Kirkwall to North Ronaldsay — June 2001

At 12.30 on the 7th June I fastened my bike to my aged VW Polo and set off for John o’Groats and the magical islands of Orkney — I’ve loved them and their amazing history, sea birds, seascapes and skies since my first visit with Ann on an A.J.S. motorbike in 1964. A UK Wayfarers Association rally planned by Leighton Venables of the Orkney SC, with the support of Ralph Roberts, was due to start at Kirkwall on the 10th, so I filled the time by bagging the island of Stronsay on the 8th/9th, visiting the sea-bird colonies around the Vat of Kirbister and Bay of Houseby. Just in time, Leighton had told me about Pentland Ferries, which had started running from Gills Bay to St. Margaret Hope only five weeks earlier. The crossing takes only one hour and passes right by the deserted island of Stroma in the Pentland Firth, with tide races everywhere and all for £10 single. It will take your car or caravanette for £25, undercutting P&0 by a mile. It also leaves you with a hard uphill bike-ride to Kirkwall, once you’ve crossed the Churchill Causeways (built in 1942 to keep U-boats out of Scapa Flow). It’s a hard slog till you reach the Highland Park Distillery and see Wide Firth and Kirkwall below. Then it’s all downhill.

We met at 9pm on Saturday 9th, when just off the ferry from Stronsay, I phoned Ralph on his new mobile from the phonebox outside the Orkney SC and learned that he and Leighton were already inside! After a couple of pints of Dark Island, I headed back with Ralph to Evie, where his wife was staying.

Next day, the 10th, we all met up with Malcolm Foulis, Leighton’s crew and a lifeboat crewman, at the Orkney SC compound and prepared our two boats: a Mark 2, lent by Tom and Marion Richards and Leighton’s Plus S: Hronn. We had an easy sail with the ebb to the jetty on Rousay. There was just enough wind for us to stem the tide in Wyre Sound. We ate well in the café by the pier, then spent a comfortable night in the hostel at Trumland Farm. At this point Ralph returned to Evie by speedboat, courtesy of a local ploughman, in order to help Hugh de las Casas and Chris Codling who had trailed Quest from Suffolk. Leighton had even arranged to borrow a car to transport us and our luggage from the pier to the hostel. His contacts were amazing and made for a very relaxed trip.

The 11th saw Leighton and I following the Westness Walk via Viking farmsteads, a stone- age chambered cairn and bronze/iron age Midhowe Broch, with a superb view of the ‘roosts’ (tide-races) on either side of Eynhallow, which on the ebb can easily sweep you out into the Atlantic. Ralph returned with Hugh and Chris in Quest and at 2.15pm we set off through Rousay Sound for Rapness at the south end of Westray. We timed it to be crossing Westray Firth at slack water, so as to avoid the Rull Roost, a dangerous tide-race, which Malcolm viewed with concern. We beat all the way in a fresh NW, so it was lumpy and wet from Howie Sound onwards. At this stage, I realised the value of my heavy off-shore waterproofs, not only to me, but also to Ralph, who had brought his lightweight gear and faced getting very cold. One of my jobs when beating was to sit to windward of him and deflect spray.

On arriving at Rapness, we met a welcoming committee of volunteer coastguards, who helped us to roll the boats above the HW mark. They’d been informed of our passage by the coastguard in Shetland! That’s how today’s slimmed-down CGS works, since some overpaid, dim consultant decided that we didn’t need a Pentland CG Station. Someone had seen us crossing Westray Firth and thought we might be in trouble. Soon a Landrover and a large taxi arrived (more of Leighton’s contacts) to take us to an even more luxurious hostel in Pierowall, where we all dined at the Pierowall Hotel on a wonderful variety of fish, several of which we’d never heard of before. Fortunately there was a guidebook to sea-fish. After dinner we walked past fertile fields full of rabbits to Noltland castle, built by Gilbert Balfour in 1576 and in wonderful condition. You collect the key from the porch of the house opposite and there is no charge. What is more, it never gets dark and hence you have ample time for walks and views. It’s the time of the ‘Simmer Dim’.

