Shetland itinerary help?

[weustace]

On Saturday evening, I sail for a fortnight away with the general idea being to depart Ullapool for Thurso via the Shetlands and Orkneys, this of course weather permitting... Long range forecast looks like we stand a decent chance but it will be breezy–the boat is in good condition and has just returned from the Faeroes close hauled in F6-7, so fairly tough. She is 40', 2m draft, and will have an experienced crew of 8.

Though some aboard have cruised the area before, I haven't: what would veterans of the North advise for a relatively short Shetlands itinerary, in particular? Current thinking is to daysail to somewhere like Stornoway and then try and make passage directly to the Shetlands, but obviously detailed planning will have to wait until a better forecast is available.

I am particularly interested in advice on the best spots to visit; I have been examining the CCC's Shetland pilot, but, though navigationally helpful, hasn't helped me slim down where to go.

If weather is sufficiently settled (which currently seems questionable, I admit), should we consider anchoring off Sule Skerry or Fair Isle? Is landing on the former even permitted? I gather it's a Special Protected Area (for bird conservation), but can't find any bylaws prohibiting landing or any indication that SPA status necessarily stops one visiting outright.

Currently thinking is that by the end of the first week or so we should be heading towards (if not already in) the Orkneys, and thus have covered much of the distance to Thurso/Scrabster, leaving "only" the Pentland Firth to be negotiated!

Pitfalls of passage making in the area that the Shetlands virgin may not be aware of are also appreciated; I understand there is a lot of oil and fishing related traffic, and would be interested to know more about traffic concentrations if there is anything beyond the ordinary in certain areas.

 

[NormanS]

I doubt if you're giving yourself sufficient time for a meaningful visit to Shetland, (note no "s" at the end), but you'll get some good sailing. When I went there, I sailed clockwise right round, but calling in and stopping in dozens of places, but I had time.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I doubt if you're giving yourself sufficient time for a meaningful visit to Shetland, (note no "s" at the end), but you'll get some good sailing. When I went there, I sailed clockwise right round, but calling in and stopping in dozens of places, but I had time.

I agree. Over the last few years I’ve been doing a lot of work in Orkney and Shetland. Two weeks exploring Orkney wouldn’t be enough.

Orkney and Shetland isles are places with very different characters.

My answer would be: look at the weather, look at the chart and go look for yourself. You’ll find a warm welcome in my experience. Be prepared to be fairly self sufficient away from the main centres of population.

When you do get to Shetland, the museum is Scalloway is worth a visit. Try reading “The Shetland Bus” first.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/295598.The_Shetland_Bus

 

[weustace]

Many thanks both; I think in that case we will aim to potter over there fairly early on and see where we end up!

Much appreciated as always.
William

 

[Minchsailor]

The trouble with Shetland is that there is just so much to do. It is also long and thin which means that in a brief visit you can only really do either the east side or the west side.

On the west side St Ninian's is a good anchorage, either side of the tombolo depending on wind.

Scallowaay has a fantastic fishy restaurant, also short bus ride to Lerwick Tescos for stores.

The various voes are interesting.

Papa Stour has cliff scenery

Vermentry Sound and the surrounding voes have a multitude of places to visit, and some challenging navigation.

If you want to do the east side, don't miss the Out Skerries.

 

[davidej]

Do stop at Fair Isle on the way.

 

[Sgeir]

If you want to do the east side, don't miss the Out Skerries.

Oot Skerries is a must, and, if you're really lucky, visit the cinema if there's a showing. Doesn't matter what the film is, the picture house is amazing.

You might be lucky with the weather, but the frequency and ferocity of the gales may have you pinned down for days. The voes generally provide great shelter.

 

[weustace]

Thanks all for your advice. The trip was an enjoyable one; a brief account is below. Unfortunately our time in Shetland was very limited but we loved what we saw! I should note that, as I left the house, I happened to pick up from the doormat the September edition of YM, which holds an article on cruising the Northern Isles. For anyone else contemplating a similar trip, here is a summary of our expedition, in a Beneteau First 40.7.

