Shetland with Laurie – Aboard The Noss Boat

Shetland with Laurie

This week, we had the pleasure of Laurie Goodlad, Shetland’s very own independent Scottish travel writer, tour guide, itinerary planner and destination specialist as a guest onboard The Noss Boat. It was wonderful to share our top wildlife and photography boat tour attraction experience with Laurie first-hand. We have enjoyed watching Laurie’s business grow of the years and really enjoy her insightful, knowledgeable online content, writing style, and professional approach within the tourism industry here on the Isles.  To see Laurie’s reel of our tour please check out instagram here: Shetland With Laurie  – Noss Boat Tour Reel April 2024

Laurie summarised our tour on Instagram as follows:

✨ Birds, birds and more birds! Phil told us so much about the birds we saw, from fulmars to skuas, long-tailed ducks to eiders, oystercatchers, ravens and more… the highlight were the gannets and auks (we spotted razorbills, black guillemots and guillemots) that nest on the towering cliffs of Noss.

✨We entered the Orkneyman’s Cave, a place reputed to be where men hid from the Press Gang.

✨ We passed through the Giant’s Leg – an impressive natural sandstone arch

✨ Once at the bird colony we witnessed an incredible “feeding frenzy”, with gannets diving like torpedoes into the glistening sea. We saw skuas bully other seabirds for food. We spied shags and kittiwakes nesting in hidden crags and the babbling guillemots claiming their spot on the ledges.

✨On the way back we were lucky enough to see some curious seals in the harbour (ps – they’re massive!)

This was an incredible trip, and it’s impossible not to feel totally in awe of the natural world, its beauty, and challenges- all set against the beautiful evening light of Shetland’s spring 🫶🏻

I came away with a full heart, a camera roll filled with beauty, and a face full of gannet poo!

🎦 Laurie filmed the whole trip for her Patrons over on Patreon (coming soon)……..

 

Shetland With Laurie

Started in 2018 after Laurie grew tired of the drag of her day job and being ground down by the corporate workplace.

Driven by a passion for the islands she call’s home, an underlying faith in herself and the wider universe, and under the whispering veil of warnings from well-meaning family members of ‘don’t do it, it won’t work’, Laurie stepped off the merry-go-round of employment and spread her wings into the unknown.

With little more than a fledgling blog of musings – some pretty bad in those early days – and unwavering faith that it was the right thing to do, Shetland with Laurie was born. From the tiny seed of an idea and a passion for words, her blog grew …

Five years later, Laurie say’s she is: “I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and how my business has evolved from a deeply buried blog on the final pages of Google’s search to an authoritative voice within the Scottish travel industry. I have written and contributed to big hitters in the industry, such as Lonely Planet, and featured on travel shows, blogs and tourism campaigns. My fledgling seedling has grown into a business and blog that I’m immensely proud of today”.

 

 

TOURS & ITINERARY PLANNING

“PLANNING A HOLIDAY IS HARD. THAT’S WHY I’M HERE, TO REMOVE THE PRESSURE OFF PLANNING AND TO TAKE THE STRESS AWAY FROM PLANNING THAT PERFECT TRIP.”

With extensive experience planning itineraries in Shetland and Orkney, let me take the reigns and give you the trip of a lifetime.

Whether you’re travelling solo, as a family or a larger group, I can put together a travel itinerary to suit your needs. Or perhaps you’re travelling with a motorhome or tent but can’t figure out ferries, campsites and routes. Let me do that for you while you sit back and dream of the north!”

LAURIE’S PATREON PLATFORM

“Patreon is a membership platform that gives patrons – that’s you, I hope – exclusive access to otherwise unpublished material. For creators, Patreon is a way to get paid for the things that we create. Patrons pay a few pounds a month and benefit from exclusive content, while creators can earn a little to create that content. Patreon is a way to join your favourite creator’s community and pay them for making the stuff you love.”

LAURIE’S BLOG & PODCASTS

Scottish travel blog from an Islander’s perspective & wonderful Island themed podcasts with interviews with Island folk across a range of vocations and interests.

