I have never been sea fishing and I would have no idea how to control a boat or bait a line, but every year I make a point of going to Norwick beach to watch the eela competition.

The eela are the boats and somewhere between a dozen and twenty take part. The rules of the competition are strict. The fishers have to stay within a tightly designated area of sea in the bay and fish with rod and line. They must all stop fishing at the same time and come ashore for the weigh in of the afternoon’s catch. The boat with the heaviest combined basket of fish is a winner, as is the largest individual fish caught. Or so I, as a complete outsider to this sport, understand.

What surprises me every year is just how many fish are caught in these supposedly over-fished waters. They come ashore in dozens and so many different types. Flat fish of varying sizes, mackerel, dog fish, piltocks, cod… heaped up in boxes. The smell of fresh dead fish combines with passing whiffs of whisky and the drifting smoke of a barbecue to create the unique eela smell.

Folk wait on shore for the boats to arrive. Grannies, little children, curious visitors and everyone peers into the boxes to see what has been landed. Just occasionally a fish shows signs of life, it twitches and a child shrieks with surprise.

Today the island has been covered in low thick cloud. It was after six o’clock that I set off for Norwick at the north end of Unst and amazingly the cloud lifted to create perfect conditions for the boats’ homeward run. It was hot and sunny as the boats arrived to be hauled up onto the beach where they were lined up. Bright yellow, deep blue, orange and red – they formed a classic picture postcard scene of the bay with the turquoise sea to one side and a white house in the distance.