We departed Ullapool on Sunday 2 in a force 7 for Stornoway; I thought it was a fairly smooth crossing all considered, but the stomachs of two crew members did not agree. Fortunately the second mate appeared immune to seasickness (and is a medic in any case) and they were soon installed in the saloon with a bucket each...although one must admire his nobility in tending the sick down below, I was less impressed by his dexterity in dropping one of the two buckets overboard while emptying it. It was subsequently replaced with a saucepan, and I ensured that the washing up was very thorough before dinner.

The next day, with the wind much abated and a flat sea in the Minch, we set sail for Shetland—unfortunately one crew thought they might have to leave us for personal reasons after information received while on passage, so we put in at Westray, a charming spot, after a very pleasant 24hr passage. The night sky was stunning for the first few hours, with dolphins and a little phosphorescence entertaining us as Cape Wrath light lingered persistently off the quarter...

Westray was quite a pleasant place to visit; we were most taken with the castle, and purchased some diesel from the crab processing plant (!). The yacht pontoon there is seasonal and is generally removed at a weather-dependent juncture in September, in order to let all the fishing boats into the harbour before the first big storms blow through. The harbour at Pierowall is undergoing a major revamp at present, which will ultimately present electricity on the pontoon; facilities were good, if rather saturated by a crew of eight!

Passage to Shetland was uneventful apart from some pair trawlers; we were going to clear ahead of the first pair we saw, when they seemed to change course. Bearings were taken on them for some time before we decided to retrace our course and clear behind them—of course this was the moment the wind went from F3 to F6. As we pulled down our reefs, I worried about the length of net they were towing, but eventually passed a fair distance behind the trawlers without any concerns. We had no sooner put the kettle on after this incident than another pair materialised from the other side; fed up by this stage with the AIS-free vessels I hailed them on the VHF and was pleasantly surprised to receive an immediate response—full credit to them for good radio watch, and it seems good visual lookout.

The crab processing plant at Westray turned out to be the first of several industrial locations I would pick for "quiet spots"; we dropped anchor a bit before sunset in one of the many tributaries of Gruting Voe, which the executive team aboard (as it were) had decided looked promising. A study of a different pilot book, however, revealed its view of the place as "Generally uninteresting"—there was a mussel farm, a wind turbine and a large industrial shed to look at, but I must say I quite liked it, as the scenery was still stunning.

Papa Stour was next on the agenda, and we anchored in Hamna Voe after some confusion over the pilotage—the book suggested a gap in the middle, whereas in fact there were two gaps with a shoal patch in the middle. I trusted my instincts after a bit of investigation and went with the NE gap...this proved correct, as there was no crunch, and we explored the island and it's magnificent sea caves and stacks before making passage to Swarbacks Minn for the night. Keen to avoid the industrial experiences of previous anchorages, I let the other person with significant command experience choose a pretty spot, rather than deploying my talents in this direction. Folly! We found ourselves at the top of Busta Voe, next to the town of Brae, which, though not unattractive, is not the most beautiful place from the water. The wind blew hard that night, and as the sun set the stars—and, more visibly, a large blue sign advertising the local Co-Op—came out.

Just as I got into the island cruising life, we had to leave, and our next stop was Scalloway, to reprovision (as suggested above) by hitch-hike and taxi return from Lerwick Tesco. The Yacht Club was very friendly and the bar was open late, though we only went in for a drink in mid-afternoon. The pontoon held much more water than advertised in the pilot book; we lay on the hammerhead and from memory there was about 6-7m CD, but I did not do a reduction to soundings so take this with a pinch of salt. Electricity and water available.

We made passage back to Orkney the next day, expecting no wind at all. There was also a bit of fog in the forecast for the NW of Shetland; funnily enough this materialised about 20nm S of Shetland, and we found ourselves in about 100m visibility, but at least we were sailing! The fog patch lasted a good 4nm or so, but we popped out intact. We took one of the two visitors' mooring buoys in Calf Sound, off Eday, that night; a stunningly beautiful spot, especially as we arrived, with the imposing and geologically varied cliffs shrouded in relief fog (haar? not quite...). Tides run very fast in the sound—I was quite impressed to see about 6kn, this 4 days from springs.

Passage next day was to Stronmess via the Westray Firth, which was uneventful but rough in F7 and "moderate to rough" sea state, which I would say was definitely on the latter side, and we were holed up in the rather pleasant environs of Stromness Marina for the rest of the week, before bashing out of Hoy Sound at slack water on Friday, again against a F7. The sea state was rough, and the hour or so it took us to reach the 50m contour must have put years on me, but once in deeper water we lost the engine and had a fast, if choppy, sail to Scrabster, where our adventure came to a close and we handed the boat over to another crew.

