57’08.1N 007’04.5W course 198′ speed 7kn
What seemed to be very convenient waiting for too much wind.. turned into a waiting exercise as one of our parcels got lost in the post for 2 days.. On Wednesday strong winds were beating down on Ullapool harbor. Wind sweeping up waves in the loch and rain coming down strong at times. Not a good first day out at sea! And as we had a few maintenance jobs we wanted to finish, we used our time wisely and stayed in port, hoping to leave on Thursday in the afternoon. Thursday morning it became clear that one of our parcels, that would have arrived that day.. was stuck, or lost, or wrongly directed and would not arrive for another 24 hours! That was a bit of a blow. Winds were looking good for heading out, strong winds at first in the Minch, but from the right direction! But it was not to be helped..
Ullapool harbor was giving us all the assistance in the meantime to keep us busy. We were lifted to to the top of the mast to get our new backstays in, we had installed our new generator and they lifted the old one out, new one in and old one to the scrap yard. And on Friday morning, with no wind to do a practise run with, John took the team out for a row in one of the rowing boats of the yachtclub in the harbor! Perfect! And as our happy crew came back from rowing, Ian arrived with our parcel! So we were off!! Leaving Ullapool is always like leaving our hometown. The friendly people and all the work that we were able to do, thanks to them, is amazing. We waves our linesmen goodbye and said until next time, and off we were.
We left under engine, setting sail just before we got into the Minch. A big swell was still running from the North, but we had a nice force 4, and some heavy rain! We were able to sail for about 6 hours, until the wind died out and are currently under engine, making our way past South Uist and Barra. Winds are forecasted to be light for another 12 hours, but who knows, maybe when we come around the South tip of the Outer Hebrides, we will find a favorable wind.
The new crew is finding their footing on our first night out. Setting the sails for the first time, rocking and rolling for the first time, dolphins for the first time and now a beautiful starlit night! We will start the picture of the day tomorrow, so stay tuned for our daily logbooks!
All well on board, Jet
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