GUIDEBOOK

Laurie has a new Guidebook coming out VERY SOON in 2024 – keep tuned via her online platforms for the latest developments and release dates we can’t wait to see it in print and are sure it’ll be a big success…….

“After years of meticulous planning, research, and exploration, Laurie and I are thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of our comprehensive guide to the Shetland Islands. An exciting new guidebook, celebrating Shetland’s beauty and rich cultural heritage. Created by the travel writer and Shetlander Laurie Goodlad and the Shetland publisher Misa Hay, two passionate advocates for the islands’ unique charm, this guidebook is an invitation to experience the soul of Shetland, the most northerly islands in the UK.”

“With stunning colour photographs and more than 250 pages, Shetland: Your Essential Guide is a labour of love, born from a shared dedication to showcasing the islands’ natural beauty, intriguing history, and vibrant community life. Our guidebook is more than just a collection of places to visit: it’s a love letter to Shetland, a thank-you for its breathtaking landscapes, rich heritage, and the adventures it offers.”.

Misa Hay – Shetland Wool Adventures

The Noss Boat – Collaborations at home & in Sweden!

Fabulously busy day on the water today with full tours of both cruise ship passengers and visiting Shetland tourists. Delighted too to wear our new Noss Boat crew gear! These waterproof, windproof, comfortable jackets have been sponsored by the fabulous Swedish @didriksons outdoor clothing company & personalised with our Noss Boat logo thanks to our collaboration with local business @lhdcustomclothing who were super efficient & a pleasure to deal with. Many thanks! 🙏

Sustainability Report 2023

 

Custom Clothing

“Offering a personalised embroidery and transfer service to businesses, clubs, sports teams and individuals. At LHD Custom Clothing we design, print and embroider garments providing you with branded corporate clothing or leisurewear to your requirements.

We supply workplaces, clubs and associations, sports teams, schools, fishing boats, festivals, Up Helly Aa squads and themed parties with promotional items and personalised gifts. We also produce a number of t-shirts, hats and other goods which are sold in the LHD Shop, catering to both tourists and locals.

Whether you need a one-off or a run of thousands, we can accommodate. We have no minimum order quantity, and no set-up fee for garments ordered through us. Our move to new premises at 2 Charlotte Place, Esplanade, Lerwick is proof that there is a high demand for branded workwear and personalised items in Shetland.

You can choose from an extensive range of garments in our catalogue including stock from the LHD shop, or you can view the whole range of garments online.”

To view our range and check live stock figures, please click here!

Our most popular products include embroidered or printed t-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies, jackets, caps and beanies.

  • We can accept either rough sketches or detailed artwork
  • We can show you proofs of designs before we produce your items
  • We utilise several different production methods to suit your needs including embroidery, vinyl transfers and direct-to-garment printing
  • We keep all designs on file which means that repeat orders are straightforward

Weekend Magic – Da Voar Redd Up & Wildlife & Photography Noss Boat tours.

Da Voar Redd Up & The Noss Boat Wildlife & Photography Tours Weekend April – 2024

We had a fun weekend with both our Noss Boat Team beach clean-ups for Da Voar Redd Up and our wildlife & photography boat tours to Noss with a small break in the weather! There was a wonderful sense of community as we passed so many people on beaches and on the roads brandishing litter pickers and the large green collection bags. We filled 3 enormous bags on one small beach alone and what was clearly evident was that the vast majority of litter was rope & line from the fishing industry. This is something we also come across and remove from the ocean surface on a regular basis during our boat tours and we see hanging in great clumps from gannet nest sites. Other items included many plastic bottles, a shoe, sheep ear tags, cans and sea-worn sections of buoys. 

We also found a hand-full of eggcases (mermaid’s purses), a Starry Skate, several Small-spotted Catshark and Thornback Ray! These will be uploaded and recorded to the Shark Trust website for their ongoing highly successful eggcase recording scheme.

We have really enjoyed taking part in this award winning, community clean up weekend & are looking forward to taking part in the next organised one already whilst still beach-cleaning as and when we can throughout the year! 

