A Week’s Holiday in Orkney – Part Three


Thorsvoe glides through the glassy waters of Kirkwall Harbour

Part Three: Shorter North Isles sailings

After exploring the northern-most isles of Orkney, including North Ronaldsay the previous day, Rob Beale continues his holiday and promised the family a lie-in on the Wednesday morning, not having to leave their cottage until 10:15. This left his early morning free to pay a very brief visit to Shapinsay, accompanied by one of his sons.

In 2004 I had visited aboard Shapinsay but in recent years Thorsvoe has been a regular sight on the run, allowing Shapinsay to displace Eynhallow on the routes from Tingwall. Thorsvoe was another vessel that had eluded me in 2004, and I was very keen to see what she was like. She is primarily the fleet’s reserve vessel, designed to cover the route from Houton to Flotta and Hoy, and the Shapinsay and Tingwall crossings. Apart from the overnight berth at Longhope the South Isles terminals served from Houton all have linkspans, but the other routes she relieves on have slipways. As such, she has a novel ramp arrangement. At her stern is a ramp for use on linkspans. Her bow features the same, but she also has a removable slipway ramp. When this is fitted, her forward linkspan ramp stays in situ: when she lands at a slipway, both ramps are lowered and raised at the bow, making her quite unique. One wonders whether Loch Fyne could be fitted with this arrangement given that, at least until recently, she was regularly working on the Armadale run as well as on several slipway routes.

Thorsvoe at the slipway at Balfour on Shapinsay

We turned up at Kirkwall for the 08:15 crossing to Shapinsay. The sea was like glass and three cruise ships were in town. One in Kirkwall Harbour itself, one at Hatston and a third at anchor. Thorsvoe glided past them and nudged her ramp up the slipway. After the commuters and schoolchildren had disembarked, we boarded. Thorsvoe has two lounges. A small one on the port side, and a large one under the car deck, but we headed to the open area aft of the wheelhouse. A few minutes later we were turning to head north. Thorsvoe’s route took her along the Orkney Mainland shore of Carness, leaving Thieves Holm to port, before crossing the The String, passing Helliar Holm to starboard and Balfour Castle to port before rubbing her ramp up the slipway alongside Balfour Pier. This was a quick trip. The schedule allowed us 20 minutes ashore, but we opted for only ten, which was enough time to walk around the pier and take some lovely photos in the sun. We were back on board in good time for the return crossing to Kirkwall.

We returned to our accommodation to pick up my wife and the other two children, who had enjoyed their long lies, and were all back in Kirkwall at 10:40 and in the loading lanes for the 10:55 sailing to Eday and Sanday. Yes, I was dragging us all on another long sailing day from Kirkwall, but this time we were going to take the car, and explore an island for a few hours.

Earl Sigurd leaving Kirkwall for Westray

As we checked in, Earl Sigurd set off for Westray and Earl Thorfinn moved towards the linkspan, her bow visor raised in readiness. We boarded and found our dog-friendly seats on the starboard side, which were actually slightly comfier than those on her sister vessel. We followed the same route as the previous day as far as the north end of Shapinsay before bearing east. As we cleared the top of Shapinsay, a small blue boat zipped south towards Kirkwall. It turned out to be Zevi I, a hydrofoil-type vessel that has been used by Orkney Islands Council to trial fast passenger services from Kirkwall to Shapinsay, Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre. She hasn’t carried any passengers yet and, at the time of writing, was about to head back to Belfast for some upgrades, but she is due to return for further trials later in the year, possibly along with a larger sister vessel. Incidentally, passenger-only services to the islands of Eday, Sanday, Stronsay and occasionally North Ronaldsay are in the hands of Nordic Sea, on which I had planned to sail during the week. Unfortunately, overhaul delays meant that she did not return until the last day of our trip.

Zevi I heading for Kirkwall

Heading east along the north coast of Shapinsay, Earl Thorfinn made for the south-eastern corner of Eday, passing a number of abandoned crofts before turning north to berth at the pier in the Bay of Backaland. Usually, the boats berth bow-in at Kirkwall and stern-in at all the islands, as we did at Eday. This routine makes for some interesting procedures. Eday vehicles were loaded first at Kirkwall, so they were nearest the stern ramp for disembarkation at the island. Sanday traffic was parked behind them, but vehicles boarding at Eday and bound for Kirkwall was then positioned on the car deck, blocking the Sanday-bound vehicles. While we were at the pier Varagen passed in the distance on her way to Stronsay. After just ten minutes, we embarked on the short crossing to Sanday, taking around 20 minutes. With the call at Eday we reached Sanday in an hour and 45 minutes from Kirkwall, at 12:40.

My queries were answered when we berthed. My car was sandwiched in by a couple of Kirkwall-bound Eday vehicles. They had reversed on at Eday so they could drive straight off at Sanday. They then waited for all the Sanday vehicles to disembark before driving back on forwards to be in the correct position for their later arrival at Kirkwall.

Earl Thorfinn at Eday with Varagen just visible (top left) in the distance, heading to Stronsay

Earl Thorfinn alongside at Sanday

Our return sailing was scheduled to leave at 18:05, giving us a bit over five hours to explore the island. Having the car helped us visit several sites and find fantastic ice cream sundaes at 59 Degrees North, but we could easily have spent a few days on Sanday. We arrived back at Loth Pier to see Earl Sigurd making her approach to the pier. Earl Thorfinn was behind, heading in the other direction from Eday to Stronsay. The voyage back to Kirkwall was under a perfect sky with not a single cloud. We found our dog-friendly spot, conveniently situated near the door to access the aft deck walkway, and sailed directly back to Kirkwall, arriving at 19:40.

The North Isles fleet in evening repose at Kirkwall

For my family, that was the big sailing days done. I had one more North Isles trip planned later in the week, but that was going to be a solo trip, or perhaps with one of my children if they wished to come along too.

Rob is a long-standing member of CRSC and as well as being an established author in his own right, has contributed articles to both ‘Clyde Steamers’, the annual magazine produced for members, and the CRSC website. If you would like to join CRSC, and receive copies of our much-prized west coast shipping Review and our annual magazine, as well as being able to access a growing library of ‘Members Only’ posts on the website, then please click here.

Also by Rob Beale:

On the Spot
Rob Beale
Presentations to CRSC
February 2023: ‘Funnels in the Fells: Commercial Boating on Lake Windermere 1483-2023’
November 2014: Turntable Ferries — from Glencoe to Glenachulish
Website Articles
A Winter 5 Ferries
Linking the Loch
Salute to Stockholm
Mull Variations
A new ‘Swift’ for Windermere
The Alfred Experience
‘Island Crossings’ – BBC TV series about CalMac
A Week’s Holiday in Orkney – Part One
A Week’s Holiday in Orkney – Part Two
Published on 23 July 2026