Tobermory to Castlebay

Hi everyone,

At 0830 on Monday 14th we departed Tobermory towards Castlebay.  The wind was 10-15 knots from the SE  We set 1 reef in the main and 1 furl in the yankee since we expected the wind to increase as we cleared the land.

We had a great sail past Arnamurchan into the Sea of the Hebrides and set course for Castlebay.  When we passed Coll the wind was 20-25 from the SSW, putting the wind just aft of the beam. Zen Again loved it and was cruising along at 7 knots.  By then we had 3 furls in the yankee which makes it about No 4 size.  Sadly it was completely overcast, drizzly and very chilly.

Ardamurchan to stbd

At 1715 we entered Castlebay channel.  As Castlebay came abeam we looked into the bay and didn't like the idea of being in a south-facing bay with strong S winds forecast.  So we carried on further up the channel (to the W) and anchored off the island of Vatersay at 56 56.4N 007 30.7W in 8m over sand.  We logged 54.7nm on this 9 hour passage.

Anchored off Vatersay

Here is our track...

We stayed at anchor for two nights as a weak front went through.  Very glad we installed the heater!

On the passage and while at anchor we occasionally saw seals.  We saw lots of birds, including (we think) black guillimots and razorbills.