MV Hjaltland

Today's the day ....................... to berth

This is the sight that greets you if you walk down Marischal Street on to Regent Quay in Aberdeen.

The harbour is jam-packed with ships of every size - most connected in some way with supplying the oil rigs offshore - or like this one, an enormous ferry taking vehicles and passengers to Orkney and Shetland.  There seems little separation between the busy shopping streets of the city and the hustle and bustle of the port - and it's probably always been like that.  Aberdeen has always had such a close connection with the sea that it's impossible to think of one without the other.

Down on the beach, the wind was whipping up the spray off incoming waves.  As you can see below, it gave a strange, almost eerie effect when the sunlight was reflected through it ...............................