Day 15 Wednesday, April 24th Isles of Scilly

We awoke sailing between St Agnes and St Mary's and soon we were anchored in home territory.  We breakfasted and our first island of the day was Tresco where we were going to visit the gardens as part of the cruise.  The local boat, Surprise, 

red squirrels

was our ferry to Tresco.  It is some 

King Neptune

years since we went round the gardens and so we were looking forward to it.  We saw King Neptune, the long walk and the red squirrels which were thriving and spreading from the gardens.  There were some new additional plants and areas to explore.  We spent a considerable time 

The long walk

looking across the gardens

making the most of the opportunity 

pretty flowers

and as we began to flag we went to the garden cafe for a coffee.  More squirrels, 

Tresco  helicopter

local birds and golden pheasants accompanied us.  After this we made our way back to Carn Near and the inflatables back to the Maud for lunch.

the Maud from Sapphire

After lunch we had arranged to go to St Mary's and meet up with Heather and Alan.  It was good to see them and convenient as it allowed us leave with them a bag of thicker clothes which we had brought with us for the 

northern, colder stops on our voyage.  We had a cup of tea with them in the Kavorna and updated with local news.  We had a good view of the Maud as we made our way back in the Sapphire from St Mary's. 

lady's gig race

Dinner soon followed and then we realised that a lady's gig race was forming around us.  We made our way to the top open deck and had 

our home

a grandstand view of the race progressing.  It also gave us an opportunity to photograph our house from the boat. 

Day 14 Tuesday, April 23rd Waterford, Ireland

 We had already moored at Belview mooring when we woke to a fine sunny day.  We breakfasted and took the provided shuttle bus for the 30 minute journey to Waterford.  The major attraction for us was the crystal glass works which we had been warned were now modified since their heyday.  We were dropped in the 

Reginald's Tower

centre of the city and made our way along to Reginalds Tower on the river front and with Viking connections.  Pictures were taken of the tower, a Viking boat 

a Viking?

and someone becoming a Viking in a cut-out.  We carried on around the corner and found the glass centre.  We had a coffee in the nice coffee shop and managed to book onto a tour of the glassworks a few minutes later.  In the meantime we looked at some of the fantastic pieces of glasswork which 

glassware example

glassware 

lovely clock

they have produced - the skill involved is certainly amazing.  

We were called for the tour and began the story of each glass piece individually produced in the factory.  It began with the raw materials which were 

mould for helmet

blowing & shaping

cutting & engraving

blended and then fused together to become molten in the furnace.  We saw the artisan then take some of this molten glass to blow and mould into shape.  They use beechwood to act as primary moulders and this has a limited lifespan.  Once in chosen shape the item is allowed to cool to room temperature before every dimension is then checked thoroughly to ensure it meets specification and the edges are ground to give perfect feel to the glass.   It is then passed onto another department for being cut and engraved to finish 

9/11 glass simulation

item.  The apprenticeship and 

a spaceman

training required for each of these skills is remarkable and we felt privileged to see these skills in action before our eyes.  We ended up at the showroom where items were available for sale (a lot of their work is done to order) but Christine did not see anything she needed!

street art

inside the cathedral

After leaving the glassworks we wandered through the city 

a Viking family

and stopped to tour the Church of Ireland Cathedral which was quite small for a cathedral but had some attractive design and decor.   We did not linger long and went out looking at shops 

inside the cathedral

and absorbing the vibes of the centre.  Our impression was overall quite an attractive place in a good geographical location but did need some updating/investment.  We found our way back to the pickup site and then came back to the Maud.

We regrouped, eventually had dinner and later went to a presentation on the next port- the Isles of Scilly.  Nothing too controversial was said and generally complimentary on what to expect.  We then worked our plan of action and returned to our cabin.

South Hook lighthouse

The ship was now on the move and 

full moon reflection

we were called to the top deck to see the South hook lighthouse and witness the magnificent full moon.















              .    