“Da Voar Redd Up is the UK’s most successful community litter-picking event, with around 4,500 people (20% of Shetland’s population) volunteering each year. The Redd Up makes a huge contribution to the protection of Shetland’s natural environment and wildlife, clearing Shetland’s beaches, coastlines and roadsides of litter and the debris washed up by winter storms.

We also enjoyed sharing the delights of Noss with with our famous Noss Boat tours over the weekend during a break in the weather – So elated to be back out on the water sharing the wonders of Shetlands incredible natural marine environment with guests from all over the world, this weekend, Australia, Germany and Italy and closer to home some passengers from here on the Isles. Hope you will be joining us this season to experience the breathtaking seabirds around Noss, a true highlight of many holidays on Shetland!

 

Local Artist Collaboration – Linda Richardson – Puffin & Seal masks!

We are delighted to collaborate and showcase another local artist, the wonderfully talented Linda Richardson of Voe, Shetland. As part of our original FREE eco-gifts for each child passenger on our Noss Boat tours through 2024, each child will be given one of Linda’s original eco-craft paper masks, of either PUFFIN of SEAL, ready to colour and wear! These are carefully made and perfect for young children, so that they can continue to be inspired by the rich marine life around Shetland waters, even after their tour with us has come to an end. We have seen (first hand experience with our own young daughter!) these masks being enthusiastically coloured in and enjoyed by many children at craft fairs and events in the past and are excited to be given the opportunity to purchase them and share them with our onboard guests this year, knowing they will be a big hit!

Linda is a popular, very active local artist and printmaker, producing original works of art. She draws, paints and makes limited edition relief prints and etchings of wildlife. Birds, animals, flowers, coastline and landscape are all subject matter from the beautiful Shetland Islands which inspire her work. Previously a part time tutor in adult education, Linda now teach various workshops here in Shetland. As a member of Shetland Arts & Crafts Association Linda’s studio is open on weekends during the summer as part of the Shetland Art & Craft Trail.

Ninian, the Bonhoga Gallery and Hoswick Visitors Centre all stock Linda’s artwork, both original prints and cards.

Linda is a keen birdwatcher, gardener and all-round nature lover, moving to Shetland from Little Bardfield, a small village in North West Essex in October 2016. Her home is in Voe, on the hillside overlooking Olnafirth.  There is an abundance of wildlife here, with ever changing weather, varied coastline, flora and fauna. Linda’s garden is apparently “very much a work in progress, gardening on a steep slope, with the extremes in weather it proves a challenge to say the least”.

Linda’s paintings are in watercolour or acrylic on canvas. She enjoys making mixed media pieces using wax crayon and ink. Her printmaking encompasses etching and block printing in the form of linocuts.

You can see Linda’s latest work here via her website link below,  and purchase cards, unframed original prints and one off pieces via her online shop!

lindarichardson.co.uk

Mob: +44 (0)7765 037516
Tel: +44 (0)1806 588289

Studio Open:
Studio is open by appointment. Please text or call to arrange a time.

Mail: linda@lindarichardson.co.uk

 

Address:
16 Mulla, Voe
Shetland. ZE2 9XQ
Scotland, UK

THANK YOU LINDA

3D WOODEN DIVING GANNETS – FREE GIFT FOR NOSS BOAT KIDS 2024

NEWLY SOURCED – SCOTTISH SMALL BUSINESS COLLABORATION

Diving Gannets 3D Pop Up for all children aboard the famous Noss Boat for the 2024 season.

We are delighted to have sourced and are now both selling via our online shop and giving for FREE to every child aboard our boat this year, a Pop Up DIVING GANNETS eco-card. Pop up cards are quick to make, easy to assemble, need no glue and all have pop out parts to make them 3D. Pop up cards are designed and made in Scotland by precision laser cutting. They are made from a sustainable and recyclable poplar plywood.

The cards come with a C6 coloured envelope, a C6 cellophane wrap and a paper insert with a picture of a completed model on it. This wooden card measures at L 140 x W 95 x T 3 mms and weighs 19 gms. This card can be posted for the same price as a normal letter in the UK.

