Stromness and Scapa Flow

Longhope. There are several approaches to Longhope depending on where you start from;

......coming up from Wick you skirt round the North end of Swoma on the ebb (the swirls are out to the West on the ebb) and make for Switha. It is worth noting that you are unlikely to be able to distinguish Hoy, Switha and Flotta from each other at this stage but you will be able to see the aero generator on the top of Flotta, so initially make for that.

If you have passed Duncansby at slack water then, at some stage between Swoma and Switha you'll run into the stream coming out of Hoxa Sound; that stream runs anti clockwise around Switha so you takes your choice; go up to Switha Sound, which narrows your angle on the adverse tide but puts it in your favour running towards Longhope through Switha Sound or broaden your angle on the tide towards Cantick Sound and run slap into the flow coming out of there.

On a Spring tide and west wind go the extra half a mile round Switha because a combination of wind and tidal stream through Cantick and the overfalls will knock back your speed quite considerably. Coming down from Stromness or the Nor'west either Gutter Sound or West Weddel Sound is acceptable but if using Gutter Sound watch out for the fish farm behind Fara. You'll be on VHF 11 so will know of the Ferry movements around Lyness, Flotta, Houton and Longhope; they will give way to you under sail, but only just! (it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with the layout of Scapa Flow in this respect so that that the R/T calls from the ferries make sense to you)

When you do get up the Sound to Longhope the current which is quite weak until you get to the narrows at Longhope increases so be aware that you can be carried quite a way as you clear away your sails to motor in (a crew is a useful addition to the yacht's inventory at this stage!) You may find room to berth alongside or you can anchor/pick up a buoy outside.

There's meant to be a couple of visitors buoys there but they tend to wait until June before they put them out. The buoys that are in evidence early in the season are an unknown quantity so it's up to you whether you use them or ride to an anchor.

Widewall Bay . This bay is on the East side of Hoxa sound and provides shelter from Easterly seas (the land is quite low so, although sheltered from the sea, it is not completely sheltered from the wind). The entrance poses no problems but is unlit at night. Anchor off the slip at Herston or, if shallow draft, further into the bay in the Oyce of Herston.

St Margaret's Hope. By Orkney standards this is quite a large village. It is the terminus for the Ferry from Gills bay on the Scottish Coast and is well lit for night entry. Again, if you've passed Duncansby at Slack water you will encounter the outgoing stream in Hoxa Sound but this is only a knot at its peak so not too bad. Give Needle Point (on the western side of the entrance to St Margaret's Hope) a good offing, rounding into the bay outside the green beacon. Anchor in the middle of the bay or, if there is room, alongside the North side of the Ferry pier on the west side.

Burray . This is further up Water Sound past St Margaret's Hope. It has a drying pier and one can anchor in the small bay to the east of the village. It is possible to lie against the outer end of the pier but you are likely to find local fishing boats occupying that point. Don't anchor too close to the barrier as the bottom may be foul, and, of course steer clear of the submarine cables.

St Mary's. This anchorage is on the northern side of Kirk Sound; there is a slip/pier and if you can take the ground you can tie up to the pier. There is a visitor's buoy in the bay but you may want to anchor closer in. Avoid anchoring close to the Churchill Barrier as there are still the remains of the block ships laid in WWII on the bottom waiting to grab a hold of your anchor!

Scapa Bay. This poses little problems apart from the bunch of rocks on its west side (the Scapa Skerry) which are marked by a red, lit PHM. Although there is a substantial pier it is completely utilised by commercial boats (some of which are on constant standby for oil spillages) and anyway its piers make it unsuitable for yachts. There is a red visitor's buoy in the middle of the bay to the north of the pier; it's quite a substantial affair and well able to take two yachts rafted together.

There is a note on the chart giving the Cathedral at Kirkwall and a white house on the shore as leading marks to avoid the Skerry rocks; that's all very well in good visibility, in bad vis you might find the transit between the Orkney VTS building (with its flagpole) and the end of the pier equally viable and, anyway, once you have cleared the Skerry buoy just head straight for the mooring buoy. If you have any doubt about which buoy to pick up the watchman in the VTS tower (who will be observing your manoeuvrings with a nautical eye) will put you right.

