Spitsbergen 2013

Key amongst our achievements has been a full service of the main primary winches.  These operate at times under considerable loads; failure of either could be dangerous and, no less importantly, severely compromise our ability to set and trim sails.  Besides maintenance, we explored Lerwick's fascinating museum and enjoyed people~watching the various groups of quay walkers and other crews stopping by on journeys of their own.  We've been watched too and it is a sign of the times that the attendant of the dockside public conveniences had been watching our approach since rounding Sumburgh Head on Saturday night on his AIS terminal and therefore expecting our arrival!  I cannot think of another port in the world where initial tourist information is provided during one's first trip to the shoreside 'facilities'.

By Tuesday morning (28 May) it was apparent that the long awaited anchor was not going to materialise, so we opted for an alternative solution, topped up fuel and water and put to sea into an initially boisterous south-easterly breeze with a lumpy sea.   By evening the breeze had settled to a gentle but unhelpful northerly and we enjoyed our first night back at sea with a series of windshifts determining the direction of travel -none perfect.

Only in the Shetlands?