Severe storms

Luckily we woke to hear the 7am forecast issued by Shetland CG. The low that was approaching had gathered momentum and was due to hit later in the day bringing gale force winds. We were able to motor (there was no wind) to Kirkwall covering the 20 miles in no time with the tide under us. The back eddies on the contour lines sped us along at a great rate! We reached Kirkwall ahead of the weather and tied up alongside safe and sound as the rain started. It is a lovely city, with a cathedral and many attractive narrow streets and all facilities. On checking the forecast at 1900, we recorded gales and severe storms in all the sea areas around us with the outlook for the next 24 hours being similarly bad.

On our way back to the boat in the pouring rain we bumped into Mike who had also decided to come alongside in the marina instead of anchoring out We made an arrangement to head out to the sailing club after supper. It was full of the local football team who had won a big trophy match with a whopping £600 kitty they were in full celebration mode. The town was heaving with people as the County Show had been on that day (in the rain) and also met up with a fellow sailor, Peter from Newcastle, who was waiting for his crew to arrive to take the boat back south. A couple of pints followed by a whisky on board Onegin, we fell into bed around 1am with the wind howling and rain pelting.