Ian Stephen's report from the Moray Firth Flotilla, with pictures.

"We’re getting ready to sail. It’s the Pentland Firth today. Conditions are not bad. Not ideal – they seldom are but pretty good. I’ve been here before, at Burray, the haven before the gateway from Orkney to the North Sea. But we’re heading for Wick to join the flotilla of working boats. Now we’re looking back to a voyage that started when we left Stornoway weeks ago, after  completing a full refit of An Sulaire, the only full size sgoth Niseach in existence.

The Minch crossing began in fog but it burned off and breeze came up full. So our delivery team arrived to join the Three Islands workshop at Tanera Mor with spray at our bow. Chippy, the co-pilot (as termed by Saki, one of the artists) stayed with me for some days as we took artists out into sun and breeze and pilotage. If it’s worked the documentation will be in the artists’ own logs and memories. It worked for the Lewis pilots. I’d say about as rewarding a week as I’ve known.

Our new team arrived and were made welcome as the workshop reached its denoument.

It was drizzle and fog and midges so we gained a few hours sleep and set off at 6 a.m. last Sunday.  

What’s happened since then? We found breeze but as expected a head-wind the whole way. That means compounding the distance to sail. Our track, marked by a trailing Walker log, measured miles and miles of the North Minch. We put into Handa Sound to anchor and reast and eat, knowing we would be a couple of nights at sea in an open boat.

Watchkeeping. Tea-making. Tacks, gybes and reefing up and down. Heavy swell giving way to long ones. Stack skerry shining with gannets. Banter with the guga-hunter, the aforementioned Chippy. A long haul but St John’s Head came up before us. We took it slow, under the cliffs from the Old Man along to Hoy Sound.  In a way this is a preview of the next workshop. Three Islands will move on to Hoy next year.

When we landed and showered and crew caught up on sleep, I drank tea and beer and drams with Frankie, a fisherman from Hoy. He’s a friend of Dianne, the brave sole woman aboard. He spoke poems about halibut and sea trout. Yes of course he knew George (Mackay Brown). That wry cove was with us well and truly.

And now we’re across Orkney, against the wind again. Got to go. The guys (American sense) are bringing the boat in. We’re off to meet breeze against tide down the road. But it’s light to moderate. We’ll be grand. See you in Wick or along the Moray Firth. Adios amigos from all aboard An Sulaire."