Leg 10/2027
16 – 26 Aug Bergen/Norway (possibly via Shetlands – Fair Isle – Orkney) to Inverness/Scotland, 300 nm
This leg from Norway to Scotland will be held flexible, trying our best to pick the absolute best weather conditions, while still offering the adventure to cross the North Sea. Following the weather, the itinerary will vary. We will start from Bergen and end in Inverness inside the Caledonian Canal cutting through the Highlands of Scotland. But how we get there is rather open. There are several options.
The plan for this 10-days leg is thus to stay in the beautiful Norwegian archipelago sailing south from Bergen towards Stavanger, until a perfect weather window opens up for the crossing. This trip south is just as wonderful, so “waiting for weather” is turned into a beautiful sail in Norway! It almost looks like kitsch.
If weather allows for an early departure, we would have time to sail via Shetlands, Fair Isle and Orkney, which would be a great adventure as well! So let’s play it with the weather and see how it develops and take the most comfortable route over the North Sea!
If we reach the Shetlands, we would sail into Lerwick and then slowly south from there. See my article about Shetland Islands in Swedish På Kryss here (in Swedish) and in English in Yachting World here.
Shetland is all about Fiddle Music and every Wednesday night all the Shetlanders gather in “The Lounge” for the great weekly gig. So we better be there on a Wednesday!
Berthed in Lerwick, Shetlands
From Shetlands, weather permitting, we would make landfall on the tiny island of Fair Isle in between Shetlands and Orkney. That’s where the famous Fair Isle sweaters come from! The original “Fair Isle” that is, not the fake ones made by the large clothing companies!
Fair Isle as a fascinating island consisting of sheep and 50-odd inhabitants taking care of the island and producing the most beautiful true original Fair Isle sweaters. See my article about Fair Isle in Yachting World here.
Entering North Haven on Fair Isle
Sweaters in spe.
Hollie, who has made three Fair Isle Sweaters for me! After 27 years on Fair Isle, she is actually moving to mainland Shetland in 2027! I suppose we will have to meet her in Shetland then…
Trying on my new tailor-made Fair Isle.
Another natural stop along the way would be Orkney. Again a world of its own! This is where the Shetlanders have their summer houses, since the “weather is much nicer down here”…. Well, at least there are trees on Orkney, while these have all blown away in Shetlands long ago!
Orkney, per se, is an archipelago worth exploring, has a lot of history and no less than two famous distilleries (Scapa and Highland Park).
Orkney is true viking country, with a huge history from the wars as well (just to mention: Scapa Flow!).
The radio museum, Kirkwall, Orkney
From more recent date (1798) is the Highland Park distillery, for many a must when calling into Kirkwall.
A bottle of Highland Park on the pricy side. But then again, the year it was born must have been extraordinary… :-)
Highland Park is one of the very few (I believe there is only one more) still malting by hand by themselves.
Peat fire burning at Highland Park. How many distilleries still do this? I know of only one more in the entire world.
The four distills at Highland Park. “Probably the best spirit in the world” as they claim. There might be one or two others, who could claim the same. One of my favourites for pre-dinner enjoyment is Scapa, just a few kilometres from Highland Park away.
If weather does not allow us to sail to Shetlands, Fair Isle or Orkney, we would, after some wonderful time in Norway, take the more southern route over the North Sea to Peterhead, on the very eastern end of Scotland.
Zig-zagging between the many oil fields towards Norway. It’s all lit up!
From here we would then sail along the coast towards the entrance of the Caledonian Canal: Inverness. From here, it’s easy to take a train or bus to Edinburgh for some more private exploration or your flight home, while Regina Laska will continue through the Caledonian Canal on her way back to Spain.
Price: EUR 3.995 per person including all food consumed onboard, harbour fees, diesel etc plus visits to pubs and distilleries