Thanks again to the above posters for your advice—it was most useful and much appreciated.

William

 

[NormanS]

Glad that you had such a good, though brief, trip. Thanks for coming back and sharing your experiences. Next time.......?

 

[weustace]

Next time.......?

The crew were keen to visit Rona Voe, with its promised high cliffs and mountainous terrain, and go hill walking etc. I would very much like to sail round Muckle Flugga/Out Stack—it was a shame we couldn't do so, as the boat is performing a circumnavigation of the British Isles (having left Southampton in May) and it's a pity we couldn't quite do the northernmost bit, but we comfortably hit 60 degrees N. A stop at Fair Isle would also be good. I agree one could definitely spend another week or two round the islands without getting bored.

We also enjoyed the solitude—though fish farms and fishing vessels were everywhere, of course, we did not see another yacht anywhere between leaving Stornoway and arriving in Stromness!

 

[john_morris_uk]

The crew were keen to visit Rona Voe, with its promised high cliffs and mountainous terrain, and go hill walking etc. I would very much like to sail round Muckle Flugga/Out Stack—it was a shame we couldn't do so, as the boat is performing a circumnavigation of the British Isles (having left Southampton in May) and it's a pity we couldn't quite do the northernmost bit, but we comfortably hit 60 degrees N. A stop at Fair Isle would also be good. I agree one could definitely spend another week or two round the islands without getting bored.

We also enjoyed the solitude—though fish farms and fishing vessels were everywhere, of course, we did not see another yacht anywhere between leaving Stornoway and arriving in Stromness!

Only a week or two? I've spent weeks up in those lovely waters and want to take our own boat up there to explore properly. The locals are friendly and it's amazingly remote from the rest of civilisation yet very much a part of the UK. There's a new distillery (or a re-opened one?) on Orkney that I haven't visited yet.

 

[weustace]

Only a week or two? I've spent weeks up in those lovely waters and want to take our own boat up there to explore properly. The locals are friendly and it's amazingly remote from the rest of civilisation yet very much a part of the UK. There's a new distillery (or a re-opened one?) on Orkney that I haven't visited yet.

Quite right—I fear the pressures of work are such I'm unlikely to spend more than a fortnight in one cruising area in the near future, having yet to see much of the rest of Britain by yacht, but I would return again. It's a long way from the South Coast in a 24'er, so not sure I'll make it in my own vessel in the near future, but I agree it's a lovely place. The Orkney breweries are also good, and we made it through a large variety of the "Orcadian Ales"—if we go back, there is apparently another brewery too, with about 9 different beers on offer! We did not sail much of Orkney, and especially the N Isles offer scope for further exploration, though we've seen about all we wanted to see on the mainland and Hoy (and were advised by a local we know that we'd seen most of the bits of interest). I would like to go to the steam/industrial museum at Lyness when it reopens, too, but it is sadly closed until 2020, I believe. I didn't mean to belittle either Shetland or Orkney—they appear to be phenomenal cruising grounds, and I look forward to returning.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Quite right—I fear the pressures of work are such I'm unlikely to spend more than a fortnight in one cruising area in the near future, having yet to see much of the rest of Britain by yacht, but I would return again. It's a long way from the South Coast in a 24'er, so not sure I'll make it in my own vessel in the near future, but I agree it's a lovely place. The Orkney breweries are also good, and we made it through a large variety of the "Orcadian Ales"—if we go back, there is apparently another brewery too, with about 9 different beers on offer! We did not sail much of Orkney, and especially the N Isles offer scope for further exploration, though we've seen about all we wanted to see on the mainland and Hoy (and were advised by a local we know that we'd seen most of the bits of interest). I would like to go to the steam/industrial museum at Lyness when it reopens, too, but it is sadly closed until 2020, I believe. I didn't mean to belittle either Shetland or Orkney—they appear to be phenomenal cruising grounds, and I look forward to returning.

I didn't think you were belittling them so don't take my comments the wrong way. Don't tell too many people how lovely they are though, they'll all want to go... Although lack of home 'marina' comforts in most places might put a few off!