Tuesday 12th brought settled conditions and a moderate northwesterly; perfect conditions for a sail to North Ronaldsay via the north of Eday and Sanday. We sailed close to the fulmar, guillemot and razorbill colonies on Grey Head on the Calf of Eday and peered through the natural arch, which pierces the headland. We wanted to go through Calf Sound as well, but erred on the side of caution and took the direct route so as to catch slack water in North Ronaldsay Firth. We hadn’t set out until 11.45, but we still had time to inspect the Holms of Ire for a shortcut between them and then go the long way round. The wind fell light as we passed the beacon on the Riv a mile long reef on the north coast of Sanday. Brief use of the paddle soon put us ashore at South Bay, North Ronaldsay, under the curious gaze of four seals and a pair of North Ronaldsay sheep, which were dutifully munching seaweed just as they’re supposed to. Here we were greeted by Alison and her two youngsters and conveyed by Landrover with our luggage to the Bird Observatory at Nouster, another highly recommended hostel in the extreme south-west of the island. After a hearty dinner we walked the length of the island (3 miles) pausing to look for gadwall on Ancum Loch and being hassled by terns, lapwings and curlews en route to the ‘old’ (1789) and ‘new’ (1854) lighthouses at the top end. None of us could quite believe our luck in getting to this remote spot. There is only one ferry per week and anchoring overnight eludes many yachtsmen, because it lacks shelter and good holding, but these are no problem if there are six of you and you can simply roll your boats up the sandy beach.

Wednesday 13th was somewhat misty and drizzly, so Ralph suggested that we delay our departure for an hour or so, in order to enjoy the sail. Another walk was in order. The weather duly obliged and we surfed across to Start Point on the eastern end of Sanday on reefed sails. The wind was from the west, so we had a wet beat across the Bays of Lopness and Newark, until we found a lee under a giant dune on the spit just north of Tres Ness, where we ate Alison’s sandwiches and warmed up. Kettletoft was nearby, but we’d only sailed for two hours or so, hence the vote was for Whitehall on Stronsay, where I could personally guarantee the hostel’s charms.

Shaving Tres Ness to see the seals and shags, we headed for Papa Stronsay and the north entrance to Papa Sound. Visibility was poor, but we followed Leighton and Malcolm and duly beached on one of the two small sandy patches, which lie either side of the old (west) jetty. Once again we marvelled at Leighton and Malcolm’s unrivalled ability to keep their boat flat on the water without even sitting out! We contacted Lisa, the warden, via her mum-in-law who runs the shop and soon we were taking over the drying room and polishing off a bacon, sausage and chips fry-up followed by apple pie.

The hostel is a converted fish mart, right by the ferry pier and incorporates a café and museum of everyday life all ably run by Lisa, a recent arrival from Warrington. Bob Moar, another Orkney SC member, now arrived by yacht to keep us company.

Thursday 14th began wet, but after breakfast and a shower we set off at 11am in fine weather, beating past a wreck, which was a handy perch for several eiders, across Spurness Sound and through the Keld to the Bay of London on Eday, which gives it’s name to the nearby London Airport. Thus we had sailed directly from Whitehall to London Airport! We lunched in the sunshine, checked out the airport, then set off south past Veness, before turning west for the Green Holms en route for Stronsay. There was no sign of the Fall of Walness race, but the flood set us well to the south. We had planned an escape route via the east side of Shapinsay, but we cleared Galt Skerry, passing the Earl Thorfinn ferry en route to Eday and Westray, before following the ferry-route close to Shapinsay’s west shore with its WWII gun emplacements. The flood runs south at 5 kn at springs through the Ayre of Vasa and, although it was close to neaps and after half tide, my GPS showed us reaching 7.3 kn s.o.g. as we passed the skerry. We had ample time to ‘complete the set’ by visiting Shapinsay for tea. Helliar Holm and Balfour Castle looked wonderful in late afternoon sun, as a cruise ship paused in The String, probably for passengers to take photographs. Be warned that the only tea room in Balfour village closes at 4pm. We were very lucky to meet Katie, an amiable young mother, who readily brewed up for us. Soon it was time for us to head for Thieves’ Holm, an islet where thieves were once imprisoned, en route to the Orkney SC slip, where racing was in full swing at 7.30, the end of our longest and final day sailing together.

On Friday, mindful of the hills, I put my bike on the bus to the ferry and headed for home to help my wife, who was busy with ‘A’ level marking . The rest enjoyed another fine but windy day’s sail to Egilsay, where Earl Magnus Erlendsson, later St. Magnus, was treacherously murdered in AD 1117 by his cousin.

Personally, I can’t wait for the chance to revisit these islands which we barely touched and which are easily reached by the inter island Orkney Ferries. We had great luck with the weather, but we also had an unbeatable combination of Malcolm’s unrivalled knowledge of the local waters and their dangers, Leighton and Ralph’s enthusiasm and organisational skills, great boats and a wonderful, unspoilt archipelago, rich in wildlife and unequalled in Britain in the span and richness of its history from the Stone Age to the present and offering every comfort to those who travel by dinghy. If you get a chance to go, take it. It is well worth the trip. Remember if possible to take an Orcadian lifeboat crewman with you, if one is available!

NB. Orkney website at www.visitorkney.com Orkney Tourist Board, tel. 01856 873359 Pentland Ferries, tel. 01856 831226; www.pentlandferries.co.uk