A filthy day, with rain and a gale all day. Our ferry, the MV Isle of Lewis, has not had a good day at all. Halfway across the Minch, a crossing of 2 hours 45 minutes, one of its main engines cut out. The master decided to press on for the mainland port of Ullapool, which was reached 1½ hours late. The boat had to stay alongside pending repairs, as maritime regulations forbid her sailing on just the one engine. The baffling part of this story is that the Isle of Lewis has only just come out of dry-dock following her annual refit. Last night, the freight ferry Muirneag was not running either, on account of this bad weather, which sprang up overnight. The Isle of Lewis is due back on the run as of the 10.25 sailing from Ullapool back to Stornoway. It will not be a nice crossing, as the wind will only drop a notch, from force 8 to force 7.
Collected my new spectacles and sit here getting used to them. Reading is a lot easier, but the distortion is something I'll have to get used to over the next few days.