Day 13 Monday April 22nd Douglas, Isle of Man

 Another pretty good day beckoned as we drew back the curtains and having just arrived in Douglas We had been looking forward to this visit as we wanted to take the small gauge steam train along the coast of the island.  We breakfasted and made our way off the boat as the station was only a short walk from the port.  The welcome at the port was very good with people offering maps and advising on the best route to where we were going. The passenger waiting facilities and luggage handling mechanisms were impressive too.  The walk to the station was a little longer than expected but we soon purchased our tickets and were on a train bound for Port Erin.  We had decided to go to the end of the line and explore the small resort of Port Erin.  We soon built up some steam and were underway.  The experience was authentic with smuts and steam making their way into our 

steam past our window

carriage.  We chugged through

the dinkey carriages

 the countryside, occasionally viewing the sea with steam intervening and stopping at various small stations .  All were kept impeccable by the Isle of Man railway company.  After an hour we arrived at Port Erin 

having had a good journey, we stopped at the station coffee shop for a coffee and then went for walk to the beach.  It was an easy climb down to the beach which was good quality with a cliff and land mark at one end and a small harbour

Port Erin beach

 with fishing boats at the other.  We walked to one end 

and then the other over 

Port Erin beach

some very soft sand.  We climbed back up a slope to the road and made our way back to the station having been impressed by Port Erin.  The return was busier but we were all OK and were soon underway.  It was equally enjoyable and when we got back to Douglas I filmed the engine steaming away.

                                      

We decided to go into the shopping centre straight form the station and found M&S for a snack.  Christine bought a couple of items and we walked along the 

Refuge Tower

prom back to the boat.  It gave a good view of Refuge Tower (built to help sailors if they are shipwrecked in the harbour) and there was a special garden being planted to mark 200 years of the RNLI.  Evidently a co-founder of the RNLI lived in Douglas.  We got back to the Maud Having had a pretty good day and relaxed a bit before dinner.  After dinner we went to the port lecture on Waterford, Ireland where we arrive tomorrow.
   

Day 12 Sunday, April 21st Port Ellen, Islay, Inner Hebrides

 We awoke to sunny skies as we approached Islay.  The Maud anchored and it was a tendering process into the jetty using the inflatable small boats.  After our breakfast we took our turn to arrive on the island for the first ever time.  The island is renowned for whisky production with 10 large distilleries now operational and two more starting soon. Not bad for an island with a population of about 

Port Ellen sea front

3000.  Distillery tours were being offered but we decided to our own thing around Port Ellen which looked very scenic.  The weather was warm and 

standing stone

we decided to find a 5000 year old standing stone which was positioned nearby (a bit like the Old Man of Gugh).  It took a bit of finding away from the town outskirts but we did see it down a lane and to be honest it wasn't too spectacular but one to tick off the list.  The small town looked better and so we returned for a coffee.  We 

A visitor

enjoyed the coffee and a chat with a local then went for a walk along the lovely sandy beach.  Christine managed to pick up some beach glass which their locals seemed to be not so much interested in.  We sat for a while in a garden dedicated to the memory of one of their former post boats which

ferry terminal

 had been lost on one of its journeys but had been recovered and ended up as a bar in Bristol!  Interesting but we soon carried on back to the jetty and returned to the Maud for a late lunch.  The remainder of the sunny afternoon we sat out on the deck, rested and caught up with our other activities.  We were very impressed with Port Ellen on a near perfect day for the visit.

Day 10 Saturday April 20th Stornoway, Lewis, Outer Hebrides

 We had a calm entrance to Stornoway harbour and the temperature was much warmer than when we were at Kirkwall which was a real bonus.  We breakfasted and had decided on a self-guided walk around Lews Castle which we could see 

heron feeding by river

from the port.   We had to walk through one side of the town past a heron feeding next to the river, over a bridge and enter the grounds.

Lews castle

  The castle was a 19th century creation by a businessman who had bought the island from the now bankrupt original Scottish chieftain.  It was certainly bought with tainted money because it seems this man Matheson made his money from dealing with opium from China.  Anyhow the castle now belongs to the community and can be used for various functions including weddings.  

town from castle grounds

The grounds are extensive and we walked through some woods before we found the castle.   We were able to see some rooms but parts of the castle are let as holiday homes which probably helps with the upkeep.  There was a coffee shop and we enjoyed a very good coffee before exploring more of the grounds which provided excellent views of the town and the harbour.  We followed the 

a marauding viking

path round, I met a marauding viking and arrived back at the entrance.  We did do some shopping on the road from the castle.  It was now heading towards lunchtime and our stomachs called us back to the boat!

