01/09/2009, Glasgow
Slàinte mhath - pron. slan jee var - means cheers in Gaelic
muckle - large or big
flugga - steep sided island
suffix -ey or -ay is an island e.g. Orkney is literally the island of the pigs/salmon/or something else depending on what your translation of ork is.
brough - pron. brock - an old stone fortress
quoy - marsh or wasteland enclosed to become farmland
bairn - an infant in Glasgow
wean - an infant in Edinburgh 40 miles to the east
tarbert - a narrow isthmus of land between two bodies of water
kyle - a narrow body of water between two bits of land
howe - a mound of soil
hoosse - pron. like "mousse" the animal, house in Orcadian
firm - farm in Orcadian
mash tun - large wooden tub to hold early stages of whiskey production
skerry - low rocky outcrop in the water, can be quite small and awash or even a small island
ness - a point or promontory of land
firth - a river estuary
loch - large body of fully or partly enclosed water, either fresh i.e. a lake, or salt like a long bay or sound.
henge - a mound and ditch around a stone fortress
inver - a river mouth
bothy - a very small one room dwelling or even shack, cognate with bivvie?
bothy bar - a type of public bar in a hotel, possibly with booths for 4 people to sit in.
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31/08/2009, Stromness
The weather finally started to settle. Amazingly not gale force. A drive down to South Ronaldsay over the famous Churchill barriers was the order of the day. The barriers are causeways built during WWII to link several islands around Scapa Flow. These were built after a successful U-boat attack on British naval vessels anchored in the Flow. The first stop was the Italian Chapel. It was built by Italian POW's who were employed on the barriers. The chapel is made from a Nissen hut and a concrete facade. The interior is painted in faux tiles and arches and is quite impressive. Sadly it was finished in 1945 and so not used much. We drove further south to Burswick and witnessed quite impressive tidal flows near the wharf for the ferry from John O'Groats, not far away, but across the rather dangerous Pentland Firth. The firth has recorded tidal flows of 18 knots! Overfalls in the firth were clearly visible and looked very intimidating. After a visit to the mediocre stone age Tomb of the Eagles it was up to the sea stack coastline of Yesnaby and then finally the Maritime Museum of Stromness which was excellent. We strolled down to the marina and found a Challenge 72 yacht moored. We were invited aboard for a cuppa and found the crew most interesting. The yacht "One Hull" from Hull on Humber is doing challenge training for disadvantaged youth who struggle to obtain education and employment. A very worthwhile endeavour with a 60% placement rate following the sail training programme. See the website in our links. Our final rendezvous for the day was to the famous Hamnavoe restaurant in Stromness for excellent salmon. We have now left the Orkneys and are back in Glasgow before heading off to Germany tomorrow.
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Turn your lap top on its side to view.
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29/08/2009
Sailing on Loch Fyne
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29/08/2009, Orkney
One needs low tide to visit the island fort of Birsay Broch. Sadly a NW gale blew in, hammering the area which is at the far north of the Mainland. Not to be deterred, we put on full wet weather gear and struggled across the narrow causeway to inspect the neolithic/Viking overlay village, chapel and fortress. The equally unfortunate manager of the site then followed us across to collect our pass no doubt cursing his luck that dumb tourists were doing this in the pouring rain and screaming wind. All three of us then crab crawled back just as the storm surge was beginning to wash over the causeway. From there it was an inspection of the ruins of one of several Earls palaces before heading SE to the Gurness Broch, another old fort and village. We also toured an old farm house inhabited up until the 60's but fully equipped in the traditional manner of Orcadians. Then it was time for lunch so off to Kirkwall to Helga's restaurant/bothy bar. A further Earl's palace was seen, just opposite the most impressive St Magnus cathedral. Off to the Highland Park distillery for a short tour and taste and then up to Maes Howe for the twilight tour of this neolithic or early Pictish tomb buried in a mound. The vikings had been before us and decorated the place with Runic graffiti, some of which is quite rude. Finally, it was back to the standing Stones of Stenness for a photo shoot in evening light as the wind moderated.
Today, another gale blew in, this time from the SW. 40+ knots out in Scapa Flow. We chose this time to take a ferry trip to the nearby island of Hoy and did the walk out to the Old Man of Hoy, a 134m high sea stack. It was then back to Lyness for a short video presentation of the role of this area in both world wars. Curiously the presentation is projected onto the inside of the wall of an extremely large oil tank. The viewer is also inside the tank, which is about 50m diameter and 30m high. An excellent show despite the diesel background. The gale was still blowing on the way home across the sound.
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Just done Hammo Race Week, the big wind day got to 13 knots. Most in 3 to 6 knots. How did Hughie know you were out of the country?
Philc.
28/08/2009, Scorradale, Orkney Island
A full SE gale greeted us upon awakening in Largs marina but by lunchtime it had blown itself out. With Big Blue fully tanked we had a gentle sail back to Rothesay on Bute island to unload and cleanup. A very pleasant night followed with Chris and Viv. This included a trad jazz evening at the famous Esplanade hotel. A big thank you to both of you for the loan of Big Blue - a lovely yacht.
The next phase of our journey saw us flying north to land at Kirkwall on the main Orkney island, known as the Mainland. Renowned for its neolithic, Viking, medieval and more recent maritime history, the island was a compelling destination for us. So, it was into full tourist mode with a small rental car and the Lonely Planet guide. We were able to obtain B and B accomodation at Mrs Clouston's Scorralee cottage and this is quite nice. It is roughly halfway between Kirkwall and Stromness.
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