An Arctic adventure from Oban to the Lofoten Islands

Sailing into the Arctic Circle is never an easy prospect, as Mark Rogers discovered.

The best time to sail to Lofoten is June and July. From mid- August the weather deteriorates. My fearless crew Philip Bouscarle and I left Loch Creran on 12 May, but having waited for the howling northerlies to abate,we missed much of the flood up the Sound of Mull. Battling headwinds of up to 37 knots we short-tacked the entire first leg of the voyage to Loch Aline only 30 miles away. The next morning the winds had backed, the sun shone and we had a fantastic sail up past Ardnamurchan, up the Sound of Sleat and on to Inverie and the Old Forge Pub, known for good food, showers and ceilidhs.

Next morning was flat calm and we motored through Kyle Rhea and on to Plockton where we met up with a friend with a Sadler 26 and had a rather 'big' night. The next day, with hangovers and a southerly gale Force 8 forecast, we scuttled, heavily reefed, up the coast to Badachro on LochGairloch to wait for the storm to blow over before heading north to Stornoway, home of the world’s best black pudding.

From Stornoway we had a fast sail to Stromness, covering the 115 miles at over 6.5 knots. Philip and I had time to enjoy the music festival before packing the boat up for a fortnight and flying home.

We returned on 1 June to a northerly gale, but the next morning was calmer and we set off into a gentle northwesterly. The wind held until we drew abreast of Kitchener’s Memorial at Marwick Head. Determined to sail like Vikings, we waited for the forecast Force 5-7 northwester lies to kick in and by 1900 we were beating north, clearing Foula seven miles to starboard.