A sail to Stromness

The weather has been glorious for much of May, which makes up for the loooong Winter, and a very late Spring.  So a sail to Stromness from Graemsay last week was a real joy with blue skies and calm seas.  Above Hoy High lighthouse, and behind that the Hoy hills.  The lighthouse, despite being on Graemsay and not Hoy is actually called "Hoy Sound Lighthouse" because this stretch of water is called Hoy Sound.  Quite why they didn't call the stretch of water between Hoy & Graemsay that I don't know (that's known as Burra Sound).  Confused? Don't worry about it. Haha!

And right next door to the lighthouse is.... Sandside!  Where Button and I live...hee hee.

OK I was chatting on the boat after the above photo was taken, so the next one is coming into Stromness Harbour.  The white building are now privately owned flats, but were once owned by the Norther Lighthouse Board for lighthouse keepers and families when they weren't out on lighthouse stations.

The "Red Shed" on the left is the old lifeboat station.  Now it is the home of one of the diving companies (recreational diving off wrecks in Scapa Flow and environs).

And this boat is called "The Swan" which sails (honest it has sails!) out of the harbour on tours for a few weeks each year.  It's a restored herring boat, based in Shetland but comes down to Orkney every year.

And te final photo of the shorefront of the town coming into the pier where our ferry berths.  All the houses will have piers or access to small piers, though not everyone has a boat these days.