Scorrie

The drydock was unavailable until the 6th due to a shipment for the latest Royal Navy submarine new build being loaded onto a cargo vessel in wet dock. Once that was completed the dock was then ready for Hjaltland.

If there were a couple of honking great supply ships tied up there, no-one would bat an eyelid. I never hear folk in Aberdeen complaining about all the commercial gear being slap bang next to a shopping 'experience'.....
 
It's a temporary fixture providing accom for a workforce, attempt to welcome the benefits and endure the terrible suffering and hardship it is obviously bringing to some......
 
Death will bring sweet release, no doubt

And then they can't understand why people don't want them anywhere near......

Any minute now someone will be along to say there's a fishing boat out there and the ferry should be, too ...... 

And then they can't understand why people don't want them anywhere near......

The North Boat was so named after the North of Scotland, Orkney & Shetland Steam Navigation Company, who provided the shipping link to Aberdeen etc before P & O and Northlink.

Naethin tae hinder the Good Shepherd lying at Grutness Pier today :-
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/12256124005_e529d7e1b8_c.jpgGrutness Pier IMG_5484 by Ronnierob, on Flickr

Ghostie: I was on her! 
 
The Friday night sailing was pulled forward to 10AM that day as the skipper reckoned any later and he wouldn't be able to guarantee the run, it was, er, interesting.
 
I've been out on bigger seas, but certainly not on a ferry. A few beers and some scran and then into me pit. Luckily, there was only a handful of passengers and a fair amount of freight, I wouldn't want to have been taking my first ever sea trip on that run.......
 
I reckon the Skipper was keen to ensure being able to get into Hatston. When we tied up there, it was interesting to see the reaction of some of the passengers as they came up from their cabins, hanging onto the handrails, only to realise that the ship was actually tied up and not still ploughing the raging Main! There was certainly a bit of 'movement' in the water......
 
Journey time was 21hrs down to Aberdhabi.
 
As an aside, a quick observation upon the delayed AB departure (Wed 21:00) return trip (alongside Lerwick  today 07:30):
The ferry was held back by Aberdeen Harbour deciding it was not suitable conditions for shippping to enter or exit until gone 21:00. Not the skipper, Aberdeen Harbour.
 
Armchair mariners, please note....... 

Storms should be the dwelling place for those there by necessity - or the stupid. 

Ghostie: I was on her! 
 
The Friday night sailing was pulled forward to 10AM that day as the skipper reckoned any later and he wouldn't be able to guarantee the run, it was, er, interesting.
 
I've been out on bigger seas, but certainly not on a ferry. A few beers and some scran and then into me pit. Luckily, there was only a handful of passengers and a fair amount of freight, I wouldn't want to have been taking my first ever sea trip on that run.......
 
I reckon the Skipper was keen to ensure being able to get into Hatston. When we tied up there, it was interesting to see the reaction of some of the passengers as they came up from their cabins, hanging onto the handrails, only to realise that the ship was actually tied up and not still ploughing the raging Main! There was certainly a bit of 'movement' in the water......
 
Journey time was 21hrs down to Aberdhabi.
 
As an aside, a quick observation upon the delayed AB departure (Wed 21:00) return trip (alongside Lerwick  today 07:30):
The ferry was held back by Aberdeen Harbour deciding it was not suitable conditions for shippping to enter or exit until gone 21:00. Not the skipper, Aberdeen Harbour.
 
Armchair mariners, please note....... 

Bloody pikey treveln' basitids.
 
 
How dare they come up here and force us to leap to conclusions and hold online kangaroo courts based upon the premise of "I heard someone said...".
 
(Grabs pitchfork and waves it ineffectively at the internet)
 
Evidence, or shut it, vacuous proles.

Probably.
 
But it is funny reading the Master Mariners slagging off ferry skippers.
 
BTW, Bluemull ferry cancelled on Monday because of the weather and both they and Yell Sound cancelled over the Christmas break. Perhaps Papsy would like to jump aboard his fishing boat to nip up there and tell the skippers just how pish they are? 
 

Do try and keep up.
 
There's a good chap.

I dunno, a pelican crossing seems to halt the traffic very well....
 
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq330/Redneck_Hillbilly0504/bfe15d34-07d7-4b3a-bb80-5314ab3ca007.jpg
 

I didn’t see anything in the report saying that speeding as such is a problem. What the report did say is there are a regular, albeit fairly low, number of injury accidents along that road. So while there may not be many drivers actually breaking the speed limit, nevertheless if the general speed of vehicles were reduced then evidence from elsewhere tells us that accident numbers and/or severity of injuries would be reduced. That as I understand it is the basis of the case for reducing vehicle speeds and taking down the speed limit to 20mph. Nationally 20mph speed limits are becoming much more common, now even being planned for trunk roads in Scotland, something that would never have been considered a few years ago.
 
http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/News/consultation-to-begin-on-lower-speed-limits-in-towns-and-villages
 
By the way, while the CCTV system shows what is going on, it cannot tell what speed a vehicle is going at. The question here is the balance between reducing pedestrian injuries versus saving motorists a minute or two going around the town. So I wouldn’t have a problem with a 20mph speed limit as long as it is only over a fairly limited length in the middle of the town. Zebra crossings? Mixed feeling about them.