Houton (Bay of) is a useful little anchorage having a narrow entrance and reasonable depth. It is a base for the ferry from the "mainland" out to Lyness, Flotta and Longhope so the navigational buoyage is well maintained as are the leading marks on its West shore.

There are several private moorings to the SW of the ferry terminal as well as a large grey buoy which was put there for the salmon fisheries but has not been used for several years. There are also some private buoys to the SSE of the terminal. In fact some of the private buoys are duplicates for the same owners (professional fishermen) who favour the SSE ones as being closer to the slip on the East shore (where they land their catches) but like to move further into the bay in adverse weather conditions.

If you are lucky you may be able to use one of the buoys to the SW if the owner is not using it at the time (obviously ask permission). As the entrance is narrow (dredged to 3m for 15m either side of the leading bearing), make use of the leading marks and skirt round the SHM when through the entrance.

Your difficulty in selecting an anchorage (or buoy) is working out how much water there will be at LW, especially at Springs. The other problem is that, if you drop your pick where the little anchor is shown on AC 2568-3, you'll be slap in the way of the ferry's approach to the pier and will have a very disturbed time. We think that if you are a shallow draft bilge keeler you should have no problems at any state of the tide but if you are a keel boat with a draft in excess of 1.5m you would probably be better advised to give this bay a miss at Spring tides.

Stromness. If you are exploring Scapa Flow (or just passing through) you will inevitably want to drop into Stromness at some stage, if only to bunker or reprovision. You will have to do some sums as the harbour is up at the narrow, Northwest end of Scapa Flow and at Spring tides there can be quite strong (in the case of Hoy Sound, very strong) currents past its entrance. You will naturally consult the tidal streams atlas (available free at our page http://www.visitmyharbour.com/articles/?caturn=842 )

But remember that these shows streams in the main channels, not every little swirl and eddy (of which there are many) and also that the buoyage is laid out for large commercial vessels, you do not have to stay within the limits of those channels in a 1.5m draft boat! You will note that in our photo "Hoy Sound (High) light house…" the Peter Skerry SHM is out on the port bow; that is because we found a back eddy up that part of the coast at a time when the tidal Atlas was giving a 4 knot adverse stream.

Mind you, be careful of who you take advice from, most of the locals navigate these waters in craft with stonking great diesel engines so going against the stream merely takes a little longer – not all morning as it does with some of us little boats!! We have always gone round to the East of the Riddock Shoal and Sand Eel (off Hoy Sound (High) lighthouse) but there is also a straight line route between those shallows and Graemsay Island which we haven't tried (mainly because the surface patterns indicated some quite strong eddies so we chickened out, and all the boats around us did as well!).

From the South East the entrance to Stromness is not at all obvious from a distance of about 3 miles but gradually becomes identifiable. As soon as you can, pick out a couple of points (one on the shore and the other, one of the houses up on the hill behind the town) and shape your course to keep them in some sort of transit; in this way you will avoid the temptation of "pointing" straight at the town and being swept past on the tide. (You will find that you will have to toe off quite a bit to hold your chosen transit).

From the West or North the passage through Hoy Sound is much more ticklish because of the strength of the currents (up to 8kts springs) and the overfalls they can produce. You should avoid wind over tide conditions and try to plan your passage an hour either side of slack water in either direction. (East going stream begins at 0530 after HW Dover and the West going 0110 before HW Dover).

From the North, come inside the Wave Test Site and hold South wards on the 20m contour until Breck Ness is up to the NE and then follow the 10m contour into the Sound staying well outside the green sector of the Skerry of Ness WG light. It's safe to turn in for the harbour when the SHM opposite the Outer Holm becomes well open to the right of the PHM in the harbour entrance. Note that, at night, there are four different red pierhead lights (with different signatures) within the harbour and only two greens (the SHM at the Outer Holm and the SHM opposite the North Pier) – your best bet is to ignore the reds and shape a course straight between the two greens and then round the last red into the Marina.

Update There is now the light on the end of the newish pier (2F.G vert) so you can get some sort of transit when the Outer Holm buoy comes into line with that.

The marina is at the far end of the inlet past the Orkney Ferry pier and you should call the HM on VHF 12 for information on its movements.