Vaila at last

Vaila isle at last The foula crew met at fjara cafe for brunch to make last minut packing plans, the conversation flowed rapidly along with the time, we couldn’t get everything organized and discussed in the brief time we had at our table, But Hamish threw a wee gem of an adventure plan into the works? He knew I was planning a vaila trig point trip and reckoned we should give it a go the next day in the double kayak, the wind was to pick up at some point but the double was more stable in the water so would cope better in a slight swell, Duncan said no worries if we don’t do it by kayak his brother has a boat oot that way we could get to obtain my objectives later with a bit of notice perhaps the following weekend, Hamish said that’s a great option Dunc; what we will do is load the kayak drive oot have a look if its too choppy we will take you up on the very kind boat offer

Next morning, I was packed and ready to go as per Hamish`s instructions at 08:00, we firstly went to his house for toast and coffee and load the kayak and equipment on his car, although there was a very slight breeze the weather was actually very nice, we had even packed some sun screen! The islands are extremely braw on days like this the horizons look endless and the rugged coastlines look as strong as castle walls, it was a drive where you constantant`ly got distracted from the conversation to mention the view braw, Our original plan to launch from burrastowe B&B was scupper`ed as there was a film crew with all their trucks vans and cars milling around, there is a TV show called Shetland or something that seems to be reasonably popular, I wouldn’t know as I never watch TV but this show was getting filmed at our intended launch site this day, the security bloke said we could park up and launch down at the fish farm pier close by, Hamish already knew this and even better he actually knew one of the fish farm workers called Keith, we went round and spoke with him he was extremely helpful telling us where best to park and that he would watch our progress, if we needed any help they could rescue us with their boat, he even let us use the loo and offered us a coffee and said be sure to pop in when we got back!

We gave it a go! I couldn’t get my life jacket zipped up and Hamish had forgot to zip his dry suit we headed out to sea into a headwind, Hamish steered the kayak by his foot pedals I was at the front just concentrating on looking at the horizon and paddling with fury as we hit some swell and the water splashed over the bow onto my specs hat and gloves, Hamish was chatting from behind I had to tell him I was silent through nerves which gave him a chuckle, he was loving the stability of a double kayak with a rudder as opposed to his normal single with a sked, I was just a bit rusty having not exposed myselfnto much kayaking of late, but i did know from personal experience that I didn’t want to go in the water!

Once over the open water it was a pleasant fast paddle into the pebble beach near the big fancy hoose on vaila, we dragged the kayak well up above the tide mark and took of our dry suits while drinking a wee cup o green tea, I had only one objective then to get to the trig point, but Hamish was keen to walk around a bit of the shore line, of course I immediately changed my attitude this is a superb coastline the weather was perfect for a walk around some stunning cliffs, there is times for box ticking getting the task done and there is times for leisure strolls or runs or just a connection with the area you are passing through, Hamish was right lets live for the moment and take in this island for all its worth which is what we done

Firstly, we headed up to the tower OMG this is fantastic the millionaires that own this island are art collectors, this tower up on the hill is about as artistic as you can get, I peered in the windows slack jawed at the raw beauty of the surroundings inside these people have exquisite taste,

We then marched along the coast being careful to stay away from the edge of the big cliffs, where we came upon by accident a cool sea hole, I checked my map this one is called maamy`s hole! We stayed there to take photos and do a wee video before moving on along the coast to the high points, I didn’t truly need my map as we could clearly see each high point on the island the trig point came into view on the second wee peak after maamys hole

It was a vanessa again I was delighted to see it, psychologically for me this was a huge mile stone, as vaila is an island very close to the mainland like noss balta Bressay even Fetlar papa stoor and skerries all to a degree defo close enough to the mainland to not be stand alone! Foula and fair isle are so far out on their own they could really be classed as separate entities for my Shetland trig points challenge?! This made reaching this trig point almost feel like I have done it! Previous to putting my hand onto the top of this trig point I could not have said I have done all Shetland trig points, but now? Foula and fair isle are slightly different from mainland Shetland vaila is not,

After the trig we followed a land rover track over to another pier then came down by the impressive house to get back to our kayak mission accomplished, well it would be once we paddled back to the mainland, we had a sandwich and some tea and this time sorted all our equipment properly, which was back to front really because we now had the wind at our backs the return paddle was ten mins quicker and nowhere near as scary a bit of a high swell coming in from our side in the middle section briefly but mostly the wind helping us over with zero sea spray hitting my specs and hat this time

Keith had us in for a cup o tea and explained a bit about the salmon farm to my enquisative questions, I took a photo of the Shetland tv show film crew we loaded all the gear and kayak, we then stopped at the cool telephone box at burrastow as we drove past to sign the visitors’ book. Then we got the shop at walls I bought postcards and beer, then visited oor work mate mark work mate for me long time friend for Hamish, it s lambing season so he is busy, but he made us tea I drank beer and then we got to help him shift some lambs aboot, I learned a lot about lambing the spray painted numbers and the iodine on the back sack and crack stuff. Also, I was given a tour of the shed which has alexa and a web cam for the sheep’s mental health all fascinating stuff

Hamish dropped me at Tesco in town another wonderful day to be alive , hamish made a wee video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J294lq_qU1s&t=13s