out the starboard under bunk locker – still inexplicably wet in hard windward conditions – and enjoyed a beer. Tinned chicken curry with chilli pickle for tea, followed by cheese and wine. Our original plan had been to leave at five in the morning to round Cape Wrath at slack water, but we are going to give it at least another12 hours for the sea to go down and the wind to veer or drop or generally improve in some way.
Monday 14th June 2010-06-10
Everyone here is incredibly friendly and the facilities are excellent. Went for a walk up to the village - where Kathy purchased a good chopping board and two wooden spoons from a fine hardware shop for under a fiver - and back round the lochside walk. Checked the inshore forecast again and still undecided as to whether to go this evening or Tuesday morning. We moved the boat off Aaron Lass as to other boats had left. The engine splutterd as we did so, and when I looked the glass bowl on the primary filter was ful of water and dirt - looks like we were lucky to make it here yesterday. Decided to change the fuel filters and was in the throes when freinds from Seil arrived on their Twister. John gave me a hand to bleed the system and the engine was soon running sweetly again. The fine filter was last changed in Galicia in 2006 and I am not sure if I have ver changed the primary filter since fitting the Beta.
It's sunny now and the North wind is becoming intermittent, but it would be churlish to leave with friends in port, so we have invited John and Sarah for a meal on board before repairing top the local hostelry, and we will head for Cape Wrath and points North in the morning.
Saturday 12th June 2010-06-10
We decide we were definitely not going to carry on North until the sea had gone down and the wind had either moderated or adopted a more congenial direction.
A tough looking steel boat of the sort the French are fond of came in mid-morning. The skipper turned out to be a Kiwi six years out from NZ and currently cruising with and schooling his 14 year old daughter. He and his wife had crujised he Pacific to Japan and wintered in Vladivostock, where only potatoes were reliable over the Win ter as a foodstuff with meat occasionally available but no eggs or dairy produce until the Spring. They had subsequently spent the best part of two seasons in South Georgia and then worked in the Falklands for a year and a half to replenish their crujis g budget. His wife was currently working on a ship near the Cape Verdes studying the processing of blufin tuna catches.
In the afternoon a 24ft yacht came in from Harris with a Danish couple and their two young children on board. They had had to motor most of the way – with just an outboard. It was a joy to see people cruising long distance on a boat smaller than Fairwinds.
The other yacht that came in during the day was a HR42 called Swift that we had seen in Tobermory. She flew a white ensign and was on passage from Lymington to Shetland.
Mostly a lazy day reading papers and books, though I also caught up with work by logging on at the community centre, which is only a couple of hundred yards from the pontoon. No crises, put out a quotation and dealt with a minor problem on an ecommerce site. I decanted the remaining diesel in cans into the tank, only to discover it was full of dirt and water. Luckily we always fill the main tank via a very effective filter funnel, and I was alerted to the problem when it ceased to pass diesel. I cleaned it by reverse flushing it with WD40 spray from close up and threw the rest of the dirtiest can away. After that I wandered down to the harbour office and had a shower. (Free, gents only).
Pasta and veg for tea. After tea we went for a walk up Billy’s Path, which starts almost across the road from then pontoon, then back by the Higgledy Piggledy path. Highly recommended.
Sunday 13th June 2010-06-10
The plan today was to arrive at the notorious Point of Stoer at slack water (16:40) . All seemed sensilbe – the sea had gone right down, and though headwinds were forecast they were 3-4 NE, which would mean a bit of a lee and no big seas. A quick weather check at lunchtime revealed the possibility of 4-5 N or NE, but it was still calm. The guys on Swift had arranged for the diesel guy to come down and top them up at 2.30, so we decided to wait and fill our two empty cans. I checked the primary fuel filter –p the bowl was nearly ful of water and gunge, which I drained.
We got the cans filled and left Lochinver just after three in an almost flat calm. Off Stoer village the wind perked up a bit and we raised sail. We arrived at Stoerhead just as the tide began to pick up, and with twelve knots or so over the deck we were able to beat round close in with the tide helping us tack through 90 degrees or less. The tide race even in a F3 was enough to make you realise that you didn’t want to be here in a stronger wind over tide situation.
Swift caught us up here and took some pics of us under full sail against the cliffs and the Old Man of Stoer. They called us up on the VHF to let us know and we gave them our email address. They then bore away, still motoring with bare poles, intending to gain some searoom before rounding Cape Wrath and heading for Shetland. We tacked in for a closer look at the Old Man, but the wind – and the sea- perked up and we decided to gain some sea room ourselves as the seas were building rapidly. Within five minutes we had the genoa rolled away and were motor-sailing our best course to windward with 21 knots over the deck. This steadily increased as we approached Handa Island until we had a steady 25 knots from the North. This meant the sea was coming all the way from Cape Wrath and the Arctic beyond, and it soon got very wet, crashy and generally unpleasant pounding into short steep seas of a metre or more. I couldn’t help thinking abut what this was doing to the dirty diesel and spent the next three hours expecting the engine to splutter to a halt at any minute. By the time we were passing through Rock Alley on the approach to Kinlochbervie we had 27 knots indicated and had to motor-tack down the frothy toothy channel. Thank god for the plotter – without it I would not have taken the inshore route in those conditions, which would have added a painful extra mile or so to the journey.
To my continuing amazement the Beta continued to beat and finally we got a lee as we turned into Loch Inchard. Coming into Kinlochbervie harbour we discovered a new pontoon, but with no space without rafting up. The original tiny pontoon in the top corner still said ‘Visiting Yachts Berth Here’. We tried but there just wasn’t room, so we turned back to the new pontoon and went alongside a nice looking big old wooden motor sailor which had a load of welcoming fenders out.
Blissfully at rest we mopped out the starboard under bunk locker – still inexplicably wet in hard windward conditions – and enjoyed a beer. Tinned chicken curry with chilli pickle for tea, followed by cheese and wine. Our original plan had been to leave at five in the morning to round Cape Wrath at slack water, but we are going to give it at least another12 hours for the sea to go down and the wind to veer or drop or generally improve in some way.
Monday 14th June 2010-06-10
Everyone here is incredibly friendly and the facilities are excellent. Went for a walk up to the village - where Kathy purchased a good chopping board and two wooden spoons from a fine hardware shop for under a fiver - and back round the lochside walk. Checked the inshore forecast again and still undecided as to whether to go this evening or Tuesday morning. We moved the boat off Aaron Lass as to other boats had left. The engine splutterd as we did so, and when I looked the glass bowl on the primary filter was ful of water and dirt - looks like we were lucky to make it here yesterday. Decided to change the fuel filters and was in the throes when freinds from Seil arrived on their Twister. John gave me a hand to bleed the system and the engine was soon running sweetly again. The fine filter was last changed in Galicia in 2006 and I am not sure if I have ver changed the primary filter since fitting the Beta.
It's sunny now and the North wind is becoming intermittent, but it would be churlish to leave with friends in port, so we have invited John and Sarah for a meal on board before repairing top the local hostelry, and we will head for Cape Wrath and points North in the morning.