Return to Orkney
The year started off badly with the UK once again in lockdown, so planning a long sailing trip was done in rather uncertain circumstances. We felt very privileged to be in a position to enjoy a fabulous four week sailing holiday in Scotland during June 2021. Having considered other attractive options like Ireland, which were ruled out by Brexit and the pandemic, we recalled enjoying a previous cruise to Orkney in 1995, so decided that it was time for another visit.
The best time to head north would be June where we’d get the benefit of almost continuous daylight. However, with Scotland still under Covid restrictions, this would take some planning; eating out would be difficult, plus we’d be sailing through a fairly remote area to get there.
With everything loaded up, including our black labrador, Islay, we left the Isle of Skye aboard our Jeanneau SO 419 Discoverer of Sleat and headed north through Kylerhea.
It was a great relief to get away after the lockdown and nice to see that the turntable ferry from Skye to the mainland was back in service after a year’s inactivity. The weather was calm and quite warm and it was necessary to motor all the way to Poll Creadha for the first night.
We started the holiday with the anchor dragging overnight as the wind increased. Not a mistake which was ever repeated!
The journey north was fairly uneventful with a stunning sunset at Flowerdale Bay, Gairloch, the following evening. This was surpassed by an even better sunset at Camas Glas at Inverewe Gardens – a handy anchorage for touring the world-famous gardens where the rhododendrons and azaleas were at their best.
The next stop was Isle Ristol, the most northerly of the Summer Isles, where we anchored off the beach for lunch
