Group Members: Catriona,
Phil Lloyd, Ian Bell, Roger Colman, Sheena Davies, Andy
Garland
Click for more photographs……
Shetland Islands
Day 1, 11th June and
before by Catriona
We all travelled to Shetland on different days. I travelled up on the 10th to Aberdeen to catch the overnight ferry with Ian and Andy. Trip planning for day 1 was finalised in a burger bar while we waited for the ferry. The arrival of the tail end of tropical storm Alex scuppered any kayaking the following day and the rest of the group were messaged with our plans for arrival day, sightseeing until we could get into the accommodation at 1 pm followed by a walk for anyone interested. We met a few of the group on the ferry and took the opportunity to sample some beers from Orkney and Shetland.
On arrival we went to Peeries café, where we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast; even though the menu was entertainingly inflexible the food was great. We then visited a variety of places in Lerwick including the excellent free museum.
We all met at the accommodation, with two people arriving by bike, not for the last time cycling into a 30mph headwind. Andy, Ian Phil, Roger and I went out for an afternoon stroll. We found a bizarre collection of garden gnomes and garden plants in the middle of nowhere.
Although
the coast around Muckle Roe was beautiful, it got increasingly wet and windy,
and we decided to cut the walk short.
Roger also mentioned that he needed to pick his walking companions more
carefully.
Back at Voxter Outdoor Centre we settle in and looked for a place to paddle the next day sheltered from the strong south-westerly winds (20-25 gusting over 30mph) and the big swell caused by ex-storm Alex.
This was assisted by a selection of local refreshments, and luckily due to the timing of low tide a late start the day after.
Shetland Islands
Day 2, 12th June Ronas Voe by Phil Lloyd
On our first full
day, and from the base at Voxter Voe
hostel near the village of Brae, we had maps, guidebooks and weather forecast
out with so many options for paddles around the stunning weather-beaten
coastline of Shetland. The wind forecast
was 22 mph from SW and 2+ meter swell, so this ruled out anything on the more
rugged west coast. With Catriona’s prior
knowledge and a few tips from a guidebook, we chose Ronas
Voe around high water. Its combination of NW/SE aspect and promise
of a visual feast was the right choice to optimise the scenery to shelter
ratio, which became a common theme for the week, and we were not
disappointed. Parking at The Blade, it
looked like it could be a slog into the wind, which was funnelling from NW down
the voe, but after the first km of “head down, warm
up” paddling, the wind abated and we entered a new
world of sea stacks, arches and caves.
There were mazes of
paddle-throughs, glistening blue waters, caves with varying amounts of
headroom, rafts of puffins, inquisitive seals, noisy oystercatchers,
dive-bombing arctic terns, and a whole lot more.
We could see the ocean smashing against the
rocks on the opposite side, but there was little to no swell and just a light
breeze where we were. After rounding
Stack of Sumra we had lunch on a beach and a further explore on the way back,
gentle assisted by a tail wind.
We covered a modest 11km but there was so much to see within that
range, and it was an excellent start to the trip.
Shetland Islands Day 3, 13th June,
North Roe by Ian Bell.
Having considered the forecasts for the day, the west coast of
the island was not an option. So, we decided that we would look to paddle
somewhere on the east coast of the mainland island as that may offer some
protection from the F4 gust 5 SW / Westly wind. We chose North Roe as the coast
on either side of the Bay looked like the most interesting area on the east
offering some opportunity for rock hopping and caves. The trip North of the bay
is documented in the guidebook as the end section of a trip around the Fethaland peninsula.
We arrived at the recommended parking area to find it was quite small and occupied by several boat trailers old cars and the like. So, we explored and found a suitable place on the other side of the bay on a narrow road but with ample parking next to the community garden just a short walk up the lane.
The
wind conditions looked slightly higher than predicted but with little swell and
the forecast due to improve as the day progressed, we decided to set off and
give it a go. I briefed the group that we would need to pop our noses out and
then stay close to shore.
As we approached the headland, I realised that the wind was stronger than we had felt when on the land, so, I decided that we should stop at the headland and practice turning into the wind before committing the group to the planned paddle as we would be against the wind on our return.
As some found turning into this strong wind a challenge, I felt that this paddle was not a good option and that we should return to the bay. Once we had got everyone together, we set back around the headland and had a hard paddle back to the start.
Once we had all
safely returned to the bay, we had lunch and a quick debrief and decided that
walking would be a better plan for the afternoon. A couple of people went off
sightseeing and the rest of us walked up to the top of the headland overlooking
the coast we had planned to 
paddle.
