Pierowall, Westray 59:19.39N
02:58.56W
29 July
Refueled and reprovisioned, we left Kirkwall this morning
for a excursion into the Northern Isles of Orkney. The wind was 15-20 kts
mainly in the S with enough E and W at critical moments to allow us to sail a
deep reach, and the sea was flat - so we raced along. Tides in
Orkney are significant and impressive. They also do not appear to pay much attention to the Admiralty Tidal Stream
Atlas and at one point a tidal stream that should have been neutral turned into
4 kts against us and 20 kts of wind and it
suddenly got a bit bumpy. It rained but only momentarily and the dire
warnings from our Navtex of gales have so far come to naught.
Looking back to Rousay
After 27 miles (and around 4 hours) of delightful sailing we
arrived at Pierowall Road - and into the harbour. A true working fishing
port, with lobster and crab being processed (and more importantly sold to
visiting yachts) at the harbour head, just next door to the Island
bakery. For the summer season there are a couple of floating pontoons in
the harbour - so berthing is easy and convenient. The harbourmaster/
ferry skipper etc to Papa Westray is incredibly friendly, helpful and efficient
and several of our fellow boats are people we have seen in Kirkwall.
Tomorrow we shall buy some fresh bread for breakfast, crab for sandwiches and
dinner and take the ferry over to Papa Westray which, amongst other things is
home to the oldest house in Northern Europe, predating the Pyramids
. 
Pierowall Kirk
