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Our route to Wick would take us down Hoy Sound into Scapa Flow passing close to Flotta through the Sound of Hoxa (where the tide seemed to flow anticlockwise so staying on the west of the channel should put us in the southerly stream). From there we would aim to leave Swona around 5ca to starboard, keep due south ensuring we stayed at least a mile off Lothar Rock then hold on until we were well into the Outer Sound of the Pentland Firth before turning towards Duncansby Head (which we would pass at least 1.5 miles offshore). Again the tides were the main consideration and a planned departure at HW Dover +5½hrs (1230) looked to give us a decent run to the Outer Sound where we would catch the tail end of the south going flood tide to Wick which started at HW Dover -5hrs (1420).
With N / NE F4/5 all the way we made good progress through some stunning scenery. The seas were slight for the duration of the passage although we experienced some fairly dramatic turbulence towards the bottom of Flotta (HW Dover -4hrs) and again NE of Swona. The tide in the Outer Sound was running at around 4knts (HW Dover -3hrs) and we held 1½ to 2 knots of favourable tide through to Wick.
Wick was fairly straightforward to find and enter, we reached the Harbourmaster on Ch14 and he guided us to new pontoons in the outer harbour (which are to be relocated and expanded). The harbourmaster was very friendly, driving down to meet us (it was a Saturday) with a key for the pontoon gate and shower / toilet block. Wick was a good place to stop over and we stayed for two nights so we cold have a full day exploring. As we had an early departure we were charged a reduced rate of £15 for the stay.