The ten days of February

Marsali Taylor sails an Offshore 8M, Karima S. She’s a dinghy instructor and author of The Shetland Sailing Mysteries starring liveaboard sleuth, Cass Lynch.

The old folk used to say you’d get ten ‘taekin’ days in February. They meant still, clear days when crofting families would get the chance to renew the heather thatch or ‘taek’ on the roof before the men went off to the whaling in March. It’s surprising how often the saying works