Lochinver for the Winter

All good things must come to an end. At the moment chaos reigns on Far and Away. Bedding and cushions have been hauled off so we can clean out the water tanks and sails are stacked in the cockpit out of the rain, awaiting space to be stowed below. The steering gear has been checked for wear and tear. We will check the sails carefully IF it stops raining long enough. We are eating the last of the food and the icebox has been turned off.

Nico and I will head back to the States with lots of memories. Writing the blog, keeping a diary and making a photo book is how I process all we have seen and done. Nico keeps the more technical log and he writes articles for magazines. I don’t want this blog to be a typical Facebook - like post that makes everything just too perfect. Sailing in Scotland has been tough, but as a result we have a great sense of accomplishment. Everyone knows how hard it was for me to leave family, friends, Violet the dog and Miss Rumphius the pony - along with my volunteer work and garden. But everyone and everything will be there when I get back. It was a little tough dealing with Lyme Disease and then a sunlight reaction to the antibiotics. I got seasick a few times. I admit it - there were meltdowns.

Then there was the weather. It was cold and wet almost every day. We had ice pellets in the beginning. Everyone apologized for the worst summer on record and even the weather forecasters were undone by it. Nico and I both came down with chilblains from the constant damp, raw weather. I thought only laundry women from the Victorian era got them! Painful and ugly. 

There was also the challenge of daily navigation in unfamiliar waters with treacherous currents. Windy.com, BBC Scotland Weather, and the local tide/current charts were our friends. Nico took great pains not to be out in rough weather and often we would stay a day or two in a location until more settled conditions. Most importantly, there were no major scary times or moments of near disaster. We passed through several locations, known for bad conditions or treacherous waters, with no problems because we planned our passages carefully.

The rewards were many. I’ll always remember our evenings of backgammon, sipping on whiskey and listening to music after a full day. Our motto, from Calvin and Hobbs, was “the days are just packed.”

Our new family - the Wheelers

New friends

Oatcakes

Local seafood

Wonderful news from Phoebe and Zac

The nightly routine

Lochiver, a big fishing port, Far and Away’s home for the winter.

The Shetland Islands

 Well, we made it! We got as far north as 60 degrees. The Shetland Islands are the northernmost island group in Great Britain. Nico would like to continue on to the Faroes but… I have my limits! Like Orkney, Shetland has its own flag and a distinct culture from Great Britain. It feels more like Scandinavia - it’s only 140 miles west of Norway. They have an annual event called the Up Helly Aa where they dress in costume, walk through the town carrying torches and then lighting a Viking long boat. We spent one night in a lovely protected harbor surrounded by farms with Shetland ponies. Then we went to Scalloway and tied up to a pontoon. Scalloway was full of WWII history. It was the site of The Norway Bus, a Norwegian naval unit made up of resistance fighters that used 30 fishing boats to ferry weapons, refugees, supplies and intelligence back and forth to Norway in the dark of winter. We took a regular bus across the island to Lerwick which is a major center for fish, oil and wind. Best of all, I had a wonderful close encounter with a herd of Shetland ponies!

The memorial to the Norway Bus

The town of Scalloway. The red house on the left is where the Norwegian resistance men were housed. The docks were where the boats were launched.

Scalloway also had its own castle from the 1600’s.

They had a very good museum that explained the resistance movement and the development of the Fair Isle sweater.

Beautiful patterns

More modern design with brighter colors

I was truly amazed at how small Shetland ponies really are. I couldn’t believe they could be much use until I saw this picture.

Shetland women worked hard - all the time.

The original sweaters were dyed using lichens mostly.

Great hair

Nico and I took a walk one morning and came across a whole herd of ponies. They were totally fine with us approaching them and giving them scratches. They aren’t wild although they are wandering loose around the island. Somebody owns them. As my friend Jeannie said, “perhaps they wouldn’t miss just one!” The ponies were enjoying scratching themselves on some pipes that were in that area.