Lossiemouth to Oban Sailing Trip 1

Saturday 21st May 2011
I'm off to Lossiemouth to join 'Tonic' for a 10 day adventure sailing trip to Oban hopefully via Orkney, Fair Isle, Shetland, Cape Wrath, Harris & Lewis, Skye, Rum and Mull but the weather is looking decidedly iffy at the moment. The Met office has issued a yellow alert high wind warning for Monday afternoon and night. - I must remember to get some seasickness tablets in Elgin just in case.
I cant believe how nervous/excited I am, probably because of the weather forecast.
I found the yacht in the marina without any problems, just about the biggest boat in the marina and in a prominent position with a big yellow sail cover.
A full crew of 8 plus the skipper this trip, all guys.
Weather update... the Met office has force 10 for Tuesday..hmmm interesting.
Early decision is we wont be going to Fair Isle or Shetland, the wind strength and direction means we will be struggling to get there and get to Oban in the time available.
Our plan is to get a very early start in the morning and blast up to Stromness in Orkney before the big blow, it should be interesting in the Pentland Firth in the building seas.
We think we will be pinned down in Stromness for 2 days while the storm blows through. We amy have a weather window on Wednesday to get around Cape Wrath to Harris/Lewis but we will review the situation on Tuesday. Our alternative is to run back into the Moray Firth and go through the Caledonian Canal instead, this is probably the better option in these conditions. Anyway we are having our safety briefing then off to the pub.