eesh, uploading photos takes ages

just tried using picasa to upload other photos - its a bit quicker than uploading them to the blog, and you can get slide shows and so on. Here are the pictures from Lewis, Skye and Scalpay:

Lewis, Stornaway

Had a fairly foul crossing from Shetland to Lewis. But the weather was nice when we got there - we mostly had grim weather at sea, good weather ashore. Stornaway is another natural harbour. We rafted up outside an ex British Steel racing yacht, it had been round the southern ocean. Stornaway was the only place which still had a fishing fleet, though far smaller than before.

Shetland, Central Mainland

Shetland, Lerwick

We enjoyed the hospitality of the Scalloway Boat Club - they took part in the annual Viking p
Parade in Lerwick.

Shetland, Scalloway

The weather is changeable..

Shetland

We stayed in Scalloway. It put us in a better position for the west coast of Scotland and gave us a lee for the first time. The winds were still blowing from the NE.

This is a memorial to the people who ran and used the Shetland Bus. It had recently been visited by the Queen of Norway, who also opened the new National Museum. Many years ago the vikings exterminated the local population and settled in Shetland, it transferred to Scottish ownership somewhat recently, the affection for Norway lives on.

Shetland

Da Noost - everyone was at the 'Flavour of Shetland' by the harbour, except for us and a a couple of Belgians. Da Noost was playing golden oldies, the Flavour of Shetland featured some dynamic young fiddle players. Children are taught to play the fiddle in school, some talented players have resulted.

Fair Isle

These plants are so rare that they get protected from the sheep.

Fair Isle

The phone box at the main junction.

Fair Isle

Fair Isle has a population of 68, 2 churches and O2 supply mobile coverage.

Fair Isle

Simon explains about lichen.

Fair Isle

Fair Isle

Fair Isle

disposing of rubbish can be difficult when you are living on a small island.

Fair Isle

Fair Isle

We stayed a couple of nights, walked around, had a meal at the hostel - the island is owned by the National Trust and more or less run as a nature reserve. They have wind generators but a lot of power is shipped in in diesel tanks.

Fair Isle

There is only 1 harbour on Fair Isle - it is difficult to see the entrance when approaching from the South, it was dark and windy when we arrived, this is the morning after, fortunately the directional light which shows the way in is left on all the time. The locals were friendly and a gentleman called Barry took our lines and got a couple of large fenders to keep us off the wall.

view from Stronsay harbour

Papa Stronsay

It was still blowing NE after a few days so we moved round to Whitehouse in Stronsay, where we anchored between Stronsay and Papa Stronsay. This is Papa Stronsay, supposed to be one of the holiest islands, occupied by Transalpine Redemptorist monks (who, it seems used to be based on the Isle of Sheppey, near by Kaemara's home port) .

Scapa Flow, Orkney

Mainland, Orkney

Kirkwall, Mainland, Orkney

nice weather as we arrive in Orkney

north sea common dolphin

A pod of around 30 dolphins joined us for a couple of hours.

orkney

Tough passage up the North Sea - 740 miles logged between Harwich and Kirkwall - beating the whole way up the North Sea, always overcast, occasional rain and fog, cold. We stopped for a couple of days on the Humber to take a rest, before pushing on.

The Orkney Isles are beautiful with many good walks and lots of ancient sites. There is plenty to do here to while away the hours whilst waiting for a change in the weather. We decided that the hard work was over when we got here and that from now on we'd be cruising, i.e. not beating into a Northerly force 5 or 6, which is what's on offer today, our next stop should be Fair Isle, en-route to Shetland.

new season

Refit is well under way, have a brand new rudder to install, chainplates out for re-bedding, windlass off for same, fuel tank back in after a modification to the inspection hatch, engine has a new alternator, have wired the navtex to the solar cell regulator so its 'always on'. Time to start thinking about this year's trip. Bought the charts for the Shetland Islands last year in case we came back that way - current plan for this summer is to go to the Shetlands then round to the west coast of Scotland, to leave the boat there over the winter.