Head Winds

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 wear shorts before the end of August.

My weather calculation says that you can't always win, which makes a beam reach all the more satisfying.  On the way up North, we had a settled ridge of high pressure to the West, giving us NW headwinds that pushed us East through the (beautiful) Caledonian Canal.  Now we want to go South, we have a low pressure system stuck near Iceland, that is giving us SW winds.  Luckily Rapport is happy to crash to windward, lee rail hard down.  The crew however are less keen and will continue to play the shifts for a less violent ride.

Scalloway Waterfront

I really liked Scalloway (apparently pronounced 'Scallowa').  It was billed in our guidebook as a bit of a backwater but after Unst in North Shetland it was a bustling metropolis (well, there were a few folk about, all very friendly).

From Scalloway we sailed South, close hauled, to see St Ninians Isle, connected to the mainland by the "Tombolo", a beautiful beach.  We anchored there briefly for a cocoa drink but the North bay was affected by a swell rolling in and the South bay affected by the actual wind, so we sailed and motored on, round Sumburgh Head and into Grutness Voe for the night.  I was none too pleased to leave St Ninians so quickly but well pleased with the peace and quiet of our night anchorage.

The Tombolo

Around the top of Unst we had seen some strange buildings and structures, near the old radar station.  Later we heard an unusual announcement from Shetland coastguard, warning us to keep clear of an area up North.  Smoke and flames expected but no rockets would be launched!  This turned out to be a new rocket service, Saxavord, which is fun (but probably not eco-friendly).  If you need a package to be sent into low orbit, see https://saxavord.com/launch-services.

And so we left the rugged beauty of Shetland, in search of warmer climes.  Our plan was to take the WSW wind to sail South to Fair Isle and then, the day after, the South wind, to sail WSW to the Orkney Islands.  The strange thing was that it worked!

South from Sumburgh Head, hard on starboard tack, we crashed through the roost, wash boards ready and safety harnesses on.  Several green waves swept the foredeck but the cockpit remained dry.  It was only a gentle roost!  We nearly made it in one tack arriving on the lee side of the island a few miles off.  

Fair Isle - Musical Boats

North Haven is hidden behind high rocky walls and is quite small.  A large gaff ketch was leaving as we arrived which involved a bit of a reshuffle in the harbour.  Then we pottered in and rafted up with the others.

Rapport in North Haven, Fair Isle (the little one on the outside)

A walk ashore revealed a rugged landscape, sparsely populated except by sheep and birds (the main settlement is in the South).

Fair Isle Landscape

We left early next morning for what promised to be a long day at sea.  In fact, our sail from Fair Isle to Kirkwall was a sparkling affair, mostly hard on the wind but in force 3 winds, easy sailing.  Visibility was very good, the views were lovely and 60 miles was no problem, finally motoring between the Orkney Islands in a flat calm.

South of Fair Isle

We arrived in Kirkwall in the late afternoon and moored in the marina in good time for an evening trip to our favourite Indian restaurant, which fed us royally.  Lines were well secured for the gale, forecast to arrive next day, which it did.

And yes, it is already much warmer here!