June 2005 Author: Toni The weather condition is ultimately the deciding factor for a departure and passage across Oceans. Decisions have to be made on those weather and wind reports, may they be correct or not. Having decided on a departure date and the forecast is not rosy; it most likely means the going is going to be tough. The forecast was for westerly winds turning south west later. Our course was northwest for 360 miles to Faroe. Not a good forecast, but we are anxious to go. Once we reached the open sea we had light northwest winds and of course we cannot sail our course and need to tack. Hoping for the south westerly winds to arrive later we head mostly north. The Gulf Stream currents pushing us north as well. A double whammy! Already we are 24 hours at sea and have made little progress. The wind is increasing in strength and wave heights are now 2 meters plus. Beating, beating, it is most frustrating. The Norwegian oil rigs were plentiful, but easily to spot by sight and radar. Still it blows from the northwest and unless we tack again we end up in the Spitzbergen. We are now 2 days out and not even half way to the Faroe’s, but only 25 miles from the Shetlands. What about stopping over in the Shetlands for a night and hoping for better wind the next day? The approval was unanimous. Ahh.. A nice quiet anchorage in a cove in the most northern part of the Shetlands was heaven. Departing the Shetlands we were accompanied by dolphins for a while and even a mink whale came to say hello. All a good sign we thought. Disappointingly the wind was still northwest and dying down. Eight hours later we were becalmed in fog and visibility reduced to less then half a mile. Reluctantly the engine was turned on and the autopilot steering us in a straight line to the Faroe’s. Every 15 minutes we turned the radar on to check for shipping. I picked a signal up 10 miles behind us and coming towards us fast. As the signal was right upon us we saw a Danish Frigate only a hundred meters away checking us out. We wave hello and they speeded off for some other target. It is good to know someone is watching the traffic in the Northsea. In the afternoon the 29th of June we arrived in Torshaven, the capital of the Faroe’s a day and a half late, but in good spirit, We enjoyed Torshaven and its many buildings with grass roofs. Little Swan again made some news as a reporter found us sufficiently newsworthy to report our vagabonding to the public in the Faroe’s.                                     The next journal will tell the tale of our trip to Iceland.