Tern's Travels

Shetland Isles, 31st July - 5th August
The first thing that struck me when we woke in Unst was that there are no trees. All the northern isles are virtually without trees due to the windswept climate, the moorland peat had to provide thefuel for cooing and warmth and rock was the main building material. Walking to the small village at Baltasund we passed a derelict cottage with wooden beams which must have been salvaged from ships. The land around the harbour is still divided into crofts although most of the crofters have other jobs aswell as it's very difficult to survive purely by crofting. The small, tight-knit communities away from the mainland are populated with industrious, self-sufficient folk, all of whom seem to have several jobs or roles in order to keep island life thriving. Unst has the honour of being the most northern inhabited island so you can post a letter which is hand stamped with the "most northern post office" stamp, or visit the most northern pub (sadly closed at present) or visit the most northern brewery, happily very much open, and so on. The village shop has a bakery, a help yourself cafe where there is always a cauldron of soup on the go. The tables are covered with writings, drawings and photos about the history and culture of Unst and the walls are covered in maps, guides, information and shelves with books for swapping or reading in the cafe as well as local crafts for sale. So Unst was fascinating and very much worth a longer visit one day.
There was a deep depression forecast for Thursday 3rd August but meanwhile fine weather due. We had been recommended to try and visit Out Skerries, the small group of islands furthest east of the Shetlands, so despite no wind, we motored there on the Tuesday. In fact, no wind is good on Out Skerries, so for once we didn't resent it! Out Skerries is indeed a very special place, now the 30-odd inhabitants still living there are all old age pensioners, but on a sunny summer's day it is teaming with children and young parents who visit their old family homes and children spend time with their grandparents. We moored to a fishing quay and were made very welcome, including being given 2 crabs! The grandad fisherman wouldn't take any money but just wanted to be remembered as that kind man from Out Skerries.In the short time we had we talked to several locals who were all happy to share their stories and views, and what wonderful accents and turns of phrase- they were lovely! We told them we knew Patrick Winterton, who, together with a friend, had set out from Out Skerries to kayak across to Norway, indeed a memorable moment in the history of Out Skerries.
The weather window was short so we scurried across to Lerwick, again under engine in no wind, but at least we could whale watch and were rewarded with the passing of a pod of orcas.
Lerwick was in full sun and gorgeous when we arrived. We knew it couldn't last, but we were fairly comfortable in the Albert dock on a visitor pontoon and in a good position to walk around the town despite it being windy and rainy throughout most of our visit. The museum is superb and we were in town at the time of the Fiddle Frenzy, a summer school for Shetland-style fiddlers. There is a wonderful concert hall/arts centre where the Frenzy was based and in the evenings there were concerts, followed by a "session" in the bar. We went to a wonderful concert of, yes, fiddle music, which included jaw-dropping solo performances by the "young fiddlers of the year", two girls, 13 and 14. The sessions were also awesome with about 50 fiddlers sitting in a semicircle and playing one tune after another, one person would start a tune and the others would all join in, everyone seemed to know the repertoire.
Lerwick also has the main outlets for Shetland wool products, from knitting supplies to finished garments so I was never short of interesting browsing and even a bit of shopping.
We were very impressed by the infrastructure in the Shetlands and provision of arts, culture, sport, education and social care. This is due to the wise spending of the oil industry income and it is so refreshing considering the degree of waste and corruption which often seems to follow in the footsteps of such industries. Norway was similar in this respect and it was interesting to have visited both areas.
By Saturday 5th August there was a good breeze from the north west and we were able to sail to the south end of Shetland mainland, anchor for the night and set off for the 30NM trip to Fair Isle, passing the "roost" (turbulent stretch of water) around Sumburgh Head, the southern tip of Shetland and across the stretch of water known as The Hole to Fair Isle.