The rain started overnight. A light, misty drizzle when I awoke around 3am; a wind-driven torrent coming down the open companionway when I awoke around 7am (before anyone asks: I closed the hatch). I wandered over to the Lerwick Boating Club for a hot shower and it’s just nasty out, as you can see from the “after” photo (to yesterday’s “before” shots) at right — more of what I expected weather-wise from this North Sea archipelago.
While lying in my bunk early this morning, I heard what sounded like the water pumps, indicating that someone was taking a shower on the boat. “That’s weird,” I thought. “We all showered at the boat club last night.” Must have been a dream, it seemed, because not long thereafter, I heard what sounded like a woman’s voice on a loudspeaker, issuing orders in some bizarre tongue. “That must be it; I’m dreaming.” Thing was: I’ve had some odd dreams in my life, but I couldn’t quite figure this one out. So I finally woke and went topside, only to find we had some company on the wharf…and with that company, the source of the water-pump noise (the Fram’s engines as it docked) and the voice was revealed…
(And as you can see, it’s another crackin’ day here in the Shetlands: blue sky, puffy clouds and nice breezes out of the west.)
One image from my time in Newcastle since I’ve been importing photos to my computer here in port. The view from my seat for the Newcastle United-West Brom match.