THE STORY BEHIND THEM

These diving gannets are one of many pop up designs made by Andy Cox who started a small business in 2012 in order to raise funds to support two children a year (or more) through compassion UK.  This charity gives long term support  to children in some of the world’s poorest places. This goal was achieved for two years by selling a range of products that were made in  Gordonstoun School,  Moray, Scotland mainly for the Christmas Gift market. (Andy had been Head of Design there for 15 years and Fiona was in charge of Careers and Cooking.)

In the Summer of 2015 Andy and Fiona left teaching to concentrate on the business. They set up as a partnership, built a workshop and now have several Laser cutters making pop up designs.  They went full time into wood gift designing, making and packing in 2016.  After selling 80 000 cards last year, in 2019 they hope to sell many thousands of products and  raise many thousands of pounds for good causes.  They have started the funding of a workshop through compassionUK (one of the top 10 British charities), providing tools, materials and  teachers to help 30 boys and girls in Kenya to get a vocational education in one of the most poorest areas of the country and of our world. This year they are hoping to sponsor a project in Tanzania for a vocational workshop for wood and cooking. In 2018 they started working with adopt-a-child as well helping with child sponsorship projects in Guatemala and Albania. in 2019 they had the wonderful opportunity to visit one of the projects we help support in Guatemala.  In 2021 they moved south of Edinburgh to a bigger workshop, to be closer to their children and new Grandchild.  Post covid they are still hoping to give away £8000 to £20 000 a year to the two main charities we support adopt-a-child and compassion UK.

The Noss Boat is delighted to support this business by giving every child passenger (under 16) aboard The Noss Boat a free diving gannet pop up gift as part of our spectacular Noss Boat wildlife experience for the 2024 season. This is a unique and original design we have sourced and a fabulous new asset to our ever expanding boat tour business here on Shetland. 

Another Year writing for local magazine i’i Shetland!

JACK FROST & THE COLOUR PURPLE

Shetland Seabird Tours

Rebecca Nason for i’i Shetland 2024

 

 

NOSS BOAT – EUGY STOCKISTS – Eco-friendly 3D cardboard crafts for 2024

We are delighted to become a EUGY stockist for the 2024 season, both in our onboard THE NOSS BOAT Seabird Gallery shop & in our Ortolan House Bed & Breakfast shop. We are big fans of these wonderful products & can see why EUGY have become an extremely successful business since their launch in 2019. We are stocking PUFFIN, ORCA & SHEEP while stocks last for the 2024 season – check out our Etsy shop! These 100% eco-friendly products are a superb addition to our original Noss Boat eco-shop range. Read all about their story here & more about the products we have for sale here on Shetland.

Eugy sales set to exceed £10m by 2024

“Since launching in 2019, the eco-friendly craft brand Eugy has steadily grown in popularity with retail sales, in the UK & ROI, due to surpass £10 million by the end of the year. Now instantly recognisable among consumers, Eugy’s longevity as a staple collectible looks promising thanks to new SKUs consistently added to the range.

Eugy was created by New Zealand manufacturer Dodoland and more specifically the brainchild of the company’s founder Hoon Kim. Hoon set about creating a sustainable 3D cardboard animal puzzle which connects people to nature and the wild, following a trek to Mount Everest base camp where he saw piles of plastic waste left behind for decades to decompose.

The UK Eugy range now features 58 models with four unique Christmas Eugys. From parrots and penguins to platypus and ptero, there are lots of Eugy animals to collect and create by following a simple number sequence to build a 3D model made from environmentally friendly, FSC accredited card.

Nick Saunders, sales & marketing director at Eugy, commented: “As a company which creates its own brand products, we always look to work with partners who share the same goals and ethos. The team at Dodoland have created something completely unique with Eugy that captures the imagination of everyone who comes across it. The sales have been phenomenal, and we love seeing how our retailers are capitalising on the craze themselves. Thanks to its price point, eco-creds and all-important collectability factor, it crosses multiple retail channels and we are staggered by the response to it year on year.”

New Eugy models will be launched in September and will include the bat and badger, followed by puffin and stingray in October.

