Updates

Well its been a few weeks now since we have updated the blog, for those of you following us on facebook you might have seen the latest updates, for those not already following you can see the updates by clicking here.

The Baltasound SWI very kindly had invited us to do a little presentation of our time in Norway 2014, Daniel as much of a public speaker as me therefore disappeared back to Orkney leaving me to do it! After being supplied with some delicious cakes and sandwiches, luring me in to believing they might have changed their mind, it was time for me to give a talk. Hopefully I didn't bore the SWI too much! Thanks to them for having me along and appearing interested in spite of my shaky presentation! 

Its been a mixed bag of weather, but certainly for the past few days we have had some cold wintry weather. In all honesty from what I hear Unst doesn't suffer much more snow than we do in Papay, which is really very few showers through the year, with it rarely landing for long. So when it does snow, its a bit of a treat! At least its nice to look at from inside! 

Between snow and hail I've been able to progress with loading the boat. The new storage space, under the deck where the fuel tank was will be very useful. We have been through list after list of important things to bring, things which can be bought at a later date and things which are just simply a luxury we can't justify. With the additional space though we have been able to go through our wish list of items and add a few more luxuries and comforts. 

As we have previously described there are two inside areas aboard, the wheelhouse which has standing room for part of it, but no space to move about, and then there is the cabin area which is just over 6ft long and over 4ft at its widest point (less than 2ft towards the bow) and this has only about 2ft6 headroom. 

Despite the small area we have squeezed in a lot! Aboard we have a diesel heater, toilet, oven, hob, two inflatable kayaks, lotusgrill bbq, dehumidifier, inverter, stereo with surround sound to name just a few! Not so bad for a 23ft boat, and we both can fit too!! We luckily have our car here for just now and it has served as a great store while we reorganise! 

Daniel now aiming to rejoin me at the weekend is bringing with him a  few more of the bits and bobs we had previously jettisoned. Getting from one island in an archipelago to another is no straight forward business, and he will be around 24hours from door to door, with three boat, three buses and one plane journey! I will make the trip in to Shetland mainland to meet him in Lerwick and help him with the bags!!

When I got thoroughly disillusioned with packing the boat with everything from clothes to cans of beans I went a few walks, seeing more of Unst. I am just in fact back from a moonlit walk along the shore here in Baltasound, the sky is clear and the puddles are frosted over, but with no wind behind the icy temperatures I didn't even need a jacket on. Apart from looking more at Baltasound my highlight was a walk down to Sandwick beach, Eastings. With the road far away the only clue letting you know you are in modern times is the abandoned and now ruinous croft houses watching over the bay, suggesting time has moved on, and so has man. I often wonder when I see dilapidated houses who last lived there, did they know on their last night the house would never be slept in again? The surrounding croft houses are not the only abandoned settlements there, in fact Sandwick, as much of Unst, is home to many archaeological points of interest with a Viking longhouse, and burial mound. 

I'll certainly be returning to Sandwick again soon, and look forward to showing Daniel when he is back.

Vikings, Puffins and clangers!

Yesterday while Daniel made his way south to Orkney, to assist his mother for a few weeks, people were heading to Uyeasound. Uyeasound is a small village in the south of Unst, and at this time of year is annually home to Uyeasound Up Helly Aa!

A sunny mostly dry day, it seemed perfect for the evenings events, I took the opportunity to walk around Baltasound during the day having heard snow and rain were on there way for the next few days.

This was my first Up Helly Aa, having missed the bigger Up Helly Aa in Lerwick a few weeks ago there was still luckily the smaller local ones to come. 

Up Helly Aa is an annual fire festival marking the end of yule and is celebrated throughout Shetland. I'm afraid I through my own admission knew very little about it, with nothing similar held in Orkney it had just skipped me by for some years. 

I made my way down to Uyeasound really having no idea what to expect. Following on from some fireworks the village came alive with hundreds of Guizers, led by the Jarl with fire lit torces, they marched singing and shouting past the crowds watching, dressed in everything from viking costumes to nuns, puffins, spacemen and even the clangers! 

On their return they throw their torches setting the galley (replica viking longship) ablaze! Quite a sight!! 

With Norwick (A village in the North of Unst) holding there Up Helly Aa in a few weeks we will soon be used to them!

 sorry for the poor photo quality!

Happy Birthday Amanda

Happy Birthday Amanda

Fuel tank removal

Leaky tank ready for removal

Thursday brought the promised calm and dry and we decided to go for it, taking the deck up for the leaky fuel tank removal. The deck is made up of three sections two fibreglass cased buoyancy tanks which form the outer sections of the deck, in to the hull. Then a plywood centre, under which was the leaky fuel tank, and previously another fuel tank which we removed for added storage space. The deck was cut free and lifted and we were able to remove the tank with out too much difficulty.
We have decided not to replace the under deck tank, and use this space for storage too, adding a deck hatch in due course.
As we do not need to carry too much fuel at one time besides the crossings either way we will use smaller on deck tanks whilst we are in Norway, along with the large on deck tank for the crossings. With the tanks we have we still have capacity for 1300 ltr of fuel, enough for any of our planned journeys! This also was beneficial as we could remove some of the pipes and tubes leading through the wheelhouse and will mean there is absolutely no petrol in the living space.
With tank removed we were able to tidy up some of the cabling and replace the deck before dark, also taking the time to make some minor adjustments to the engine box. With the deck replaced we are once more ready for any weather windows which might arrive, in the mean time we are continuing to explore Unst.

Tank removed

Today there has been a diver assessing the damage to the pontoon after the storms and we hope there hasn't been too much. We will try to make use of today, a relatively calm and dry day to finish arranging and packing the boat, with the new space we will be able to make better use of our interior lockers.

Calm after Gertrude!

Sunset after the storms

During the full force of Storm Gertrude we sheltered in the car and once brave enough made our way to the cafe for a hot cuppa. It was all we could do to walk in the winds and we have since heard varying strengths recorded, all well over 100mph.
When we returned to the boat late afternoon we noticed the gangway leading to the pontoon had fallen off and it appears that one of the chains holding the pontoon had snapped. With the help of some locals and a JCB we were able to get back aboard in the evening and with winds dying down we stayed aboard that night, while the storm dissipated. We were again touched by peoples kindness, willing to lend a hand and even offer us a place to stay for the night should we have needed it.
With such strong wind there has been a lot of damage throughout the island. People are now, sadly having to reattach, rebuild and restore homes, sheds and walls.
Following close behind Gertrude came Henry, thankfully not felt too bad in Shetland.

View towards Hagdale Horse Mill

Thankful to be able to get out and about again when the winds had died down we took a walk around Baltasound, walking by Hagdale Quarries and Horse mill, a Horse powered mill which was used to crush Chromite in the late 1800's early 1900's. We walked back via the Keen Of Hamar Nature reserve, in summer home to some very rare flowers, one of which is only naturally found in Unst, but as we walked through it in winter it was a rocky, snowy barren land.

Today we took a walk from the Belmont ferry terminal exploring the more southern end of the island, with the wind set to drop later this week we might get an opportunity to lift the deck and sort our fuel tank issue, all being well we can get the deck up and down in one day, minimising the disruption.