As I was looking at the weather and deciding which way we should go from Lerwick to the Faroe Islands one of the crew members came to me and told me how she had heard that the south point of the shetlands is very good for puffin spotting. We hadn’t had much luck so far, seeing none on the brough of bursay and only a few flying around the boat on differents sails. Usually one would head north from Lerwick and than out to the Faroe Islands. South was also against the wind in our case, but did have a better wind angle when leaving the Faroe islands the next day so at least some navigational advantage. But above all, Puffins! So we came up with what we called the Puffin plan. A couple of hours of tacking upwind to Grutness Voe, an anchorage which is next to the airport but also at walking distance from Sumburg Head. ( aka the puffin place). It turned out to be a truly amazing experience. A gentle breeze, and a slightly overcast sky with cumulus and stratus clouds swirling around in amazing patterns, the setting sun cast a perfect golden glow on eveything from sky to grass and ocean, and a big beautiful round rainbow stood on the horizon as a welcome gate. Of course this walk alone in these surroundings was already absolutely worth the tacking upwind and extra miles to the Faroe Islands. But the puffins did also not disappoint. We saw many puffins, up close in the grass and flying in from their long day at sea and settling into the nests. Wow! words cannot describe the scene fully. But we all felt very much alive, and very lucky to be there in that moment. A good start for our crossing to the Faroe Islands.

The weather forcast wasn’t looking to bad, a close reach for the first day with the wind dropping during the night and coming back from the north. Well that was the forecast anyway. We did sail on a close reach for the first day and most of the night, and it was very good sailing 🙂 Watching the sun set, just to see it rise again about 1 hour later. On saturday, the wind died completely, though, and it didn’t come back for a long time. No wind, crosswaves and slapping sails. A sailors nightmare. Even with the engine by guppy was being tossed about by the messy seas. The wind came back eventually, from the south. The weather had changed, again, we came into Torshavn with a good 30knots of wind on the nose. But the angry flying clouds and golden light display that the sun created through the cracks in the clouds made us almost forget the choppy seas and harsh cold wind in our face. We made it to the Faroe Islands! 🙂