Rackwick Bay

We had a fairly calm sailing over the Pentland Firth yesterday, given the strength of the wind and were very surprised to be greeted in Stromness by Daughter#2 and two granddaughters who are also holidaying in Orkney and were shopping in the town.

After the welcoming party was bade farewell, there was the necessary welcoming ice cream and coffee at Julia's café before we boarded the ferry to Hoy and our guest house for 3 nights, an renovated mill house with our own added on suite of rooms looking over Scapa Flow to Orphir in the distance.


We had a slowish start to the day, but once His Lordship got his island head together we jaunted up to the Hoy Heritage Centre in the old Hoy Church and then down to Moaness for a coffee and the hope of a WiFi connection.
With hopes dashed of finding an Internet connection, we drove along single track roads to see Rackwick Bay, a beautiful sandy and boulder strewn beach underneath towering sandstone cliffs. The boulders on the beach are round and we managed to find two small ones we could carry, to grace the patio at home.

We considered walking to see the 'Old Man of Hoy', but gave it a miss for the day in favour of seeing the whole island and driving down to Longhope.

On the way we stopped on a bleak moor at the grave of Betty Corrigall, a young girl who found herself pregnant by a runaway lover and, not being able to stand the disgrace, committed suicide, excluding her from being buried in sanctified ground.

We have been told that there might be WiFi at the Hoy Hotel at Lyness which opens at 7 pm tonight. If you read this today, you will know this is correct.