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.
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