Tuesday 4 February

Quite a reasonable day, with the mercury around 7C / 45F and no rain to speak of. The winds are also moderate, which makes a change. We even had good spells of sunshine. At lunchtime, it was musical piers, as the ferry boats jostled to dock at the ferry terminal. The Hebridean Isles is here to take freight traffic, but was drafted in as passenger ferry at lunchtime. Only after she left could the Clansman, which had suffered a breakdown on passage, dock and discharge her passengers. In the afternoon, I went for a short stroll in the Castle Grounds.