Diving Shetland
My backside is numb, my legs are dead and I am bored bored bored. Alone in the wheelhouse except for the music which I seem to have heard a thousand times before and the occasional fulmar who choose to ride the air currents swirling around our decks. Swells from the south east roll us 15 degrees, powerful but slow and the dark shape of Fair Isle is off our port beam. Ahead of us in the slowly darkening sky a shape appears, almost obscured by the misty low cloud on the horizon. Sumburgh head becomes discernable and the important milestone is reached. We are getting there.
West of Orkney heading to Kirkwall
Pulling into dock in the silent stillness of 3am, the sky already as light as day our ropes are made fast on the stout black bollards of the pier. Now comes the deep and welcome sleep of the journey, catching up on what was overdue, stressing about the open sea, the distance from our comfort zones having robbed us of rest for some time previous.
Lerwick is a lovely town, its long and winding street with a plethora of different shops, the industrial side spread away to the north where all manner of buildings stand harsh against the blue of the sea and the dark green of the land. The harbour has so many small basins, piers and wharfs that it is almost fractal in its appearance. Seagulls perch around, lazily watching for anything edible and calling with their screaming cries when there is.
Rocks above, jellyfish below
Monday comes along and we depart to dive the Pionersk, a Latvian Klondiker which is very broken up along the shore just south of Lerwick. The visibility was comparatively low for the site, at around 6m, but still a very nice dive. I jump in for a snorkel in the surface interval and get some photographs of the million jellyfish which seem to slowly pulsate their way around the oceans.
The rest of the week goes smoothly, only hampered by thick rolling fog which in some cases made the water clearer than the air!
The draw to go diving is very strong, the clear water, the blue skies and sun all making it look so perfect.
I guess we will see what the next few weeks bring.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
marvellous picture with the jellyfish …! I only get to see the expired ones which are washed up on our beaches on the west side …!
July 11th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
beautiful pics as usual DoaD—you won’t get me in the water if there are any sign of jellyfish–they are nice to look at but i hate them
July 11th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Very interesting story, and beautiful photos.
July 11th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
The pic with the jellyfish is quite ethereal and otherworldly. I’m sorry your backside is numb…
July 13th, 2009 at 10:34 am
I suppose diving is one way to get out of the fog!! Great photos, love the jellyfish one with two halves.
July 13th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Thanks for enduring the boredom - we had a great time up there - the diving was superb, although the Pionersk wasn’t the best of the week! And yes, despite the fog, it was just about perfect! Cheers to you and Hazel - hope that you get a dive or two in!
July 13th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Nice blog, DoaD, but don’t you have an autopilot so you can get up and stroll around when you are on watch? Fun pic of the air/water interface. Some animals (fish, insects) have double eyes so they can use the upper eye in the air and the lower one under the water. Must be rather confusing, don’t you think? Hope you have a great diving week.
Er…. if the picture was taken West of Orkney, heading for Kirkwall, how come the land is west of your track (asuming you are coming from the North)?
July 13th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Might I suggest a mini brain glitch Barney. That looks like Hoy, so substitute one capital town for another, ie Lerwick for Kirkwall, and the geography makes sense.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Sounds OK to me, HB, maybe our DoaD was groggy from too much nitrogen bubblies as she blogged.
July 13th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Barney, the pic is taken looking out over the blunt end looking south, we are maybe next to Birsay when it was taken about to go in through Eynhallow Sound towards Kirkwall.
Hope that helps
H
July 14th, 2009 at 7:22 am
But DOad if you are going through Eynhllow Sound heading South then you surely cannot be West of Orkney??
July 14th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Why not? *puzzled&confused*
July 15th, 2009 at 7:00 am
sounds great fun h+h, wish i ws with you both, i am just home and chilling oot before going off to russia in a few weeks……..work and slave
July 17th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Barney, we are going north - the pic is looking over the stern.
Been up to Unst to Balta sound to try and dive the U-Boat up there but were beaten by swell and fog. Maybe next week….
July 17th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
I’ve waited a while to come back in, but I am as confused as Barney. To the west of Birsay heading north and about to turn into Eynhallow Sound; so far so good. However coming from Lerwick or Balta sound? Firstly I would expect a passage east of the islands to enter Kirkwall from the east via the String. Even if one chose to come westabout you would expect to be heading south along the west side of Rousay before turning into Eynhallow Sound. It looks like a passage from Stromness to Kirkwall to me. (or even Stromness to Lerwick)
July 17th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
It’s a man thing DoaD. Anally retentive lot…
July 17th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Thank you, Hyper B, for flanking fire. I don’t get it even after looking at a map. But who cares? Summer time and the river is easy…… I pass over the cat’s comment with the silence that it MERITS.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:04 am
This is far too nautical for an old git to understand,enjoy Shetland,send us some piccies of the islands,dont get wet!
July 24th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
We have included your blog in our guide Around The World.
The guide is both a record of old blogs and a listing of new blogs. Although originally arising from the “City Daily Photo Blog” lists this is an independent publication. Inclusion here does not imply that a blog qualifies for nor is officially a CDPB. Our criteria are that photographs mainly from and related to a specific geographical location (not necessarily a “city” but usually more specific than a whole country or region) are posted at dated intervals (not necessarily daily) and archives are kept which are readily searchable by date.
Please keep us informed of any changes to your details.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Ok to end the confusion …we were heading North from Stromness on passage to kirkwall via Eynhallow. the pic is taken looking south from our aft deck showing the west side of Hoy and Birsay hope that makes it clear …….
H
November 26th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
And you post that NOW! Can you imagine the torments that have suffered trying to get geography and photography to match??? My finger-nails … my nerves … my self-knowledge: all in tatters.
If we were in America I could sue you, Naaughty Skippy type Skippy Thinggg. Instead I shall just try to give you a guilty conscience. There! How come notification of Gerald’s comment and Skippy’s comment arrived today? That’s a mighty slow electron or two.
November 26th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I agree with barney–I was surprised when I received the notiification of comments on this post: Where are you now? What are you doing? and why have you stopped blogging??
November 26th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Gosh. I’m glad we got that cleared up…