Nick added: “Everyone is looking to make more sustainable choices and we think it is important consumers can also be assured that purchasing a Eugy is not just an eco-friendly choice but money from sales of many of the models such as the elephant and gorilla support various wildlife charities around the globe.” Toyworld Business Magazine Sept’23

 

Shark Trust – Eggcase Recording – Easter Special

MERMAID’S PURSES – SHARK, RAY & SKATE EGGCASES – WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR ON SHETLAND’S BEACHES

Becoming a marine life citizen scientist –  data gatherer & recorder

Shetland has almost 1,700 miles of coastline. You can find many boulder-strewn storm battered beaches as well as gorgeous stretches of white or golden sand. The coastline can look dark and ominous some days and like the Caribbean the next, Shetland has so many beautiful beaches, you are never far from a good one! Spending time on the coast, breathing in the fresh Northern salty air feels good !! and has well known health and wellbeing benefits. Whether you are exercising the dog, having family fun building sandcastles, braving a wild swim, beach cleaning, walking, birdwatching, orca spotting or beachcombing, there are plenty of ways to enjoy our fine beaches. Having spent a lot of my childhood in a flat, land-locked county in England, I have always really appreciated the coast, and over the past twenty years have forged a deep love of Shetlands coastline and marine environment – indeed I could never move away from the coast and the sea – it has become my happy place for both business and pleasure!

As a family, we spend a lot of time in the winter and spring months walking and beachcombing on our favourite beaches. We look for dead seabirds as part of beached bird surveys, hunt for groatie buckies (cowrie shells), rare sea beans and drift seeds from South America, pea urchins, sea urchins and sea glass. On many walks, particularly after storms when seaweed mounds are strewn across the tideline, we look for mermaids purses, otherwise known as shark, ray and skate eggcases. It is unusual to leave a beach and not have at least a couple of eggcases in our pockets. Beautiful rectangular or square empty vessels, light and wonderfully variable in colour, they are always a joy to find! Our eggcase journey began many years ago when, on finding our first few, we were keen to find out what species they were from and how common or rare they were. This is when we came across www.sharktrust.org a fabulous website and resource we have revisited many times since. Here you can learn about the different species in UK waters (and beyond!) and about their unique lifestyles. You can identify eggcases you find using their excellent identification charts (see an example below), they even have child friendly identification charts and themed eggcases hunts like the Easter-themed one! Once you identify your find, you are encouraged to submit your record on the easy to use recording page where you can upload a photo, add your species, location and date.

© Shetland Seabird Tours 2024

“We believe in the power of collective action. Citizen science is a great way to get more people involved in shark conservation and research. And solve the problem of data gaps at the same time. Research is the first step to conservation. We need to know as much as we can about how a species lives and the threats they face. This enables us to make well informed decisions to help better protect them. Over the years we’ve built up some major citizen science projects, including our flagship project the Great Eggcase Hunt.The power of citizen science is that it allows us to collect vast amounts of data. It also helps us pinpoint where further scientific study is needed”.

“Some sharks, and all true skates, reproduce by laying eggs. These are surrounded by a tough leathery capsule that protects the embryo as it develops inside. After several months these are ready to hatch, and a fully-formed shark or skate will emerge. Please note that in the UK many skate species are referred to as rays in their common names. Once empty, the eggcases (or mermaid’s purses) often wash up on the beach. One of the best places to find them is among the strandline, where the seaweed washes up. The eggcases of different species vary. So, by looking at the size, shape and features, we can tell which species laid it. You can learn to identify eggcases too”

Small spotted catshark eggcases are the most commonly found on Shetland beaches.

“The Great Eggcase Hunt has helped us to build a clearer picture of which species are present around the world, and more specifically around the British Isles. To date, 98% of our records come from around the British Isles, totalling over a whopping 430,000 eggcases; 87% of which have been verified by either an image, a specimen or expert ID. Though there are around 30 egg-laying species that occur around the British Isles and Ireland, many of these are offshore or deeper waterspecies. Due to this, our ID guide for the Northeast Atlantic contains the species that are most likely to wash ashore; giving us 13 key species for this region. Although the Starry Skate, Blue Skate, White Skate and Blackmouth Catshark are rarely reported, there have been beach finds for these species. In contrast, nearly 55% of eggcases come from just two species: the Thornback Ray and the Smallspotted Catshark!”

