We like Burravoe, but...

 Our plan for today was to have a look at the Old Haa museum, then get some essentials from the shop close to it, before sailing to Unst to anchor overnight.

As we walked along the pontoon this morning we met a local who had been out in his sport fishing boat, and already come back. “It’s a bit lumpy out there. I was nearly sick.” My enthusiasm for the afternoon part of the plan plummeted. The forecast for the day was exactly the same as yesterday, except for mention of an occasional force 6 in the far east of the area (over 60 miles from Lerwick).

Burravoe pier and marina

 

Julian was still keen, and I do want to visit the boat museum, so after our museum and shop visit we cast off from the pontoon and headed out. Julian set in a course for Unst, taking us inshore of the Muckle Skerry of Neapaback at the southeast end of Yell. The tide really slowed us down going through; we were doing under a knot in places, and the seas were pretty short and steep. They stayed that way even after we were clear of the tidal gate, but we got the main sail up, reefed down to the hoop, and flew the no 2 jib.

We were barely doing 2 knots on the making tack towards where we wanted to go, and that was motor sailing. I handed the helm over to Julian so he could get a feel for the way Robinetta was sailing, and within 15 minutes he decided he had had enough. We tacked round towards the coast, and our speed shot up to over 5 knots with the tide under us. We furled the jib, and tacked round again to head back towards the marina.

Rolling along over the short seas, heading outside the Neapaback Skerry on our return, we saw that the staysail car had freed itself from the track again.

Once we were safely tied up back on the visitor pontoon, Julian did some research on how we could get to the boat museum on Unst by public transport, while I cooked bacon for rolls and made tea. It seems impossible to get to the museum and back in a day from here, especially on a Saturday. Meanwhile Julian is working on a permanent fix for the staysail car problem. The pump for our Lavac toilet stopped working this morning, so it is time to take that apart and give it a good clean. This yachting life is not all glamour!

The north east wind is very cold, but the sun is shining, and the sky is clear blue. Maybe tomorrow we can go for another sail, or we might find a bus to explore Yell.