Tall Ships Update - 25th July

The next leg of the race starts today, one day later than planned. They will be racing to Stavanger in Norway. Follow Morning Star's progress via satellite or on the Sail Training website.

The crew have had a good time in Lerwick, we have received the following from one of the crew (dated 24th July):

"As we arrived in Lerwick the sun came out and lit it all up beautifully. I instantly fell in love with it with the narrow alleyways and Scottish music everywhere. When we arrived we first had to do a deep clean of the boat and we got it smelling nice. In the afternoon we had the crew parade and the whole crew dressed up as 118 complete with face paints. In the evening we had the crew party at Fort Charlotte which overlooks the Sound of Bressa and all the tall ships in their moorings. Later in the evening we went to ‘the lounge’ where there was live music and a great atmosphere.

On Friday I went with Matt and Dan to sort our laundry. While waiting for the cycle to finish we went to a nearby broch and explored all the tunnels.

On Saturday some of us went on a tour north of Lerwick in the countryside. We had the chance to see Scalloway, the former capital of the Shetlands. We also had the opportunity to see Shetland ponies. In the evening I went to see Bjorn Again (an Abba tribute band) which was free to all tall ships crew. At the end of the evening there was a fireworks display followed by all the ships blowing their horns.

On Sunday a group of us went to the outdoor church service where prayers were said for the tragedy in Oslo. The rest of the day was not very planned as we had been expecting to sail but the weather postponed the race by 24hrs. We all got fish and chips and took them back to the boat to eat for lunch. In the afternoon some of us went to the library (again free for crew) to catch up with our e-mails while others just chilled out on the boat and the like. In the evening we stayed onboard and chilled out in readiness for our race tomorrow." - Ed