Flying Fish Articles

Reports
Torshaven – 62°00.00'N, 06°46.00'W
Onwards to Stornoway where we dropped off two of the crew, stocked up and then had an invigorating sail in a strong SE wind up to Tvøroyi, the main port on Sudavoy, the southernmost island in the Faroes. As we approached the unmarked rocks to the south of the island, we disappeared into the traditional mist that seems to be a permanent feature. We groped our way up the coast using radar and GPS, our first real sight of land being the breakwater of the port – very reassuring. No sooner had we tied alongside in an almost deserted harbour than we were visited by several locals who, after the usual pleasantries, directed us to a local bar/café in a splendid building on the quayside. Originally main offices of the Royal Danish Trade Monopoly, many of the artefacts remain in the rooms that now constitute the bar. Quite fascinating.

After a couple of days exploring the island we made our way northwards expecting to carry the tide past several islands. While we had heard of their tidal atlas more generally known as the ‘Scary Red Book’, we used the diagrams in Willie Kerr’s pilot to plan our route. As a result we ended up ‘stopped’ for a couple of hours before the tide relented and accelerated us onwards to Torshavn where we bought a copy and immediately understood why we had appeared to stop whilst under full sail at 6kn. Our arrival coincided with a visit by the Tartan Army (Scottish Football supporters) plus several boats from the Shetlands. The partying continued for as long as it was light and that far north it does not get dark. Serious but light-hearted stuff. Neither side had pretensions to reaching the finals, so they concentrated instead on partying.

We enjoyed a couple of nights and then went on a sail around several of the islands with due diligence to the tides. We were very lucky with the weather and had an excellent motor along the stunning cliffs of Vestmanna and round Stremoy to Vagar, from where we took the local cargo ferry to Mykines in thick mist. Not yacht friendly, but spectacular for all the colonies of birds nesting there.