Missed dis thread but I think it's a Scandinavian originated word so using a K is imho more correct.  Skori/Skorie.
 
The Faroese word is Másafuglar(pronounced Maawsafulgar), hence Ghostie's Maaw.
 

There's a huge difference between a small private enterprise going out in all weathers to scrape a living on a relatively small trawler and a large passenger vessel making a decision based upon safety for its passengers.
 
The trawler skipper answers to just himself and a small team of tough, experienced crew, he can choose his weather to suit his commercial needs or his own level of bravery/stupidity. The ferries have to deal with the public and a few hundred thousand poundsworth of easily smashed cargo that doesn't belong to them.
 
But, as I said, it's easy to sit in a chair spouting pish and looking at AIS displays. Not so easy when you are the professionals who actually have to make the decisions. Comparing what a dedicated freighter or fishing boat is doing against a passenger ro/ro service is meaningless. You might as well criticise the local coach company for not following a Land Rover across a muddy field..... 

Joost git more speed bumps. Turn da whole of Lerwick into the world's least exciting roller-coaster and be done with it. Mibbie throw in a few more multi-thousand pound round-abouts dat nobody kens how to use, and finally introduce a one way system all the way from the Town Hall to Sumburgh airport. Well, now that I've done the Roads & Transport blue-print for 2014, I'll have to go and fry up some saucermeat afore I get stuck into my report aboot closing the AHS and relocating the students to Skeld. 

If runners choose not to make themselves seen, or decide to run whilst listening to music on headphones, then as far as I'm concerned that is Darwinism at its finest. I just hope they don't take anyone else out with them when a Tulloch truck full of aggregate mashes them into the tarmac.....
Everyone has a role to play in keeping folk safe when they are out and about, agreed. But there's always one dick wandering about in basically night camouflage or driving in fog with no heid lights on, rathers spoils it for everyone then.
That's why the caveat 'always be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear' covers just about all situations.
 
I'm more bothered by the attitude of some drivers that appears to be that roads are for cars. Not cyclists, not pedestrians/joggers where there's no pavement and not for horses. Just cars. And everyone else should just stay the hell off the roads so that cars can travel as fast as possible.
 
Putting my pedant hat on:
 
The road is for 'road users'. This includes pedestrians where there is no constructed pavement. And 'pedestrian' just means travelling by walking, whether it is on a pavement, on a road or across the Red Sea. It is not a classification of road user that is restricted to using a pavement.
 
 
 
Beep beep.

Pelican crossings aren't normally installed now, they usually are replaced with Puffin crossings.
 
The Puffin works on sensors, The idea being that if someone presses the button and then crosses before the lights change, then the sensors pick up on this and cancel the red light command.
Also, the traffic is held on stop until the crossing is clear, so no "beep, beep, get a move on, you silly old sod" flashing green man phase is required.
 
This also means that there is no flashing amber light controlling the cars, as the traffic is held back on red until the crossing is clear.
 
So the easiest way to tell the difference between a Puffin and a Pelican is that the Puffin has no flashing amber phase - the sequence is the same a traffic light.
 
Wishart obviously hasn't bothered to research the subject before spouting off.

And I'm a massive fan of anything by Wychwood 

This might help if you've no previous experience of Bernese:
 
http://bernesebreeders.btck.co.uk/BuyingaBernese
 
Regarding suitable breeds, then I agree with wot ULS said. Look at the breed characteristics.
 
Purely for example: collie pups are fairly common up here - but do you really want a dog that needs to be on the go all day if you can only let it out in the garden occasionally? Or a greyhound - 40mph couch potatoes and generally very placid, but tend to be very good at thinning out the local cat population and can have recall difficulties due to a strong chase instinct. Do your homework.
 
Anyway, good luck and hope you find a suitable dog for you and your family. I wouldn't be without my dog...but I could throttle the little sausage a dozen times a week

I personally would be fussed about breed.  I'd be looking for a breed that matched my lifestyle.  Some dogs need lots of exercise and stimulation, others are more like couch potatoes - definitely something worth considering when you need to go out for over 30 minutes at time, sometimes 4 times a day for a dog requiring a lot of exercise given the Shetland weather.  Some dogs have guarding instincts, others don't.  Some bond better with people than others.  Want a lap dog?  Want a dog that wants to play with toys or one that doesn't want to fetch?  Some are noisier than others.  Work all day and no one at home?  Forget it.
 
Shetland is fortunate in that it doesn't have one, but two dog clubs.
 
Why not check out the RSPCA, The Dogs Trust and other charities in your current location?  You could always contact the relevant breed club, say the Bernese in this case, especially if you've never owned that particular breed before.

Hardly a surprise there. 
 
Weatherspoons? What they do, they do extremely well.
 
I don't mind Flints or the Thule for a swift pint, Lounge is good for music. But there isn't what I'd call a good 'pub' to be had in the town really. But my idea of a good pub is probably different to the next persons, and so on.
 
I used to like the Spiggie a few years ago, and they did some decent beers instead of just Tennants and McEwans pish. St Magnus is a decent spot, but again, no decent beers on draught.
 
BTW: Let's hope the new owners of the Hilltop make a success of the place. 

Shame. While Weatherspoon's is derided by a lot of folk sooth for being something of a soulless chain, I for one would welcome any competition to the stagnant, complacent pub scene in Shetland...