Visitors

Its good to hear that a large number of cruise liners are booked in to visit Shetland next year. Over 51,000 visitors will come on 70 liners which include two massive ships, the Azura followed by the Celebrity Silhouette on the 14 August.

The weather is not why people come to Shetland, take this last week it has been gloomy, low thick cloud, lots of dense fog, some showers but little wind. Its been odd that the night temperature has been 1 degree warmer than the day.

                                                                                                          Sumburgh Head

These days the gloomy weather can last for weeks, well 6 days so far and the forecast is more to come. Some people suffer because of this, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), when they can see no light at the end of the tunnel and people have special indoor lights to combat this.

The fog on Thursday and Friday have affected flights in and out of Sumburgh and Scatsta with only a couple of flights leaving. People won't be too please if they had transfer to the ferry, with high seas expected

                                                                                    Looking north to Fitfull Head

The weather has not stopped us from going out and we have had some lovely walks on the beach. When we used to travel to the east coast of England it tended to be more in winter when less people were about. In Shetland its very easy to have a beach all to yourself at any time of year.

A survey taking place in Shetland aims to find out what fuel poverty is in Shetland, Scottish figures show this to be around 43% of the population, but a more accurate figure is needed. This time of year you need lights on earlier and also crank up the heating. With no gas on Shetland most people are on electricity or Oil, both more costly.

                                                                                                          Foula

It must be very tough being a fisherman in Shetland at this time of year. Visiting Lerwick you always see trawlers going in and out of the harbour in all weathers. Shetlanders have always been the best sailors in the UK with many spending the wars in the Royal or Merchant Navy.

This week many Pelagic fishermen have been complaining that not enough is being done to stop Faroese fishing boats from coming into Shetland's 12 mile protected limit and catching Mackerel. The Faroese fishing vessels caught 10 x more mackerel in 2014 than 2009. If they are found breaking the rules they could face prosecution and fines up to £50,000 + the value of the illegal catch.
I saw what appeared to be a Faroese fishing boat very close inshore around Sumburgh Head a few days ago.

                                                                                                Lerwick Fishing Boat

On Sunday the first real winds of the winter arrived with force 9 gales, the ferry left in the morning to avoid the worst of the bad weather.

                                                                           Gales incoming. Sandwick / Hoswick