June 14

June 14th (sunny)
Had a great sleep even though we had our sleeping bags over our heads because it was so cold. After breakfast we walked the cliffs of Dunscansby Head. It was fun to watch the nesting puffins and other birds as well as the seals in the ocean. The tides and currents in the strait between the Orkney Islands and John-o-Groats run at around 10 knots making navigation very difficult. Many shipwrecks have occurred through this channel. Georg knew all about the war history regarding the Orkneys. After the First World War, the remains of the German navy were anchored at Scapa Flow by the British. Prior to final disposition of the Germany navy, the Germans scuttled all 76 battleships instead of turning them over to the English. There they remain today under water. The winter storms here are of giant magnitude, waves actually breach the concrete harbor enclosures with 40 foot waves. There are many tour buses that stop and take the ferry to the Orkneys for the day.
We decided to stay here a couple of days to unwind because we have been doing a fair amount of driving. It was a great day for that. I watched a couple of fishermen bring in their shellfish catch of velvet crabs, brown crabs and lobster. Their comment to me was that Brits work “just to live”. We walked, beach-combed and walked some more. Went to bed around 10:30 after watching a fabulous sunset.