Notre dernier jour à Lerwick. Je vais faire un tour, en vélo, au musée des textiles, un peu au nord de la ville. Je ne vois pas le signe et je monte, monte puis réalise que je suis allée trop loin et redescends. Ce musée est installé dans une vieille maison qui servait de comptoir à poissons autrefois. Les pêcheurs apportaient leurs poissons là et étaient payés en fonction du poids qu’ils livraient. Puis les poissons étaient salés dans des tonneaux.
La dame me montre l’usage de la ceinture à tricoter : les femmes avaient une ceinture en cuir autour de la taille. Cette ceinture a une partie plus large sous le bras droit et dans cette partir sont percés des trous. L’aiguille à tricoter à droite est plantée dans un des trous. Cela la rend plus stable et aide à porter le poids du tricot. Elles tricotaient avec 3 aiguilles, autrefois des os de baleine. La dame du musée tricotait comme nous, en France : la laine sur l’index droit et l’index allant mettre une boucle de laine sur l’aiguille droite. Mais elle m’a dit que d’autres femmes aux Shetland tricotaient comme les Norvégiennes : la laine sur l’index gauche et l’aiguille droite qui va chercher la laine sous la boucle sur l’index gauche. Très beaux ouvrages.
Quand je rentre, on se prépare et on part. On va chercher du diesel et on s’en va vers le nord en longeant Main Land sur notre gauche. Beau temps mais vent droit dans le nez. On va au moteur, sans se presser. Il souffle un bon 4 mais on est à l’abri du vent dans notre cockpit (partie arrière) et Jens y fait une petite sieste. On est tous les deux rouges sur la figure et les mains, à cause du soleil et du vent. Le reste du corps n’a pas une chance, on n’est pas en Méditerranée ici.
Nous passons un rocher à peine découvert, loin au large. Heureusement il est marqué sur la carte.
Nous arrivons à Whalsay vers 4 h. La capitale s’appelle Symbister. Le port est grand et un quai est réservé aux visiteurs. On y va mais le chef du port vient nous dire qu’on ne peut pas rester là, un ferry va arriver un peu plus tard. Nous allons donc nous mettre au bout d’un ponton pour les bateaux locaux. On y est très bien, mieux que sous le haut quai où c’était difficile d’aller à terre. A peu près 1000 personnes habitent sur Whalsay. Nous allons à terre à la boutique. Genre de petite boutique qui a de tout. En bas, c’est la quincaillerie, tout pour la maison, le jardin et le bateau. Et en haut, mais au niveau de la rue aussi (la rue est en pente), c’est le supermarché. Incroyable tout ce qu’il y a !
En arrivant Jens remarque un bateau, genre Fisher avec un système très ingénieux pour rouler la grand-voile à l’extérieur du mat. Il demande donc dans la boutique qui est le propriétaire de ce bateau. C’est Josie qui habite la maison là-haut avec le beau jardin. Mais il n’est pas là, il travaille à Lerwick et rentre plus tard. Les gens peuvent habiter ici, à Whalsay et travailler à Lerwick : une demi-heure de ferry et 32 km en voiture sur Main Land vers le sud.
Nous faisons quelques achats, il faut soutenir le commerce local, nous rentrons au bateau et repartons en vélo. Nous allons jusqu’au bout de l’ile, vers le nord-ouest. A la pointe, Skaw, se trouve le golf le plus au nord des iles britanniques ! Cela fait au moins 10 km et en rentrant on fait un détour par l’intérieur de l’ile. On fait plus de 25 km. On a notre ration d’air frais. Paysage de prairies, murs de pierre, moutons, maisons abandonnées et maisons pimpantes. On voit et on entend beaucoup d’oiseaux. On remarque des constructions rondes, sans portes, très anciennes. On ne sait pas ce que c’est. Elles sont surtout autour des lochs (lacs). Protection ? Pêche ?
Il est 7 h quand on rentre. Les bateaux des Iles Féroé qui étaient dans le port de Lerwick sont arrivés ici. Et il y a un yacht français dans le port. J’écris le blog pendant que Jens fait la cuisine. Après diner on avait pensé aller rendre visite à Josie mais il est tard et on est bien fatigué, surtout moi.
Our last day in Lerwick. I want to go and see the textile museum, just north of the city. I ride my bike but I do not see the sign and I go up and up and realize that I went too far. I then go down and back. This museum is housed in an old house that served as a fish central once. The fishermen brought their fish there and were paid according to the weight they delivered. Then the fish were salted in barrels.
The lady showed me the use of the belt knitting: the women had a leather belt around their waist. This belt has a wider portion under the right arm small holes were drilled in it. The knitting needle to the right is put in a hole. This makes it more stable and helps to carry the weight of the knitting. They knit with three needles, formerly of whalebone. The lady of the museum knit as we do it in France: wool on the right index finger and this index makes a loop of wool on the right needle. But she said other women in Shetland knitted like Norwegian do: wool on the left index finger and the right needle will find the loop on the left index finger. Very beautiful works.
