Summer in Shetland

The Russian Tall Ship "The Mir" that visited Lerwick for the Tall Ships recently.


It is more than a grey day outside my window. Even the freshly painted bright red of the Malakoff Boat Shed seems dull in the midst of the mid-summer deluge of rain. It has not been the best of summers yet. The Tall Ships Race which was to be one of the highlights of the summer was marred by the type of weather we would normally grumble about in mid-winter. Although thankfully the event still proved to be a great success.

I was invited to a private party aboard the very impressive ship The Mir which was crewed by some very smartly dressed young Russians. One of the best things about the Tall Ships event was the huge numbers of people it attracted from around the world, some from as far away as Colombia. The streets of Lerwick almost resembled Notting Hill Gate on carnival day with all the dancing, singing and live music. It was a great place to be, regardless of the poor weather.



Russian Sailors on Parade outside my office

The weather has not worried the wildlife here though and many visitors have enjoyed the spectacle of Killer Whales, Dolphins, Pilot Whales, Basking Sharks and Sperm Whales from the shores of Shetland in the last few weeks. Sadly the only place I have seen them is on Facebook, thanks to the Shetland Wildlife group putting up regular pictures and videos.

I took a walk along the beach at St Ninian's Isle yesterday evening. It has to be the most incredibly beautiful beach in the UK, if not the world. Totally unspoilt by commercial development and crowds.

A few weeks ago I was invited to BBC Radio Shetland to talk about my novel which has been doing its own little bit in marketing Shetland as a place to visit. My novel has now been acquired by nearly 900 people, a huge majority of them from overseas, mostly USA. I only hope that if people do visit Shetland on the strength of this novel that they will experience marginally better weather than todays. Because when the sun shines (and it does more often than you might think) then Shetland really is the most amazing place to be.



The Colombians