Speedwell of Rhu Ship's Log

24 th of June 2011 - Landfall in Shetland

Crew : Helen and Andy
Destinations : St Ninian's Bay south.
Distance : 63 miles

We weighed anchor at 07.50. As soon as we were out of the bay we had the sails up, following a course of 033 degrees to Scalloway on a close reach. There was a bit of a swell running so at times it was a bit roly. However, we made anything from 4 to 7 knots and were able to sail all the way. We saw very little traffic, although Andy saw a tall ship motoring westward. We couldn't think where they would be going as next stop would have been Greenland in that direction. Whilst I was resting, a supertanker gave way for us, which chuffed Andy. We followed Foula and Fair Isle on the horizons and eventually Fitful Head, the South West point of Shetland, came into view.

As the weather seemed to be clearing and the forecast for the next 12 hours was favourable we decided to make a detour into St Ninians Bay, on the south side, for the night. From seaward it was very difficult to see that there could be such an idyllic spot to anchor amongst all the rocks. However, we found a gap and found a perfect spot surrounded by blue water with a sandy beach at the head.

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