Azi on Shetland?

Not me but we visited that harbour (at least I think it was that one) when we were in Lerwick in 2000. We were on our way to Norway in a Sealine 420 and hired a car to while away a bit of time whilst the weather settled down for a North Sea crossing. To our surprise we found a big Squaddie there. If memory serves it was a 55 and the only other large planing boat we saw in Shetland.

We did moor next to a 30 to 35 foot planing boat from the Faroes that had made the trip to Lerwick at displacement speeds over about 26 hours. We had great respect for them but took a rain check on the invite to change direction and visit Torshavn rather than Bergen!
 
burgundyben said:
That trip needs a write up on here.
Click to expand...

I did write it up part of it (the Norwegian bit) as an entry to MBM's Waypoint 2000 Competition. We weren't too disappointed to lose to a couple who "cruised" to Helsinki in a RIB! The article was subsequently published in MBM.

One of the difficulties of writing about the trip on here would be finding and then scanning sufficient photos to make it interesting. Unfortunately they are all pre digital and are somewhere in a storage container. I don't think the words alone would do justice to a fantastic trip - 3200 Nm over four months, Plymouth to Plymouth via Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium. Still the highlight of our boating experiences.

Richard.
 
Not me, I was in the Orkneys in 2014, but I have not taken Spare Thyme to Shetland yet. I would like to do that and then the jump to Bergen at some point but with a crossing like that you need a few boats together, I need to twist Divemaster's arm to see if he is up for it.

I am in Inverness not Peterhead
 
Spare Thyme said:
Not me, I was in the Orkneys in 2014, but I have not taken Spare Thyme to Shetland yet. I would like to do that and then the jump to Bergen at some point but with a crossing like that you need a few boats together, I need to twist Divemaster's arm to see if he is up for it.

I am in Inverness not Peterhead
Click to expand...

We managed it on our lonesome but it was a very quiet crossing. We saw a couple of oil industry service vessels and the odd rig in the distance. On the Norwegian side we passed close to a NATO excercise with about a dozen ships involved. The total distance from Lerwick to Hjellestad just south of Bergen was 220 miles. It took 10 hours in perfectly flat calm conditions, rather unusual in the north North Sea!
 
Spare Thyme said:
.......... I would like to do that and then the jump to Bergen at some point but with a crossing like that you need a few boats together, I need to twist Divemaster's arm to see if he is up for it.....
Click to expand...

Will be a ditch crawl this year to the West Coast ... and summer 2017 now appears to be dedicated to my daughter's wedding..., so will be a while before I can manage that one.

However, I do have the outline of a 5 Year cruise which will take in Norway (From Geiranger North of Bergen... near the beautiful Ålesund) and down to the Med... As I have cruised the length of Norway on own keel for several years (Between the age of 6 - 30 :) ), I can tell you that to do a proper job of it you really need a full summer-season over there exploring the main fjords and areas between Ålesund, down and over to the area around Oslo... Focussed transit IV to Shetland and over to Sotra (Bergen) ... leave the boat and prepare for a three week cruise, plus long Week-ends to take the journey down towards Sweden. Over-winter the Boat in Sweden (within the EU) and decide to go back to Norway or continue the journey East/Southwards... Happy to chat with anyone and willing to help with advise and guidance on what to see/where to go and where to moor the boat during intervals...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top