To the Northernmost Point of the UK
| Passage | Burravoe → Muckle Flugga |
| Distance | 30 nm (2 nm under engine) |
| Duration | 5.5 h (0.4 h of engine) |
| Wind |
B0
B2
B4
B6
B8
B10
Calm
Storm
|
| Comfort |
🌤️
😌
|
I slept badly last night. I kept replaying the plan to get Capsula out of this tiny harbour, checking and rechecking the forecast, hoping the 30-knot gusts would somehow fade away.
The weather was meant to improve during the day, and there was nothing life-threatening. But the passage to Outskerries was still fresh in my mind: rain, cold, and a nauseating sea.
Morning came with our first sun in at least a week. The manoeuvre out of the harbour went perfectly, and despite the strong wind, the sea remained manageable. The tension slowly drained away. I went for a short nap while Stefano took care of Capsula.
I woke up at the edge of the island.
Cliffs towered over us, sharp black rocks at their feet, like defensive walls on which waves were crashing. And the birds! Hundreds of fulmars and gannets dotting the rocks in white and gliding around Capsula, passing dangerously close to her bow (from our point of view, from theirs probably just a fun flyby) and riding the wind on her wake.
And, as we passed the headland, puffins. The first of the season! There were still none on the cliffs yesterday and I was starting to despair of seeing them before leaving Shetland. And here they were, little battalions of them, resting at the bottom of the cliffs before heading to their nest for the season.
And just like that, it was all worth it.
Anne, Hermaness, April 2026