Sitting Out a Gale

I am taking advantage of a peaceful day holed up in a snug harbor to write a new post. We are sitting out a gale. We have learned that the key to a successful cruise is to let the weather dictate the itinerary rather than the other way around. After a great time in Oban (more on that later), we were eager to start our next leg to Skye. However, during our twice daily check of wind and weather conditions, we learned that a gale with Force 8 winds, 39-46 mph, was coming. We fueled up and headed out, putting in a long day to reach a good, protected anchorage around dinner time.

 At this point the strong winds and rain haven’t hit yet. Our only concern is that after we got all settled, a 44 ft sailboat with three guys on board squeezed themselves in this tiny spot after four anchoring tries. Nico told them that he felt there wasn’t enough room with a gale coming but they insisted. There is also a sailing ethic that if someone is in a really cool, tight spot you don’t inflict yourself on them. We could move if we felt it was unsafe but with the direction of the winds, they are the ones who would get in trouble next to the rocks.

It was calm in Oban

But our wind app, Windy.com, showed something was headed our way.

So we headed out The Sound of Mull, around the headland and east to a protected loch.

The wind picked up and we had a nice sail but under cloudy skies. We had to zig zag around rocks to enter Loch Moidart. To do so we used three guides - our chart plotter, The Clyde Cruising Club Guide: Ardnamurchan to Cape Wrath, and Antares which is a website created by an amateur oceanographer (a self proclaimed unqualified enthusiast) who has done sonar scans of various harbours - and two sets of eyes.

And here we are! And here is the view…

Even better - the other boat just moved. Now we are as ready as we can be for the storm. This hopefully gives a 24 hour snapshot of life at sea for us.