When I come home, we get ready to leave. It is one o’clock. We buy diesel and we go north along Main Land which is on our left. Nice weather,fair wind, but right in the nose. We're going with the engine, slowly, no rush. The wind is a good F 4 but we are sheltered from the wind in our cockpit and Jens takes a nap. We're both red in the face and hands, because of the sun and wind. The rest of the body does not have a chance, we are not in the Mediterranean here.
We pass a rock just visible above the water, far offshore. Fortunately it is marked on the map.
We arrive at about 4:00 pm at Whalsay. This island was called ”whals øy” in the scandinavian language. The capital is called Symbister. The harbor is large and has places for visitors along a high pier. We go there but the harbour master tells us that we can not stay there, a ferry will arrive a little later. So we find a place at the end of a pontoon for local boats. It is much better than under the high pier where it was difficult to go ashore. Around 1000 people live on Whalsay. We're going down to the shop, the kind of little shop that has everything. At the bottom is the hardware store, everything for home, garden and boat. And above, but at street level as well (the road is steep), the supermarket. Amazing what they have!
When we came, Jens noticed a boat like a Fisher with an ingenious system to roll the sail out of the mast. He asked the shop who is the owner of this boat. This is Josie who lives in the house up there with the beautiful garden. But he is not there, he works at Lerwick and will return later. People can live here on Whalsay and work in Lerwick: a half-hour ferry and a drive of 32 km on Main Land to the south.
We do some shopping, we must support local business, we return to the boat and set out again on a bicycle. We are going to the end of the island, to the northwest. At the end, at a place called Skaw, a golf course is the most northerly of the British Isles! This is at least 10 km and returning we make a detour to the interior of the island. Total, it is over 25 km. We have our ration of fresh air. Landscape of meadows, stone walls, sheep, abandoned houses and cosy houses. We see and hear many birds. We note several round building, without doors, very old. We do not know what it is. They are mostly around the lochs (lakes). Protection? Fishing?
It is 7 am when we returned. The boats from the Faroe Islands who were in the port of Lerwick are here too. They came in the afternoon. And there is a French yacht in the harbor. I write the blog while Jens cooks. After dinner we had thought about going to visit Josie but it's late and we are very tired, especially me.
The lady showed me the use of the belt knitting: the women had a leather belt around their waist. This belt has a wider portion under the right arm small holes were drilled in it. The knitting needle to the right is put in a hole. This makes it more stable and helps to carry the weight of the knitting. They knit with three needles, formerly of whalebone. The lady of the museum knit as we do it in France: wool on the right index finger and this index makes a loop of wool on the right needle. But she said other women in Shetland knitted like Norwegian do: wool on the left index finger and the right needle will find the loop on the left index finger. Very beautiful works.
When I come home, we get ready to leave. It is one o’clock. We buy diesel and we go north along Main Land which is on our left. Nice weather,fair wind, but right in the nose. We're going with the engine, slowly, no rush. The wind is a good F 4 but we are sheltered from the wind in our cockpit and Jens takes a nap. We're both red in the face and hands, because of the sun and wind. The rest of the body does not have a chance, we are not in the Mediterranean here.
We pass a rock just visible above the water, far offshore. Fortunately it is marked on the map.
We arrive at about 4:00 pm at Whalsay. This island was called ”whals øy” in the scandinavian language. The capital is called Symbister. The harbor is large and has places for visitors along a high pier. We go there but the harbour master tells us that we can not stay there, a ferry will arrive a little later. So we find a place at the end of a pontoon for local boats. It is much better than under the high pier where it was difficult to go ashore. Around 1000 people live on Whalsay. We're going down to the shop, the kind of little shop that has everything. At the bottom is the hardware store, everything for home, garden and boat. And above, but at street level as well (the road is steep), the supermarket. Amazing what they have!
When we came, Jens noticed a boat like a Fisher with an ingenious system to roll the sail out of the mast. He asked the shop who is the owner of this boat. This is Josie who lives in the house up there with the beautiful garden. But he is not there, he works at Lerwick and will return later. People can live here on Whalsay and work in Lerwick: a half-hour ferry and a drive of 32 km on Main Land to the south.
We do some shopping, we must support local business, we return to the boat and set out again on a bicycle. We are going to the end of the island, to the northwest. At the end, at a place called Skaw, a golf course is the most northerly of the British Isles! This is at least 10 km and returning we make a detour to the interior of the island. Total, it is over 25 km. We have our ration of fresh air. Landscape of meadows, stone walls, sheep, abandoned houses and cosy houses. We see and hear many birds. We note several round building, without doors, very old. We do not know what it is. They are mostly around the lochs (lakes). Protection? Fishing?
It is 7 am when we returned. The boats from the Faroe Islands who were in the port of Lerwick are here too. They came in the afternoon. And there is a French yacht in the harbor. I write the blog while Jens cooks. After dinner we had thought about going to visit Josie but it's late and we are very tired, especially me.
Les Iles Shetland
Shetlands Isles
Maja, Symbister, Whalsay
Locale quincaillerie
Local hardwarw store
Symbister
Les constructions rondes
The round buildings
Ruines et golf, Skaw
Ruins and golf course, Skaw
Des arbres protégés
Protected trees
Motif de tricot, Shetland
Knitting pattern, Shetland
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