 |
| Two Garcias, side by side |
We arrived in Westray just ahead of two other yachts with Lava not far behind. With an American yacht already in the harbour, some rearranging was necessary to ensure we all fitted - with Lava having to raft up to us.
Rafting is a way of accommodating more than one boat along a pontoon or wall. The first boat ties up to the pontoon or wall and subsequent boats tie up to the first boat, then a third boat would tie to the second, and so on. There is etiquette regarding asking to raft, how to secure your boat the the raftee, how to then get ashore and how to exit the raft. Spike and Annemarie were able to give us some good pointers on being the first person into the raft.
 |
Squeezed into the little harbour filled with yachts, fishing boats and boats servicing the fish farms.
Those big white bags being loaded on the opposite dock - fish food! |
We went for a wander, enjoying the sun and the white, sandy beach. You could have been forgiven for thinking we had arrived in the Caribbean ... just don't dip in your toe. We had a great dinner at the pub.
 |
| Sandy beaches and clear, blue water |
 |
| Sturdy stone houses are scattered along Westray's wide harbour |
 |
| Walking along the road that rings the harbour |
 |
| Spike (and Rossi) consider upgrading their anchor |
Next morning, with Spike and Annemarie from Lava, we set out on our bikes to The Castle of Burrian on a puffin hunt.
 |
| A rest at 96 metres above sea level. Man, we un-cycle fit! |
 |
| Napoleon and Josephine are locked up at the old mill at the start of the Puffin Trail |
And find puffins we did! Hundreds of the little fellas wandering in and out of the wild flowers. They were not afraid and if we sat quietly, they just went about their business coming within metres. All these photos were taken with our fancy camera gear - our iPhones, so they were very close indeed!
 |
| They weren't wary of us at all |
 |
| Puffin pairs mate for life and burrow, or claim a vacant rabbit warren to hatch their puffling |
 |
| These two wandered 2-3 metres in front of us without any concern |
 |
| ... almost as if he likes being photographed. |
 |
| Really, really close |
We found a fabulous cafe within cycling distance and ate dinner overlooking the ubiquitous fields, stone walls and sheep.
 |
| What a sight to look out on over dinner! |
Planning for the next few days, we decided to skip a stop at Fair Isle as we had had the perfect puffin experience and some nasty weather was coming in. So next morning we set off, following Lava, north to Shetland.
 |
| There goes Lava - we will be along shortly! |
And please remember that Blogger posts your comment as anonymous if you don't have an account, so please sign off with your name so we know who you are!
Comments
Post a Comment