Sparkly things

Kirsty has had to wait since June 18th for a proper ring. A ring not made of tin foil anyway. Along the trip I have tried to make something a little bit more hard wearing from twigs, electrical wire, etc but none of my attempts last.

When we arrived in Orkney our first job was to commission a real ring from local bespoke jeweller Celina Rupp. Yesterday, on the mooring off Eday, Kirsty got the call she had been waiting for. Her ring was ready!

This morning we left the mooring at around 1100 in order to catch the favourable tide down to Kirkwall. The wind was just off the starboard bow, but just fine enough to sail around 40° off the wind. True wind was about 12-15 knots when we set off so we had a great sail south. No waves, no swell, it was like being in the Solent, except it was empty and beautiful. The sun was shining and Pixie was eating up the miles with ease. The wind built slowly to around 21 knots true, so we reefed the genoa and kept going. With the tide under us our speed over the ground was 9 knots at times, it really was a good sail.

We tied up in Kirkwall and went for lunch. Celina arrived at 1500 to pick us up and take us to her house and workshop. Kirsty had been nervous about seeing the ring, and Celina admitted in the car that she was nervous too. After all if you see a ring and like it, you can buy it. But commissioning a piece of jewellery from thin air is different, we only had some rough sketches and faith in Celina. We needn't have worried though, the ring looked stunning. Sparkly and unique.



Unfortunately the camera on my iPhone really doesn't do the ring or Celina's work justice.

It is beautiful.