Boats/ ships

As the tourist season comes to an end it was good to see two large cruise ships in Lerwick during the past few days. As people wandered round, mostly Americans i wondered what they thought of Shetland, most would have only seen Lerwick unless they managed to get on a tour bus.

The day before they arrived Lerwick had been quiet, perhaps the quietest since we arrived in April. Even the harbour was empty, just the accommodation ships in berth. It will be interesting to see what arrives in the winter months, some ships will be seeking shelter from the gales.

                                                                                            A bit  of a windy day

Over the months it has been interesting to see vessels from all over the place and what people had named their ship boat. I recently came across this poem which says it all:

Namin a Boat

Tak time, name dy boat wheel
fur du's
namin a wye o life
Du's
namin a attitude;
da spring
in a crewman's step,
da glint
in a skyipper's ee

Caa her Gleaner, Pacific
moadest names yun,
win nae or bluster
Caa her Golden Harvest,
an wiss her saesons o plenty
Enterprise, Venture
noo dere's names wi some pooster, bit
Immaculate?
Naah dat soonds ta me
a coarn ower purjink.

Tak du dy time,
Name dy boat wheel,
fur du's naming
da dreams o a halelate

by John Cumming taken from the `White Below'

We continue to have the house altered and next week look forward to have the kitchen sorted then we can at last get rid of the last cardboard boxes. Now that we have changed the layout in the living room we now have a view overlooking a field looking out to sea, much better than wall.

One thing for sure is that when you meet any Shetlander you feel that you are meeting someone special, someone with a sense of values, with a unique identity and whether or not Shetland staying within the UK it will remain a place where people fall in love with

                                                            This is the reason why Shetlanders are so special