Sule Stack and Sule Skerry

22 August 2016

After a foggy night we arrived at Sule Stack. At 0,2 miles we still did not see the rock, but we could smell it! It was very clear that birds were nearby. Finally the air cleared a bit and we could see thousands of gannets on the Stack.
After sailing around the Stack we sailed towards Sule Skerry, but we spotted fins a few hundred meters from the ship so we went there first. They were pilot whales; after us watching for a few minutes they disappeared. At Sule Skerry we were a bit less lucky because due to the many rocks around Sule Skerry we could not get very close and the fog was so heavy that we decided to leave for Orkney. Along the way we spotted a puffin (finally!) and we tried to follow it so everyone could see, but the waves and fog helped the puffin escape, but we are not giving up!
Yesterday evening we arrived in Kirkwall, so today we have to visit the distillery, the St Magnus Cathedral and the Orkney museum. Tonight the wind will shift to the northwest, so then we will depart to get closer to our destination.