Shetlands

Still cruising up and down along the eastern coast of the Shetlands waiting for better weather. Not only the weather but also the northern swell will play a key role. In the meantime showers, wind and sunny spells are chasing each other. On the picture you can see our tug changing 180 degrees of heading with the 'Hermod' behind us and the Shetlands on the horizon. Islands with a very strong relationship with Dutch seamen in the past. Herring, Salt, Knitted goods; everything was traded here until the British tried to keep the Dutch away by building Fort Charlotte at Lerwick. What else could we do than to burn this castle down and continue the trade? It is strange that less than one hundred years ago, the Shetlands Isles were a real poor community while today they have the highest average gross monthly earnings in Britain. Again; the reason is the Oil Industry.

On the picture you can also see our tow wire overboard on our starboard side with another wire connected to it. This wire is called 'stoottouw' in Dutch, 'gobwire' in English. It is an extremely important wire because we use this wire to pull our tow wire back on deck.