We
agreed that we should possibly try again later in the week.
Ian Bell.
Link to video of the paddle out
Shetland Islands Day Four, Tuesday 14th June 2022 by Roger Colman
Unfortunately, another very windy day on the
island of Shetland. The various weather
forecast apps all had various, differing weather predictions, none of them
good. With some of us still hopeful for
a paddle it fell upon Ian Bell to pull the proverbial rabbit from the hat. Ian delved into his 'Old Sea Dog Box of
Tricks' and opted for the tried and tested method of, yes, you guessed it,
looking out of the window.
Sure enough, an
energetic paddle across Voxter Voe,
that's Voxter Bay to you and me, was possible just a
couple of hundred yards from our accommodation.
So, Ian, Catriona, Andy, Phil’ Becka and I
carried our kayaks and kit the short distance to the water's edge. It was here I was enthusiastically informed
we were 'Going on a Otter
hunt'. (Apparently there are no bears on Shetland.)
The Sea State was 3 - slight, 0.30- to
1-meter-high waves, and the wind Force 4 - moderate breeze, small waves,
frequent white horses. It was a tough paddle across
to South Ness with some tasty side on waves adding to the excitement. Here it was a little more sheltered as we started
the otter hunt in earnest while paddling the shoreline back from Skipadock to *Mavis Grind, around to Scarva Taing and back home to the Voxter
Outdoor Centre.
I enjoyed this
couple of hours paddling the local water and the initial crossing of the Voe (Bay) involved some physical effort in slightly
challenging conditions. Unfortunately we
might as well have been on a bear hunt as the number of otters seen by me was
a big fat zero.
Later that afternoon, Andy; Catriona and Phil
asked Ian and I if we would like to join them on a gentle walk. I declined, knowing that Andy had, a couple
of weeks earlier, walked the whole 177 miles of the Offa's Dyke Path. Catriona will be walking all the 268 miles of
the Pennine Way shortly after this paddling trip and Phil, among other things,
is a Mountain Leader. Ian took up their
offer and on his return I was smugly aware I had made
the right decision to stay behind with a nice cup of tea. Those three have no
idea of what a 'Gentle Walk' should be.
*Mavis Grind is
only 33 meters wide and the narrowest point on Shetland. This narrow strip of
land separates the Atlantic Ocean to the West and the North Sea to the East.)
Cheers Roger
Shetland Islands Day Five, 15th June North Roe by Sheena Davies
On Wednesday 15th
June, Phil, Roger, Ian, Andy, Julian, Becca, Catriona
and I set off from the little pier at North Roe to explore the coast between
that beach and the Neap of Skea. There was a pleasant
breeze, and we were able to do some rock hopping, cave exploring and bird
watching.
We had lunch on a
beach near the Stack of the Rettuvie before rounding
the Neap of Skea (a rock!) and heading back. We
watched a huge oil ship sailing through Yell Sound from Sullom
Voe.
A thoroughly good
paddle from 10.30am until 3pm. Thank you everyone. I had a wonderful swim in
the sea back at the pier but could not tempt anyone to join me!
Shetland
Islands, Day Six, 16th June, Vementry and Papa Little
by Andy Garland
The
day began with a slightly more optimistic outlook to the weather than had been
the case for the last few days. We were promised a mere Force 3, gusting
4 wind from the southwest, and the westerly swell was
meant to be a feeble ripple of 2m. We had already earmarked a
potential paddle on the west coast that (in theory) should be sheltered from a south-westerly
breeze and westerly swell – the 
north
coast of Vementry island.
We
assembled at the fish farm at the hamlet of Vementry on the mainland and made a short downhill carry of our
boats and kit to a convenient slipway (Beca and Julian had made an earlier
start to go diving from their SOT’s). Once on the water, our group
of 8 paddled
across Uyea Sound (which was only about 20m wide
at its narrowest point) to the south-eastern side of Vementry island. From there we
proceeded in an anti-clockwise direction around the coast, keeping a keen lookout
for otters. We were soon rewarded with numerous sightings of the elusive
aquatic mammal. Firstly, we spotted a large group of the White Long-Haired
Otter (Otterus sheepus). Those in the group with the
best eyesight also spied a pair of Long-Nosed Otter (Oterus horseus). Finally, as we rounded a
corner, we came across a group of Giant Otter (Oterus cowus). Ian also reckoned he saw a
Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), but no one else saw it so he was
probably imagining things.
