Peterhead-Kirkwall (Orkney Islands)

Wind against current

"Wind against current" is like "wrong-way driver on the A8". And you're near Ulm.

Gone is the Greek ease of sailing: After a plunge into the waves and a nice breakfast, the crew sets off to the next bay as they please.

Here I slip into my merino wool underwear at four in the morning and after a tea lovingly prepared by Michael: off we go. Alright, he quickly creates a honey-mustard sauce for the salmon sandwiches, because yesterday I baked a rye sourdough bread and then: off we go!

Of course, you have to calculate and plan if you want to sail around up here. But I wasn't aware that this area also requires the ability to jump through time.

Because how else is it possible to sail with the current in front of Scotland, to circumnavigate the dangerous Pentland Firth, to slide with the current to Kirkwall on the Orkneys, and to peacefully pass the small island of Copinsay in front of it?

Here's a summary for non-sailors:

In waters with ebb and flow, the most beautiful sail wind is of no use if the current - which is created because the water flows back and forth - opposes it. That's what "wind against current" means. A problem without waves: Travel at 6 knots and the current pushes back with 4 knots, you're just very slow.

Add some waves and voila, a boiling cauldron. This varies greatly, depending on the area and conditions.

We had both.

We departed early to start with the current. We weather foxes also calculated "the String", the passage to Kirkwall (Orkney), so that we could slide in, but in between was the picturesque but unavoidable Copinsay.

25 knots of wind and 2 knots of current against it, plus North Sea waves that had been around for a day and a highly interesting topography of the seabed, see above.

When the wind picked up, it slowly got darker and the first drops fell, I didn't feel like it anymore.

Michi took the helm and I sulked for 10 minutes. Then came the search for the entrance and the search for the pre-booked berth. Found the first, occupied the second, until we finally lay comfortably at the fisherman's pier at 1:00 am.

Thank you to the fisherman who helped us moor (it was low tide) and the pier is very high!