Family Story
Coming from Orkney, I have been aware of its tide races, skerries and other navigational hazards for many decades.
A story I heard from an elderly relative was how not every RN vessel believed in all those items. Between the mainland of Orkney and the island of Rousay, there is a narrowing channel (I think it has an island in the middle). The effect of this narrowing is a standing wave every time the tide changes. I understand it is generally over 1m high but can be well over 2.
There was a RN vessel at Kirkwall on the north of the island but it needed to get back to Scapa Flow in a hurry and someone decided to ignore the markings on the chart identifying this as a bad idea! The story was that this, not very big, vessel had plenty of depth below when it hit the wave (is there a word for them?) and came to a complete halt. It apparently limped back to Kirkwall and was towed the long way to the (now long gone) naval base in Scapa Flow.
The story did not include what happened to the captain & navigator!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
