Leg 39

Kinlochbervie to Scrabster. Sunday 5th September

The forecast is good for getting round Cape Wrath, but the weather is due to get a bit rough for the rest of the week, so we decide to go for it, and try to get to Stromness or Scrabster. It would be a long day, as its best part of 60 miles. We set off at 5.30 in the morning, so we don't have tide as we go round the Cape, and its a beautiful morning as we head out of Kinlochbervie. Its just me and Ivan on deck, as Anne & Rob have a bit of a lie in! The wind is good as soon as we head north, so we get the sails up, and have a good bit of a sail, making good time, although just as we get near the Cape, and Anne & Rob drag themselves out of bed (very early for them on a Sunday still, as its only 8.30!!) the wind dies, and we have to motor. The scenery is stunning though, and we feel glad to have got this far north, and 'go around the corner'. To me, it feels more of an achievement than Lands End, as not that many yachts venture this far!

We just get round the corner, when there is an almighty crashing sound.......we stop the engine, and Ivan inspects the damage. The flexible coupling between the gear box and the prop shaft has sheared. Shit. We have a spare tho, so Ivan and Rob get it replaced, and within an hour we are back motoring. We have drifted about a mile off the headland to the North West, and it takes an hour, against tide, to gain back the lost ground.

All seems to be going well, and we have motored for about 2 hours, when there is a repeat of the crashing sound! Shit again! The flexible coupling has gone again. There is no second spare. This time we are disabled, about 5 miles East of Cape Wrath, with tide against us for the next 4 hours, wind on the nose and the sea and wind is starting to get up a bit!

We have no choice but to call in a May Day. So, Ivan gets on the radio at midday, calls it in, and we are met by Thurso lifeboat 2 hours later. We get hooked up pretty quickly, and start the long tow to Scrabster harbour. As we get going, the wind increases and the seas get bigger so its not a very comfortable 6 hour passage by any means! We take alot of water over the decks and wheelhouse - a bit like a skipload being dumped on top of us every minute or so! Invariably some makes its way inside, especially through the front hatch and unfortunately all over Anne & Robs bed!
At 8.00pm we get tied up in Scrabster harbour. We are extremely grateful to the Thurso lifeboat crew for coming to get us on a Sunday, when I am sure they would have rather been at home with their families. Our first job in the morning is to get the lads some beers to say thank you for their time.
And then would you believe it, we get to the pub, and they have stopped serving food - we are too late - again!!! But, the staff take pity on us, and serve up soup and sandwiches, Happy Daze! What a Day!