58 12.50 N, 006 23.21 W

 

Raining and flat calm at 9 am however we decided the bright lights of Stornoway were calling so we dropped the mooring and motored off round past the Crowlin Islands heading North. Loch Carron lay shrouded in her cloud skirts behind us and we had a brief glimpse of the Radio Mast above Plockton as we were leaving.

 

 

Calm conditions meant we could attack a bit of boat maintenance – namely drilling holes in the vegetable boxes. Fiona road tested the new knife.

 

 

The wind filled in from the North East later and we turned off the engine at midday to have a close reach at a steady 5-6 knots. visibility was not great but enough to give tantalising glimpses of Raasay and then the North end of Skye. Dolphins, puffins, Kittiwakes and common gulls all came for a quick look at Awelina, the wildlife being varied and abundant, more than expected.

 

We saw three other yachts today: more in sight up here than we saw so far anywhere other than in the Crinan since leaving Falmouth! However lots of fishing vessels, especially approaching Lewis when we counted 7 plus ferries appearing out of the deepening murk. Tied up against the Esplanade quay in Stornoway around 10pm supervised by a large grey harbour seal hoping for a bite of fish, and just astern of a large yacht from Finland. Tomorrow we are to fill with fuel, water and fresh stores.

 

 

A gale warning has just been issued for Hebrides, Fair-Isle, Faeroes and SE Iceland (NE of course, ie from dead ahead...), which agrees with the grib file predictions: a deep low is tracking across us, which explains why the barometer is falling fast but there’s no wind at all.