Wild in Fair Isle...

Our ferry to Fair Isle was an MFV - Motor Fishing Boat - built speecifically for the role 40 years ago. In the 1980's I drove a similar but bigger version as a patrol vessel in Carlingford Loch, Northern Island. The Good Shepherd which carried us to Fair Isle was very uncomfortable. We had the 'breakfast Special'of scrambled eggs and smoked slamon not long before boarding and once out of the lee of Shetland this ended up in a bag as I 'chundered' my way across. Worse weather was expected overnight - we were wild camping as the hotel had been burnt down a few months ago, the Skipper suggested we hunker down behind a wall to prtect from the expected southerly gale. It was a wild wet night and it was still raining in the morning.

Fair Isle houses 50 ish people, a kirk, a chaple, a small shop, 2 light houses, an airport or should I say an air strip, 1 road which is hilly and a dock. We checked it out in the rain. The skipper saw us and invited us into his house for coffee, we bougt food which we ate in the shed at the airport and retired to our tents by 2pm.  The weather  cleared by about 5pm intime for us to cook up some noodles ans curry sauce. It is a wild rugged island, remote but I guess peaceful in many ways.

We were down at the dock by 0630 to catch the ferry to Sunborough. They had taken the boat out of the water - apparently safer when adverse weather is expected. One of the passengers with us was a young girl - maybe 10, who fell and broke her arm the previous night so it was strapped, she now had a 3 hour uncomfortable boat ride before a 25 mike ride to Lerick. The trip back was OK. Stern seas but still rolling a lot, however I kept my breakfast to myself.

We landed at the southern end of Shetland where there is a large airport - serving the oil industry I guess. we headed towards the light house to find another answer on our Cycle Quest. There is a Sperm Whale skull near the lighthouse apparently washed up a few years ago. Unusual as most whales in the area are Minke.

We headed north via the west coast via St Ninians Isle which is connected to the mainland by a shell-sand tombolo - sand spit - this was another answer on the cycle quest. It was a fantastic coastline, white sand and dramatic.

The terrain certainly tests the legs and the wind has been 20knotts since we arrived but from the south - we are heading north so are now getting help. We are in a 'Comumity' run campsite on the east coast at levenwick, 15 miles south of Lerwick. The wind had just dried out our tents, we had just done our washing and were going to hang it out and it is raining again. we've done about 70 miles cycling so far - most of it up steep hills. All is well.