Haggis Tweed

13Jun13

It is difficult to make a long term plan as the weather changes so quickly; time to move on.

From Symbister we decide to make progress down the western side of Shetland and head for Brae in Busta Voe, somewhere secure from the forecast strong winds. Now, Brae as the crow flies is just a few miles away but unfortunately not if you are travelling by boat as a very small strip of land at the south of Sullom Voe is in the way. So, we set course north west for the racing tides of Yell Sound and then north to round the top of the mainland. An early start revealed thick fog from the previous day's rain so back to bed to reassess the situation at a more sensible hour. A sudden wind increase awoke us and the visibility improved to a safe distance, we were back on plan. Confidence rose as the locals rushed out in their fishing boats trying to catch the same tide.

The visibility never increased over a mile or so and we missed a lot of the dramatic scenery along the way just looming headlands out from the mist. As we passed between the Point of Fethaland and the Ramna Stacks a confluence of tides was trapping masses of fish, the terns and cormorants were feeding like crazy and as we passed over in the backs of our minds we thought: whale!? Our fellow travellers on Silent Wings had already reported seeing killer whales a day or two previously.

We sailed on without incident and as the wind and sea state inceased we fell into a groove and were beating as close to wind as we could touching over 8 knots at times. Arbalest took it in her stride and her beautifully shaped hull parted the way for us with no crashing and banging as can be experienced on some of the lighter boats around.

Brae has a good breakwater and adequate depth once inside. Two 16m hammerheads are available plus two 4m single finger pontoons if the local boats are out. Again, rings rather than cleats seem to be the norm on the pontoons which can make short-handed mooring a challenge in gusty weather.

The landscape here is very 'Scottish' lowlands with a loch or two thrown in. In the centre of Brae is Frankie's Chippy, the most northerly fish and chip shop in the UK and well worth a visit -- have a portion of Haggis Tweeds!
Big seas have been reported south of here around Papa Stour [open to the Atlantic] so despite very favourable winds we have decided to delay our journey and let things calm down a little hoping the wind will turn favourable again