Spectacular scenery awaited us as we rounded the corner of Pentland Firth.
Unusually for Scotland, the sun was out and the sky was blue, meaning we were able to see the coasts on both sides clearly. A game of tack cat and mouse continued through the firth as we all hoped to get through before the tide turned against us. Thankfully we made it through before the strong tide turned, and we found ourselves in a more favourable position. Having dropped from third to last overnight, we managed to take back a few positions today increasing morale on board.
Our thoughts were with Garmin and Ichorcoal who looked to have been stuck going sideways/backwards/nowhere in strong eddies just ahead of us, thankfully we saw their plight in time and tacked out of their path.
After a good day’s sailing, Port watch have been tackling thunderstorms and associated squalls over the last 2 hours on deck. The crew starting to remember what it is like to sail upwind and slam into the waves. Thankfully there is only 322 nautical miles to go and their motivation and spirits are still up!
We have LMAX Exchange and Qingdao in our sights as we continue towards Den Helder. Let’s hope the summer continues until our arrival.
All good
Cloughy