We ate a light lunch and went out again to explore the town.  From the map we had been provided with we could see there were twelve churches shown in a fairly small area and we decided 

seal sculpture

to try and visit a couple of them.  We wandered along roads we hadn't been before but although we found several churches disappointedly not one of them was open to the public.  We made our way back to the boat observing by the road a local sculpture of seals.  Stornaway had been an interesting town to visit with plenty to find within walking distance of the boat.  Once on board we went up to the observation lounge watching the port activity and I did some blogging until dinner time.    

 

Day 9 Friday April 19th Kirkwall, Orkney

 Thursday night was quite bumpy but every thing was more peaceful as we approached Kirkwall harbour.  We docked,  breakfasted and got ready for the tour we had booked on.  We had previously been on a tour to Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar and so we chose to go to the Southern Isles and the Italian chapel.  

The Italian chapel

The Italian chapel has quite a 

Two Nissen huts!

story.  Italian prisoners of war in WW2 were brought from North Africa  to Orkney in order to build barriers around Scapa Flow to protect the British fleet which was normally anchored there.  The Italians initially refused to 

the altar

work because of the cold and hard nature of the work.  They were persuaded to work and augmented the existing barriers made from sunken redundant boats with total concreted barriers.  This was necessary because in October 1939 a U boat had managed to enter the anchorage and sunk the "Royal Oak" with a large loss of life.

the ceiling

  The POWs wanted a place to worship and the British offered them 2 Nissen huts and 

the font

they used their skills to build a very suitable chapel, decorated it - it has lasted very well and continues to be used. They used materials to hand and the font included a redundant lorry suspension spring.  All the men involved have now passed on but 

across causeway

relatives still come to see what their predecessors told stories about.  The barriers built are now causeways with permanent roads and so some of the 

sunken ship barrier

southern isles are not now strictly islands.

St Magnus Cathedral

We returned to Kirkwall, had 

Royal Oak memorial

some lunch and then decided to walk around the town.  We went to the cathedral, the largest building of the town, which included a memorial to the sailors of the "Royal Oak" lost in Scapa Flow.  We took some 

Cathedral interior

photos and then moved on to the ruins of two palaces which 

Palace ruins

were close by.  We carried on walking through the town centre visiting some of the individual shops which seemed to be flourishing.  We ended up at the harbour where the lifeboat was 

Kirkwall lifeboat

against the wall (pictured for Samuel) and ready for action.  We then took the shuttle bus back to the "Maud".

A full day, cold and windy, but now time to do some blogging and then have a nice meal before attending a lecture about tomorrow's activities in Stornoway and then retiring to our cabin.    

Day 8 Thursday April 18th At sea!

 Our mystery tour continues - at the moment I would not say it is magical but it is proving very interesting.  We were due to land on Vatersay via the revised itinerary but we learnt late last night that would not be the case because of sea conditions by talking to another passenger.  We learnt early this morning that we are now going to the Isle of Skye, to Dunvegan Castle, which is situated on a sheltered loch.  The castle has good history and some gardens to peruse and so we were happy with that.  We continued northwards and turned into the loch 

Loch Vendegan shore

and settled on an anchorage at about 1130.  No Hurtiguten ship had ever been in this loch before and anchored here.  We stopped and we could see that the water round the ship was still choppy and we said at the time we did not think it was fit conditions to travel in the inflatable boats to the quay.  We sat for a time and then it was announced 

white tailed eagle

that the boat crew were still assessing conditions.  One good point was that a white tailed eagle was spotted in a tree on a nearby islet.  We could see the castle near the coast but at this point were unable to visit.  Eventually it 

Castle Vendegan

was decided we would not be able to land because of wind conditions.  We heard the anchor being pulled up and we changed our position several times but did not make much progress.  Soon one of the ship's ribs was launched with men with strops and rope, they went to the bow of the boat and after a few minutes returned and we were underway.  We are assuming that the anchor became stuck and needed some help to be released - another little bit of drama for seafaring folk.  

Outer Hebrides Ferry

We progressed OK from then on, the sea was a bit rough and a ferry from the Outer Hebrides passed near us on her way to the mainland.  The rest of the day passed peacefully in the restaurant (excellent meal) and in our cabin.