Rispond, Loch Eriboll - 28 July 2006 (day 69)

Yacht Gothik

At Anchor

Rispond Bay

Loch Eriboll

Highland

28 July 2006

Click here to see a map.

Logged distance: 28.5M

Chart distance: 31M

Time under way: 6h

Friday 28 July 2006

A bit of a grey old morning. It was half expected after our long spell of sunshine but it still came as a bit of a shock. When I poked my head out of the companionway hatch this morning I had my face dusted with drizzle. Not too bothered by that but sadly there was still no wind. In a cowardly way this suited me but a little bit of wind would have been nice - I was in no mood for heavy weather for today we were rounding Cape Wrath.

We left at 1020. The drizzle had turned into patches of wet fog, obscuring the land for long lengths of time. I hoped we would actually see the cape. It would be a sad thing having made it all this way only to go round the cape and not actually lay our eyes upon it! With a little time I became optimistic, the fog began shy away from the sea and hover over the land. The coast was visible on occasion and we plotted a course toward the cape inside of Am Balg; a large lump of rock some 44m high and just over a mile offshore.

On the way we met with dolphins and basking sharks and were treated to a fantastic display of gannets diving for fish. I will never tire of watching gannets feeding. When not hunting for fish gannets will typically fly fast and low, just inches above the waves. A hunting gannet on the other hand will fly slowly 20-30 metres above the water, when it sees something it will quickly stall, concertina its wings and plummet at a steep angle, sometimes adjusting the angle before picking up too much speed. The entry into the water is so fast but with hardly a splash. Two or three seconds later the large bird will come to the surface looking stunned, wings slightly outstretched, whereupon it will leisurely gather its wits and make a slow heavy take-off. There's nothing I don't like about these birds, their shape, their colour, their fit for purpose appearance. Apparently they winter out on the open sea, hundreds even thousands of miles offshore in the North Atlantic - the ultimate in independence.

We didn't get to seem Am Balg through the murk but about four miles from the cape the low cloud cover and fog began to shrink and finally we could just see Cape Wrath - the north west tip of Scotland.

Cape Wrath! There is supposed to be a lighthouse here somewhere... or are we not where we think we are?

Now we see the lighthouse... but only just.

We had made it to the top of Scotland. This was a bit of an event for me on the trip. The pilot book says... "The north coast of Scotland is not for the faint-hearted or the inexperienced. Over 60M [nautical miles] of rock bound coast extends from the Pentland Firth, through which run the strongest tidal streams in Britain, to Cape Wrath. In that distance there is only one sheltered deep-water harbour...". For many weeks now, every morning and evening, Stornoway Coastguard would chant the mantra on the VHF; "...and now the inshore waters forecast for the area Ardnamurchan Point to CAPE WRATH". With each announcement there came a sense of foreboding. No real reason for it but in my mind I had imagined a picture of tumultuous seas and raging gales, surf smashing against the rocks and spray being dashed all the way to the lighthouse windows. Now here we were, hardly a breath of wind on a flat sea, no surf, no spray. I should have taken to heart the old Norse meaning for the word wrath; the Vikings had named the cape wrath meaning 'turning point'. Instead of cape 'nasty' it would have simply meant 'turn left for a bit of rape and pillage' (alternatively, on the way back 'turn right for a bit of home cooking').

Another large lump of rock; An Garb-Eilean. This time on the north coast of Scotland and not the west. It was not as high as Am Balg (it being only 33 metres) but at least it was visible.

By about three o' clock blue patches begun to appear in the sky, the air was cool and humid.

By three-thirty the mist and cloud lifted bathing us in brilliant light under a clear blue sky. With good visibility we took a detour closer to shore and were able to take a peek into the entrance of Geodha Smoo. At the head of Geodha Smoo is Smoo cave; a popular destination for those in the far north and just east of the little town of Durness.

Phil took advantage of the light with his posh camera.

The deserted beaches were something to behold. Here you see Ceannabeinne Beach at the foot of Beinn Ceannabeinne.

At a quarter past four we dropped anchor in Rispond Bay at the head of Loch Eriboll. The wind was due to pick up strongly from the south or south west tonight and Rispond Bay offered good shelter whereas the rest of Loch Eriboll would be exposed to severe squalls. Even so, the anchorage felt very exposed, it was narrow with little room to swing - here is a picture from the anchorage looking toward the north east.