A Heart Felt Thank You

To the rescue services for finding and rescuing me on the night of 14th September and to those involved with the recovery of the boat. The crews of the Aith lifeboat, helicopter Oscar Charly, the Walls coastguard, coastguard co-ordinators and emergency services all did a magnificent and professional job. I was mightily relieved when they found me. There was no condemnation or criticism, just a sense of relief that they had done their job without mishap.

The boat lay at anchor the following day. Although somebody had offered to take me out and tow her back, the wind conditions made it impossible and I was not able to find an alternative until the following evening. Checking that day revealed she was gone - I presumed for good and I cancelled the alternative boat, but a friend on Papa Stour who had been keeping an eye on her, later found her buried with six inches showing on the nearby Kirk Sands beach.One engine was still in place, but the other was buried in the sand. While he was digging out the engine, my alternative rescuer had taken it upon himself to do a search along the Papa Stour shore and found my friend digging on the beach. Having dug out the buried engine, they loaded both onto his boat and he brought them back to the mainland for resuscitation.

I don't know if the boat can be rescued, but I'm going on the next available ferry (Friday 19th) to see what can be done.

All these actions reinforce the feelings I have for Shetland and Shetlanders. There are few places in the world where I could expect that kind of unselfish caring attitude. All those involved are too modest to want to have their names published, but you know who you are and I thank you all.