We are in 17 foot long, 23 inch wide sea kayaks, steering as much with our hips as with our paddles. Angus Nicol, of Sea Kayak Shetland, does this all the time. But we don’t. He makes sure that folk such as us who maybe have a little kayak experience of the flatwater of a man-made lake in Oklahoma are as safe and comfortable as possible when paddling the waters of the North Atlantic.

Angus is as much a nature and history guide as he is a kayaker. The kayak seems to be a means to an end, rather than an end to itself. Of course, riding the waves and swells of the ocean is fun, but a kayak is also a way to get out of one’s element and into someone else’s. That someone else in the waters off of Shetland might be a seal, or an otter, or a puffin. The wildlife is abundant.

We have put the kayaks in the water off the island of West Burra. It is calm here today. Soon a small pod of seals takes interest. They poke their heads above water and we keep still, allowing them to figure out our intentions. My intention is not to be beaten up by a seal, but I needn’t be worried.

Angus guides us back and forth across the voe. On one side there is an abandoned stone building that he says would have been inhabited 50 years ago. Now only sheep seem to be interested. 

As we paddle along the calm waters become a little more active. At first we could have been on a lake at home, but now we’re aware that we are on big, big water, and it’s alive. The swells are perhaps four feet tall. We rise and fall with ease, because the kayaks are made for this. On shore, though, waves crash into rock. We steer clear of the breaks. Angus points to the southwest. “Next land…Florida.”

Angus has us follow him into a sea cave after checking it out first himself. It is dark and tight inside. The cave doesn’t go through, so we find ourselves turning 17 foot kayaks around in a 25 foot wide cave.

Back out in the open water I spot a fence built right up to and hanging off a cliff 80 feet above the shore. I mention that it might need attention, and that I wouldn’t want to be the one to work on it. Angus assures me that it is in fine condition and was built that way, but sheep will still sometimes find a way around it. He sometimes finds sheep that have fallen and returns them to their owners.

We’ve rounded a piece of land that sat across from where we put our kayaks in the water, and I start to wonder if we’ll have to paddle back. We pull up to a small beach, portage the three kayaks over a fence, and put them in the water again. Angus’s car is within sight. The seals welcome us back.