It is 2:20 am. A short while ago, Preben and Sidsel roused me, and I now have anchor duty with Søren for the next two hours. When the Sea Stallion is at anchor or moored in a harbour, there is a watch on board 24 hours a day.
This shift is one of the better ones. The Sea Stallion is in a bay off the island of Jura, on the west coast of Scotland. Next to a low rock wall. Our only connection with land is the moorings fore and aft, and a third one to prevent the ship rocking too much back and forth. And then there are two poles tied together and used as a boarding plank for those with good balance and nerves.
There is a full moon, so even though it is the middle of the night, it's pretty light. I look at the stars, and clouds lit up as they soundlessly glide across the night sky from north to south. Fine... that means there is still wind from the right direction when we set out tomorrow for the last Scottish destination – the island of Islay.
Sailing here was fantastic. Good speed, sunshine, wind at our backs and one beautiful landscape after another, I never tired of looking at them. Proud, grey castles and ruins; tall, white lighthouses and low houses with dark roofs at the feet of majestic mountains. And mixed with them all, small skerries, like whales.