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Tides are the biggest challenge when trying to get the most out of a day trip to Sanday. Lots of beaches to visit which are best at low tide, plus a walk out to a tidal island. A low tide time of about 6pm didn't help either, and so the tide was still a few hours away from being fully out when we arrived at the car park for Start Point.
The first part of the walk follows a track, its side eroding into the sea, along the edge of Scuthvie Bay. There were good views of remote North Ronaldsay, and faint ones of even more remote Fair Isle well to the north. The shoreline was attractively rocky but the tide didn't look very far out...
Soon Start Point lighthouse was visible ahead, with its unusual vertical stripes.
A little further on and we could see Ayre Sound ahead, the channel separating Start Point from Sanday's "mainland". Our hearts sank - definitely still covered by water. Although the channel wasn't that wide and probably not much more than knee deep, it was fast flowing (the tide flows out from south to north), with all the rocks covered in very slippery seaweed.
It might have been possible to shed boots and wade across, but we decided to wait around for a while, watching a few seals.
After maybe 15 minutes there was little visible change to the water level, and waiting any longer would risk us missing the ferry back to Kirkwall. Still too deep without a serious wade:
Heading back along the track towards the car park, the falling tide had uncovered a small expanse of sand to explore in Scuthvie Bay.
Bit of a shame, but we still got good views of the lighthouse, and you can't do anything about the tides!
Orkney 2016<< Lunchtime: Quoyness Cairn