Cape Wrath, starting to head south

After our extended break in Kinlochbervie due to bad weather, we took a chance on an improvement in the strong northerly winds and set off on Thursday just after midday, to reach Cape Wrath at slack tide.

Good sail up the coast towards Cape Wrath

Cape Wrath is the most north westerly point on the UK mainland, famed for treacherous seas and a key milestone on our adventure.  The seas were pretty confused around the cape with a big swell, with little shelter on this stretch of coast it was a long slog to Scrabster Harbour (next to Thurso) and we arrived tired and battered at 11pm.  It was a dark and cold night so it was a relief when the harbour master flashed his headlights to guide us into the harbour basin and help grab our mooring lines.

We took it easy for a couple of days, taking in the delights of Thurso - the most life we had seen for some weeks with a proper high street and dining options.  We had a fantastic meal at the Captains Galley, in Scrabster Harbour - excellent food - one of our best meals of the trip.

Today we rose at 04:00 to make the trip down to Wick though the strong tides of the Pentland Firth between the mainland and the Orkney's.  Due to our lost time from bad weather we decided not to risk a trip to the Orkney's as time is marching on and we need to leave something for next time.

The pictures below show a rock stack just up the coast from Kinlochbervie, rounding Cape Wrath, us on the cliffs with Scabster Harbour behind, Bathia in Scrabster and screaming down the coast just off Wick.

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