Inverness, Caledonian Canal

The 400 mile passage from Kristiansand to Inverness has to be one of the most comfortable and easy trips that we have made. The North Sea has a well earned reputation of nasty seas and strong, usually SW or West winds and no fun. Not so this time. The five day forecast called for a deep low to jog around north then south to west of Ireland giving gales to the western UK while the east coast over to Norway was to have light (Force 3 - 4, occasionally 5) winds from the South or SE. And so it came to pass. Huey can sometimes be kind. After topping up with diesel at Kristiansand, we motored east through the inside passages to the west of Kristiansand and came out into the ocean twenty miles from Lindesnes, the southernmost point of Norway. The wind had obligingly veered into the SE and we started making good miles on a broad reach with one reef in the main and the big genoa. The north going Norskrenna current, combined with the building seas made it a bit bouncy, but nothing that Stugeron couldn't handle. That evening the wind veered further into the south and dropped to Force 3 - 4. Under a full moon Taonui creamed along making 5 - 7 knots. An easy night, great for the off watch to have a comfortable sleep.

The next evening we had to be on our toes as we sailed through the Forties oil field. We lost count of the rigs. I think that there were ten, brightly lit, multi storey monsters with attendant supply ships and stand-by rescue ships, plus the odd tanker and fishing boats just to confuse the AIS screen that shows all ships within twelve miles with their course, speed and computed point of closed approach. A great safety device.

The last day was a pleasure. Smooth seas, light winds and quiet sailing at 5 - 6 knots. We arrived off Fraserburgh on the SE corner of the Moray Firth at 21:00 with another 75 miles to go along the coast to the end of the Firth, and Inverness at the northern end of the Caledonian Canal. The tide range in this area is 15 feet and there is quite a tidal current especially at the narrow entrance into the bay that leads into The Ness River. Here the tide can run up to 4 - 5 knots. Luckily we were able to arrive at half tide rising and swept in and then followed the narrow eight mile channel that leads past the sand bars to the mouth of the Canal and to a small well appointed marina just past the first lock. A great trip. So after a shower and a short kip we walked into Inverness (only 15 minutes) and had a very good dinner and a bottle of wine. Its good to be back in Scotland and the Games are on big screen TV's in all the pubs.