A Long-Nosed Otter
We
carried on along the coast of the island – rock hopping and exploring the numerous
caves, stacks and nooks and crannies. We also made a slight detour to the
Holmes of Uyea Sound (a group of skerries) where we
found Becca’s and Julian’s SOT’s anchored close to
shore. We saw bubbles on the
water’s surface which proved that they were still breathing somewhere down in
the depths, and we got on our way.
The
conditions so far had been perfect – sheltered from the wind and swell.
However, as expected, things got a wee bit livelier once we popped our noses around the
northern tip of the island, which was exposed to the swell. A few people
went around the Swarbacks Skerry just off the northern headland in
somewhat choppy conditions, while the others waited in calmer water before we
re-grouped and paddled
into Northra Voe for lunch. We then rapidly
made our way ‘point-to-point’
back to our original launching spot.
Here we waved goodbye to Sheena, who had to catch a ferry, and said hello to
Becca, who swapped her SOT for a kayak to join us on the 2nd part of our paddle –
around the Island of Pappa Little. We made our way to the Brage Ness
headland and then made the short crossing to Moo Ness on Pappa Little.
From there we made our way in an anti-clockwise direction around the island, in
calm sheltered conditions. Our group of keen-eyed nature enthusiasts made
several sightings of White Long-Haired Otter, but there were no more sightings
of the imaginary Eurasian otter. We explored the caves and cliffs near
Moo Ness and then returned to the slipway via our outward route.
Although
the weather had prevented us from exploring the best of the Shetland Isles, the
paddle was still a fantastic outing. We went about 25km, rock-hopped to
our hearts content, circumnavigated 1 ½ islands and saw at least 3 different
types of Otter. What more could you want!
Shetland Islands, Day Seven,
17th June, Wind and Rescue Practice by Catriona
With another really rubbish day
forecast, conditions of F4 gusting F6 and possibly
higher later in the day, we decided to make the most of the onshore wind onto
the safe beach in Voxter Voe
next to our accommodation and practice turning and rescuing in the wind. Well,
this had seemed a great idea the night before during our whisky tasting. Six of
us, Andy, Roger, Phil, Ian, Becka and I decided to
join the practice session.
We managed to turn and tow into the wind quite well and then
started to capsize and rescue practice as the wind
started to increase towards a constant F5/F6. It became clear quickly that our
group communication needed to improve, that we needed to get better and quicker
at towing people out of danger and not let go of paddles or boats as
reconnecting these with the swimmer was extremely difficult in these
conditions.
We also learnt that we needed to manage the tow lines
better. I had set off for one practice with my tow line on my deck as everyone
else had wanted to move away from the beach we were washed up on.
Unfortunately, it was my turn to swim, with my rope in the way and two more
attempting to anchor the rescue boat we got very tangled up. We also learnt you
need to be careful removing tow lines as we had an unplanned swim while a line
got tangled around a boat as the rope was being stowed.
Ian having watched us make our various attempts at rescues still agreed to
swim, luckily for him we were a bit better organised by now, and we got two tow
lines on quickly, while Phil completed the rescue.
This exercise really made me think
about the minimum numbers needed and the skills and experience required in a
group before paddling round cliffs.
By now the wind was probably F6,
and as far as I was concerned paddling into the wind and manoeuvring even in
the safe location had become exceedingly difficult and
just keeping upright felt like an achievement and more importantly it was definitely time for a late lunch.
Shetland
Islands, Day Eight, 18th June, by Catriona
Last day and yes, yet more wind. The forecast was F5 gusting
F8/9, so I was concerned about driving with boats on the car rather than
paddling, and also
increasingly concerned about the ferry crossing home. Each driver and their
passengers set off for a day of sightseeing, except for Becka
who felt she needed another cycle into a headwind.
Visits were made to Lerwick Fort and
museum, Sumburgh Head with its lighthouse, WW2 radar
station history, and bird reserve and Jarlshoff; a
historical site, continuously occupied for 4000 years. Both of the latter were on the southern point of the
island and the waves battering the coast were quite impressive.
The fulmars and puffins managed to fly and manoeuvre in the
wind, although this was difficult for them, and landing could take several
attempts.
Andy, Ian, and I went off to
find a café to wait for the ferry home, 
unfortunately (especially for Ian) they
were all full and we had to go to a bar instead; the
rather inaccurately named Grand Hotel, which Mark and David had stayed in
earlier in the week. However, alcohol and sea sickness pills are good at
making me sleepy and both along with my ear plugs helped with the rough ferry
trip home. However, it made me grateful to Ian who with some help Andy’s drove
the long way home.
It was great to see everyone at last despite the inclement
weather, maybe another year we might be luckier.