Monday June 2nd

As expected the night was fairly rough to start with but it settled a little early in the morning.  We arrived at Fair Isle as scheduled and after rejecting the southern possible landing point, made our way a bit further north to the second one.  A “scout” zodiac was launched and some of the expedition staff went ashore to check out the situation.  The bay in which we were to land was sheltered but the only anchorage for the ship was exposed and, with a 2.5 m swell and strong winds blowing,n it was decided that it was too dangerous to try to take us ashore so we upped anchor and made our way to Lerwick in Shetland.  

It was disappointing not to get to see Fair Isle up close but we have been very lucky with the weather so far so I can't really complain. Fog is obviously a big problem as, on the point next to the lighthouse was the largest foghorn I have ever seen.

By 3.00pm we had disembarked in Lerwick at 3.00pm and had some time to explore the town before returning to the ship for dinner.  

Staff employed on the construction of a new gas plant and also the off shore rigs are accommodated in "floatels" in the harbour, but not all of them are painted like this one. 

Old steps heading down to a beach and the water in the old town.

The beach

Commercial Street

A lonberry in Lerwick.  Old warehouses built into the sea to make it easier for boatmen to unload goods.

And another one.

An innovative garage

The town library

And the town hall.