Day 35 part III

Day 35 – Part III

The Legend of Cape Wrath

We ended up with an Unplanned stop in Stromness. If you look at the tracker you will see we left twice. The first time we had a mechanical issue with the hydraulic pump and the gear box. This meant we were losing drive in very Lollopy (we are not sure if we made this word up or not?) conditions. As we realised the change in engine tone was not just the rough seas on the prop Shaun calmly took command releasing Dan to get some sails up with the rest of the crew. While we were getting ourselves sorted the crews of Quivira and September offered assistance but with things well underway the set off for a good days sailing. We were soon offered assistance by Shetland coast guard a local fishing vessel and a Dive boat. We did not need the assistance due to the first class “turntostarboardy” response from the whole crew. The knowledge we had the help on standby gave us a lift and we sailed back to where we had started only hours earlier.

After a quick conversation with a local engineer he came out and manufactured the part we needed on a Sunday morning. The Orkneys and the people who live there are truly wonderful. With our new part fitted we set out again with the fears of cape Wrath in the middle of the passage. This is an unforgiving headland on the northwest tip of Scotland, historically notorious for crushing vessels between it and the force of the Atlantic Ocean. We settled into shifts and conversations wandered onto music and we decided the art of the mix tape was dead. Nobody makes mixtapes anymore. We also discussed first songs bought. We had some really special songs in the mix. From Black lace and s club seven to Adam ant and Bob Dillion. Can you remember your first single? If so comment and let us know. We might create a Spirit of Falmouth mix tape which would be pretty awesome.

Before we reached that formidable beast of cape wrath the old man exposed himself to us. In the distance we could see the old man of Hoy. The plan to sail closer was scuppered due to the weather not being favourable and with doubts about the engine we had to admire the monolith of rock protruding from the Atlantic from a distance.

As we progressed Cape Wrath appeared dark and gloomy in the distance, while behind us unicorns were pooping rainbow leaving a colourful trail behind us. (What do Unicorns eat? That might be a questions for my next watch. Any Ideas??) The sea went almost dead calm and looked like smooth silky oil rippling in our wake. Again the planning of the skipper and first mate came together giving us a pleasant night passage. They are getting good at factoring in incidents to ensure we reach everywhere as conditions are perfect.  In the early hours we arrived in Stornoway with a full day to explore there will be plenty to talk about on day 36 as people get out and explore the island.  

Stay safe and speak soon 

Russ