After almost three weeks in Stornoway and 500+km in the saddle it was time to move on. Susan arrived in the meantime and I had started to intensify my studies on weather and route planning. I found it tricky. The TSS triangle formed by Tórshavn, Shetland and Stornoway is facing high speed low pressure systems passing through, which are paired with strong tidal streams and very limited safe fall back positions in case needed. Once you are out there you have to face it. Knowing about the above, I put an extra effort in for the weather routing.

Laura Dekker with SY Guppy turned up.

Talking to the locals and some knowledgable sailors provided the full bandwidth from “be careful“ to “…which is your boat?…ah, just go!“. I am glad, we did not go with the latter option and I kept going with my studies.

The window finally picked looked pretty decent at the time we started but the dynamic proofed itself not even 12 hours later, where a moderate  and manageable low pressure system forecasted for the second day intensified and presented us 25kn headwinds  on our way through the “Black Hole“.

The easterly going tide peaks at about 2kn. It should be a gift but will get forfeited by a westerly going wind of 25kn. Wind against tide, a known for sailors under the category to prevent. On top of that, an old 2m westerly swell meets the quickly build up easterly going wind wave and puts you into a wobbling whirlpool. The 6 seconds wind wave period does not help either.

AI‘s summary straight to the point:
The term “black hole” in reference to the sea between Fair Isle and Shetland or Orkney refers to the area known as “The Hole”. This is a 24-mile stretch of water characterized by strong tidal streams and potentially challenging navigational conditions. It’s a descriptive term, not a literal black hole in the astronomical sense.

While Susan slept pretty well I got to 1 hour deep sleep and 5 hours dosing only over the 42 hour passage duration. That drained me out towards the end of the trip. Tacking into Bressay Sound was a pleasure on the final miles and all is quickly forgotten despite curing the body, which takes a bit longer.

Heading eastwards into the sunrise on the second day before the black hole music started. 
Arrival Lerwick: photo as blur as my view.

It feels good to be back in Lerwick/Shetland, second time in less than 12 month! We like this place and the marina but we are not meant to stay long as our main adventure remains without a second thought:

Midsummer in Lofoten/Norway

Fair winds…