Weather is all important to us sailing folk.  As I write, we are being buffeted by a Westerly half gale.  It was well forecast and we are safely tied up in Kirkwall Harbour.  The wind is whistling in the rigging and our anemometer is showing gusts of 25 knots, which confirms that it is badly under-reading.  The local airport is recording gusts of 34 knots, which is what it sounds like.  It's time for a new instrument up at the top of the mast.  I'll put it in the refit book..... My temperature calculation is really simple.  Plymouth is at least 10 degrees warmer than the Shetland Islands (about 15 degrees different at the moment).  It is 600 nautical miles as the crow flies from there to Plymouth.  Rapport is no crow, so we will go much, much farther on the way home but please ignore that and bear with me.  This means that we will get about one degree warmer for every 60 miles we sail South, which in turn means that I will be able to wea...

What a change in weather; puffy cumulus and blue skies, visibility stretching away into a gentle haze, temperatures soaring to over 10 degrees.  Summer has arrived in the Shetland Islands! We motored out of Balta Sound without a breath of wind.  It felt strange to not have any sails up but with only 10 miles to our next anchorage at Burra Firth, at the most northern part of the British Isles, that was no hardship. Leaving Balta Sound The mountains overlooking the entrance to Burra Firth are dominated by the old early warning radar installation.  It is reported as disused now, so I hope that we have some other way of keeping tabs on the Russian Bears (Tupolev Tu-95 bombers). Geology Entering Burra Firth Burra Firth is over two miles long, running South, and surrounded by high hills and mountains.  The scale is difficult to comprehend until one sees a building ashore or a tiny pair of kayakers afloat.  We motored down to the bottom and anchored, in about 4 metres...

Still in Lerwick on Saturday 20th July and waiting for a fair tide north, we headed ashore to do our last jobs and to visit Fort Charlotte (17th Century and rebuilt after the Dutch had burnt its predecessor to the ground). Canons now aimed at other invaders! Accompanied by parties from the 2 cruise ships currently in harbour we had a look around the grounds. This was our last view of Lerwick before we winkled ourselves out from inside the 2 other yachts on the pontoon. We sailed out of the northern entrance, passing large rig support vessels and factory fishing ships moored along the shore. Then we were free to make our way along the misty shoreline with low level clouds clinging to the hilltops and occasional rain showers.  Our oilskins were dripping wet when we  gratefully decided to call it a day and head for the shelter of  the anchorage at Vidlin Voe for the night.  As usual, we were the only yacht here! Vidlin Voe in the morning sunshine Next day, the sun was s...

Later on Tuesday 16th July, we weighed anchor in Hos Wick and headed north to cover the 14 miles to the big city - Lerwick! Mousa Broch Our first course took us inside the island of Mousa where we admired their famous broch, said to be the finest in all Scotland (NB: brochs are only found in Scotland and are basically fortified homes for the wealthy to defend against invaders such as the Norse). We followed the east Shetland coastline, still wreathed in misty low-level clouds until we came to the southern entrance to Bressay Sound that would take us to Lerwick.  This is a busy place for oil rig support vessels as well as cruise ships, so we were required to notify Lerwick Harbour Authority and request passage to the yachting pontoon in central Lerwick. We were glad to tie alongside and get to know our surroundings - starting with a meal ashore in the local Indian restaurant! We soon found ourselves enjoying a sociable life amongst the other yachts - some heading south from Sweden a...

We rowed ashore next day, in a fresh breeze, and landed in Kettletoft.  It proved to be a very quiet backwater but we noted two hotels with restaurants, which was odd because there was no sign of any other visitors.  No matter, we had other business; to walk the 5 miles around the bay to Quoyness Chambered Cairn.  The wind was cold from the North with occasional showers.  I do miss summer! Around the Sandy Bay on Sanday We shared the cairn with an interesting couple from Ireland/Germany which involved detailed discussions on European politics, Brexit and languages. Quoyness Cairn Another Day, Another Burial Chamber After walking back, rowing out to Rapport was challenging in the now strong breeze.  The wind then increased further and we never did get back ashore to try out the local cuisine. At 05:30 on Monday 15th July, as promised by the Met Office, the wind moderated and backed a little and so we dropped our mooring and sailed out of the bay.  After roun...

  My watercolour painting of our Sanday track The island of Sanday will be our our stepping off point for the crossing to Shetland - but that will come later!  First we had a couple of days in Stromness to clean and prepare the boat plus do a spot more sightseeing while the strong winds blew through. We had arrived back on Tuesday evening 9th July, tired after our long distance adventure south by public transport.  So we had Wednesday and Thursday to soak up more of Stromness and Mainland Orkney. Our chores completed, we set off by bus on Thursday towards the ancient Neolithic remains at Skara Brae.  We were dropped off amongst the many tourist coaches ferrying cruise ship passengers to this important site but we had visited here twice previously and instead we crossed to the adjacent beach to walk along the coastline.  A windy Skara Brae beach Flocks of noisy Oyster Catchers took off as we walked along the rocky shore. Oyster Catchers (hard to spot I know!...

We had found Kirkwall quite busy, especially when the cruise ships landed their passengers but that was nothing!  Last week, we went South to see our grand-daughter and to vote.  On the way, London was so crowded and busy that we were well pleased to get out of it again.  We are now adapted to wild anchorages and can't cope with bustling cities. Our trip to the South and back, by ferry, bus and train, took two days in each direction and was mostly enjoyable, except when our fellow passengers got a bit too noisy.  It also involved a hotel stop in Inverness each way.  The whole experience was a world away from these watery islands. A short stop at home involved a bit of gardening (jungle clearance), tennis and meeting friends.  Then back on the train via London, where we were well looked after by Dan and Andrea. Aoife Learning Guitar with Mum Our first view of Inverness had been from the quiet canal, in Rapport.  Next, the bus and train stations in ...