After our East Anglian adventures we turned left at Orford Bar and headed north, with Lerwick in Shetland the proposed destination. My crew Jonty and Neil have sailed with me a great deal and know Spellbinder well.

We had a good passage in largely light winds from behind us. We made good use of all our sails, including the Parasailor, which while a bit complicated to set up (it has 2 guys and 2 sheets) works very well in these conditions.

We did motor quite a lot though, but given that this was very much a delivery trip, it mattered not.

The wildlife was wonderful – we came across a ‘raft’ of seals some 100 nautical miles offshore, and they seemed rather surprised by us.

We also saw several minke whales, lots of dolphins and (we think) a small group of orcas.

Life on board was good, and Jonty set a high bar gastronomically by kicking off with some Orford oysters.

Navigationally there were plenty of man-made objects to avoid, including extensive wind farms and oil and gas installations.

We arrived having covered 520 nautical miles in under 4 days. Shetland appeared out of the gloom – it is often foggy up here in the summer.

On arrival, having paid our dues and replenished diesel and water supplies, we hired a car and had a couple of days to explore the main island. The first stop was to the south, where we explored a well known architectural site which has evidence of dwellings from prehistoric to more recent times.

We visited the lighthouse on the southern tip of Shetland, Sumburgh, which had several places to view the extensive wildlife.

On the way back we visited one of the many great beaches in Shetland, and Jonty duly swam.

Back in Lerwick we entertained friends of Neil’s for drinks, invited a fellow RCC member who stopped by on board, and slept soundly.

The next day we headed north, visiting the amazing cliffs at Eshaness.

Shetland is more hilly than Orkney, and in many ways more varied and spectacular. The people are really quite mixed in origin, distinct from mainland Scotland, and strongly Norwegian in influence. We found everyone very welcoming. There are regular cruise ships though – when their inhabitants come ashore, on day release, the place is transformed.

I leave Spellbinder shortly, and the plan now is for eldest son Tom to take her to northern Norway. I’ll invite him to be guest editor for that trip. Our plan thereafter is to explore the Lofoten Islands and cruise gently south down the Norwegian coast.