Well, we are finally on board the ferry. Steve arrived this afternoon and Geoff, Ellie and I had eaten lunch at the Inversnecky Café an Aberdeen icon well known for it’s awesome bacon sandwiches!
We also sat for a while near the harbor entrance and watched the stormy seas and several supply vessels enter the harbor.
I am amazed at the size and complexity of the vessels and how specialized they are. There are anchor boats that manipulate and place the anchors that hold the giant rigs in place and dive vessels that have wave compensating cranes to lower the diving chambers. The divers may be in the chamber for a week at a time sometimes on the seabed and sometimes in the chamber on the deck. When they eventually come out it is after a considerable period of decompression. They earn a LOT of money, but the emphasis is on earn as it is tough and dangerous work.
The North Sea oil and gas business is huge and while Aberdeen is the center of this activity, Shetland is an important center also.
There do not appear to be many people on the ferry this evening. It sails daily (weather permitting) and is one of three similar vessels that serve both Orkney and Shetland and is absolutely the lifeline for the islands and permit the continuation of a lifestyle that has been in place for thousands of years.
We have just had the safety briefing and are ready to get underway. We have been told that it may be a rough journey so we will see!!
Update. We are two hours out and I can see the town of Peterhead off to the west. We had fish (fresh haddock) and chips for dinner followed by fresh fruit salad, and chili chocolate in our cabin. Excellent
We are rolling and there is the occasional bump, but it is not unpleasant at all. Steve thinks it may get “more interesting” when we get out in more open water off the north end of Scotland around midnight.
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