91热爆

Ok, back once more from life on the high seas. This time I did some of the Bergen - Shetland Races, and met some great people in the process.

I was on Arne's boat, called Fortito, and was one of 10 crew. I was pretty useless crew really, as due to an injury I stayed below decks, which in turn meant I spent the trip spewing, and the only useful contribution I made was as ballast.

However, on arrival in Lerwick I was able to spring into action, and my first useful contribution was to victual the boat. With beer, of course. And with that out of the way came the second priority - food. Good old fish and chips.

I can tell you, a haddock supper has never tasted as good as it did that day, on the deck of a yacht in the pouring rain, surrounded by good company and washed down with drams and lager.

My lack of contribution obviously had no detrimental effect on our race times, as we came third in class on that leg. Weyhey!!! We had a great night out after the prizegiving, and were joined by some friends from Unst.

I decided not to do the return trip to Bergen, as another trip confined to the cabin below decks did not appeal, and my injury need a little TLC. So instead I managed to get a lift on a local yacht so that I could take some photos of the start. That was a great idea, as I don't think I would have been able to stand on the pier watching them leave - I would have been jumping in and swimming to catch up!

They looked great going out o the Sooth Mooth o Lerwick harbour, right at the front of the pack. Well, almost. And it paid off, because they were second in class in that race - YES! Another great result! (Although it has made me question how useful my ballast actually was.)

Anyway, in time honoured Ruthodanort tradition, enough o the typing and onto the photos.


These first few are of the start in Norway. It was really exciting, I can tell you.

















We did a little tour to Unst one day, here's some of the crew at Saxa Vord, with Muckle Flugga in the background.





At the Unst Bus Shelter.





The start in Lerwick.





Fortito and the Bressay light.






Challenger, the boat that beat Fortito in the return leg, broaching as she sails out of Lerwick harbour. Don't worry, she was all back to rights in a few minutes.





Rounding Bressay, with Fortito on the inside.




So, Crew of Fortito!! Hope you don't mind me putting up your mugshots on my blog, but you all really made my second Shetland Race experience a fantastic one. Thanks guys! And thanks to my skipper too!