STS Morgenster

I looked out of the window and below the house in the bay was a sailing ship.  Whilst we have the Tall Ships and occasional sail training vessels visiting Stornoway and the Islands this is the first time I have seen one anchored in the bay. It was a calm evening. The ship anchored overnight and then in the morning gently slipped away without, unfortunately from the picture point of view, unfurling her sails (which given how calm it was would have been pointless).

She was the Nederlands registered Sail Training Ship Morgenster sailing between Kirkwall and Belfast.

Carrying the name 'Vrouwe Maria', this brig was put into use in 1919 for the catching of fish in the North Sea. A motor was fitted in 1928 and in 1947 it got extended and re-measured. In 1959 the name changed into Morgenster. Later on the ship served in sport fishing and as a radio ship for Radio Del Mare. In 1993 Harry Muter bought the vessel to rebuild it into a Sail Training Ship. In 2008 the ship can be found sailing the waters of Europe once again.

First view from the house

I couldn't resist a second shot emphasising the beautiful sea

...and another emphasising the sky

Settling in for the night

It's light almost 'till midnight here on a good day at this time of year

Handsome

Calm in the dawn light

Westward Ho

CJ and I went into Stornoway this morning as is our habit and, after coffee and lemon meringue pie (I MUST stop eating so much - CJ is a very bad - and thin - influence) and crossword at the Library coffee bar we went exploring the harbour where there were some sailing ships. I was very taken with the Tall Ship "Westward Ho".

Supplies!

Wonderful tiller - no wheel

The Faroese vessel Westward Ho was built in Grimsby 1884, and sold to the Faroes in 1895. With a crew of 20, she fished from the waters of the North Atlantic all the way to Greenland until she was laid up in 1964. During the Second World War, she transported fish to Britain from the Faroes and Iceland. After changes in ownership, she was restored in 1968 and again in 2005, and today the she has regained her original appearance above deck. She competed for the first time, in the Tall Ships Race in 2008.

Tall Ships

There have been a lot of sailing ships going through the Minch over the last week or so. So far as I can work it out they are racing from Liverpool to Norway under the auspices of the Sail Training Association. All the vessels were many miles from land so decent photography was not an option. I did manage some photos with a combination of the little Canon and the spotterscope or using my Olympus with it's powerful zoom.

This one seems to be going the wrong way