“Starting from a chance eggcase find in 2003, this project has grown and spread faster and further than we could have dreamed. 2023 marks 20 years of this citizenscience project, with thousands of people having taken part over the years. Through the tireless effort and commitment of the public and our citizen scientists, the Great Eggcase Hunt now holds records of over 440,000 eggcases! Starting from just 127 eggcases reported in 2003 from around 50 people, we have had over 40,000 eggcases reported in the first half of 2023 alone, from nearly 5,000 people! Better still, with digital cameras and smart phones becoming more and more common, a greater proportion of our records have been coming through with images attached; 87% of our records so far have been verified.” The Shark Trust

 

©www.sharktrust.org

We have found hunting for and then recording eggcases found on Shetland an incredibly fun and rewarding pastime and one which involves and inspires all the family at all times of the year. You can record your finds even easier now with the new Shark Trust Eggcase recording smartphone APP which was released last year:

Shark Trust Mobile App Download Guide

Shark Trust Junior Eggcase Guide Download

Shark Trust Indoor Easter  Eggcase Hunt Download

Shark Trust  – Become a Member

Eggcase Recording Form – Shark Trust

2003 to 2023 THE GREAT EGGCASE HUNT – Records that matter – SHARK CONSERVATION  – get involved!

HAPPY HUNTING & HAPPY EASTER!

Rebecca, Phil & Ayda – Shetland Seabird Tours – The Noss Boat

 

BEST EGGCASE DISCOVERIES – SHETLAND 2024 …….

BLACKMOUTH CATSHARK EGGCASE x 2

“This is an offshore species (mostly at 200 – 500m depth), so eggcases are rarely washed ashore and reported to the Great Eggcase Hunt. Distribution: Within the British Isles, most eggcases have been reported from Porcupine Bank – which is an area off western Ireland. Records: so far we have had 63 verified records, 16 of which have come from the UK and Ireland” Shark Trust

  1. 4th February 2024  – Bannaminn Beach – Shetland (specimen now with UHI. – Shetland).
  2. 7th March 2024 – Bannaminn Beach – Shetland
BLACKMOUTH CATSHARK EGGCASE ©Shetland Seabird Tours 2024
BLACKMOUTH CATSHARK EGGCASE ©Shetland Seabird Tours 2024

Da Voar Redd Up 2024 – Spring Beach Cleaning Weekend !

                                                Da Voar Redd Up 2024

Da Voar Redd Up will take place from Saturday 20 April – Friday 26 April 2024.

The Shetland Seabird Tours family regularly clean up litter ‘bruck’ on Shetland beaches. We spend a lot of time beachcombing & taking part in beached bird surveys & take great satisfaction in removing ugly, damaging manmade items from the shoreline. Alongside this however, we have really enjoyed taking part in this award winning, community clean up weekend & are looking forward to taking part in this well organised one! Hope you will take part too? See you out there!

“Da Voar Redd Up is the UK’s most successful community litter-picking event, with around 4,500 people (20% of Shetland’s population) volunteering each year. The Redd Up makes a huge contribution to the protection of Shetland’s natural environment and wildlife, clearing Shetland’s beaches, coastlines and roadsides of litter and the debris washed up by winter storms.

 

2024 registration open

To register for this year’s Redd Up please completed our online form here.

Registration will close on Wednesday 17 April at 17:00.

Why should you register?

  • When you register, you will be provided with Redd Up bags. These identify Redd Up rubbish, making it easier for us to record it.
  • Registering allows you to choose a Redd Up location and allows us to make sure that different groups are not cleaning the same places. This not only means that more of Shetland gets cleaned, but also gives us a more accurate record the amount of litter that has been collected.
  • During registration, you will be able to specify a roadside collection point for all of your bags. Redd Up rubbish can only be picked up from these locations

What happens after registration?

After you have registered, we’ll prepare your bags for you and let you know when and where they can be picked up. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide gloves. If your chosen location is unavailable, we’ll get in touch to discuss alternative options.” Shetland Amenity Trust 2024

 

Both images © Shetland Seabird Tours – The Noss Boat 2024

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