Flight-seeing Today

Fair Isle / Winter / Weather Window

Island Life: A Winter Story

Weather closes in, flights cancel, and island life reminds you who is really in charge.

Weather Window

Below Limits

Weather has closed in and we are below limits both on route and at Fair Isle. This afternoon's flight is now cancelled...but we are in the air! And Skyelark is in the hold.

Video Dispatch

In the Air

Video 01
Weather, flight limits, and the uncertainty of getting to Fair Isle.
Fogbank

The Good Shepherd Tomorrow

So the opportunity to fly out here during a heat wave down south in England, we expected no weather issues...maybe some wind, since Shetland is famous for wind speeds. But precisely because of the heat wave, the fogbank came in today, along with rain and some lightning while we were midair. Oh well, looks like we will be taking the Good Shepherd Ferry tomorrow.

Island travel is not scheduled by confidence. It is scheduled by weather.
Fair Isle winter weather image one
Image 01
Weather closes in over the route to Fair Isle.
Fair Isle winter weather image two
Image 02
Island logistics when weather chooses the schedule.
Fair Isle winter weather image three
Image 03
The route changes, but the island remains the destination.
Good Shepherd ferry
Image 04
The Good Shepherd Ferry: backup plan, lifeline, and island reality.
Video Dispatch

Island Winter

Video 02
Day-to-day realities of Fair Isle winter life.
Island Life

A Mild December on the North Sea

For those who have never experienced island life, the day-to-day realities of living in the middle of the North Sea during winter can seem mysterious, and sometimes even a little intimidating. Yet, despite being in the Arctic Circle, and because of the Gulf Stream, the December 2020 winter we experienced here was rather mild.

Flights cancel. Fog rolls in. Lightning arrives midair. The Good Shepherd waits. This is island life: weather first, plans second.