Passaging from the Orkney Islands to the Shetland Islands, we had hoped to stop half-way at Fair Isle. It is a little island – less than a mile long. It is very hilly and craggy, with lots of sea birds nesting there. I know this because I saw the west and north side of the islands. But when we turned the corner to go less than half a nautical mile into a very safe and secure harbor, all heck broke loose. A five knot current was going against the 20 – 25 knot wind and the waves were big and boisterous, plus they were bouncing off the steep side of the island. Nokomis feel off a 10 foot standing wave and there were more waiting for us. We put our tail between our legs and cleared out of there. Which meant fourteen hours of sailing in rough weather, the picture is of our speed – 10.2 knots which is twice as fast as we usually go. The difference is from the tide current. But we made it to the Shetland Islands save and sound.
Fourteen oil rig workers were not so lucky, the helicopter they were on came down in the water close to rocks. This happened five to ten nautical miles from where we were sailing, but the fog meant we didn’t see a thing. The radio was thick with mayday and rescues calls. We offered our services, but by that point we were too far away time-wise to be of any help. They were able to rescue many of them, but several did not make it.