⛵ Ardfern to Port Ellen: Escaping the Gale “Prison”

A&R Lener

After days of hiding from stronger winds and gales in Ardfern, it started to feel like a prison. The constant battle of wind against tide was wearing us down. Today, the wind was lighter but still right on the nose and against the tide—at least we were spared the rain and had some sunshine! We decided to give our stay sail a try, thinking the gusts around 20 knots were ideal for testing. And wow, we’re in love with it now! We set the autopilot to 30° on the wind, and Lagertha sailed like a dream. If only we’d tried it earlier on this trip 😅. Now, we’re back to hiding from the next gale in Port Ellen, sipping on whisky and waiting for a good weather window to cross the North Channel to Ireland. If you’re looking to train for heavy weather sailing, West Scotland in August is the place to be! We’ve only had a couple of nice days between all the strong winds and gales. We’ve learned a lot and are grateful for the experience, but a bit more of that holiday vibe from the start of our journey wouldn’t have been so bad either.