A magical moment in the high latitudes
27th June 2018 After the gales of the Fair Isle Channel, the passage down the west coast of the Hebrides was marked by calms. And then this happened,,,
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St Kilda
28th June 2018 I can tell you two things about St Kilda. All the people left 1930, unable to cope any longer with the hard life on this desolate piece of granite 60 miles out in the Atlantic. Secondly, part of the reason was because the island’s gene pool wasn’t what it was: For hundreds … Read more
The Best Beach
3rd July 2018 This was a must: The pilot book describes Vatersay Bay as “the finest Sandy Beach on the East side of the Outer Hebrides” and it is fabulous – white sand and crystal clear water that would not be out of place in the Caribbean – and, as you see, not a soul on … Read more
Chasing the ether
4th July 2018 Remember when people used to like to “get away from the telephone”. What ever happened to that? I have just spent three weeks trying to find a mobile signal. Obviously, sailing long distances, there are going to be times when you are out of sight of land and we all know the … Read more
Flannan Islands
27th June 2018 Flannan Islands are uninhabited. I’m not surprised. They’ve got an automatic lighthouse and two landing places with concrete steps but one set was washed away years ago and the other is no longer maintained and might not be there even now – but who’s to say? All the same, I’m beginning to … Read more
Heat
26th June 2018 We made three miles towards our destination last night. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. In the same eleven hours, we sailed six miles through the water. It’s just that we weren’t going in the right direction. Yes, you guessed it, on the hottest day of the year in England, there … Read more
Fair Isle
21st June 2018 I may never come back to Fair Isle. After all, how many people visit Fair Isle in the first place: A tiny lump of rock midway between the Orkney Islands and the Shetlands off the North coast of Scotland, it is barely more than a mile long and famous for two thing: … Read more
Settled In
24th June 2018 Day Eleven and I’ve settled into the voyage. I know this because this is the fourth day of strong headwinds and, I just got the clarinet out for half an hour and now I’m sitting here writing this. In effect, life goes on. Until now, I would spend hours at the chart … Read more
Mr Kipling
June 19th 2018 This is me being philosophical. Five days into a passage from Suffolk to the Outer Hebrides (which is about as far as you can go without leaving the country) and I am off the North East corner of Scotland, have been listening to gale warnings for the past 48 hours and the … Read more
Passenger
When a seabird wants a rest, it just lands on the water. How convenient. You can see them sitting happily on the roughest seas. Only when a breaking crest threatens to swamp them do they lift off and fly to another, untroubled patch of water – sometimes it’s just on the next wave. But that’s … Read more