Friday 4 July

Very wet and windy this morning. There is a delay on the ferry from Tarbert to Uig today, 90 minutes which are likely to continue through the day. That route has been particularly busy, with delays due to volume of traffic common. Our service is on the "three a day" schedule today, which sees a final arrival at 2.45 am.

There are now regular warnings about elevated levels of algal toxins in some of our lochs. Today, it's Loch Erisort. Shellfish taken from Loch Erisort could make you quite ill.

In the afternoon, went on a brief visit to the Ravenspoint Centre at Kershader, 22 miles from Stornoway by road (12 miles as the crow flies). It plays host to a small museum, cafe, shop and hostel. I stayed there for a number of weeks during the 2004/05 winter. The museum is small but lovely, full of the gadgets of yesteryear. A portable pulpit, anyone?

Thursday 3 July

Force 6 from the south today, with occasional spots of rain. Cruiseliner Discovery is in for another visit, anchored off Sandwick. The tenders taking the passengers ashore are fair bucking in the swell, can't be nice for them.

In response to this letter on Heb News: I know this is a problem, and there are discussions on-going to increase capacity on Calmac routes. What this lady is arguing for is an "Air Discount Scheme" for islanders using Calmac ferries. The down-side of any increase in capacity is what to do during the winter months. It is not economical for any company to have assets lying unusued (i.e. just sitting there costing money). Tourism, finally, is a mainstay of island economy, and needs to be encouraged. Without the £50m it brings into the coffers of the islands, we would be in very dire straits indeed.

Wednesday 2 July

Strong winds today, with quite a bit of rain blown along. A complete turn-around from yesterday, also with regards to the temperatures, which have gone down to 13C / 57F. But after 2pm, the sun came out. The wind dropped somewhat and the mercury is back up to 16C / 61F. Quite nice, really!

Tuesday 1 July

Afternoon all, it's bright and sunny in Stornoway, with the mercury already at an impressive 17C / 63F. We could well see 20C later. Better take advantage of it; tomorrow will see a change in the weather, more wet and windy conditions. It must be hot when shoppers in the supermarket comment that "it's nice to come into a bit of cool".

Monday 30 June

The St Kilda swim has had to be abandoned, when the swimmers started to encounter 5-7 feet of swell. They could handle it, but the support kayak could not be launched from the support boat, so for safety reasons, the swimmers took to the boat and proceeded to St Kilda to rest up, before returning to Harris on Wednesday.

Another celebrity has bitten the dust: Rolf Harris was found guilty on a number of charges of indecent assault. Like Jimmy Savile, he took gross advantage of his young admirers, and on Friday he will learn his fate. At 84 and in failing health, he will most likely die in jail.

In the afternoon, I was watching the lifeboat hurrying to the aid of a small fishing boat that had suffered engine failure off the lighthouse. The lifeboat took the craft safely back into port; later in the evening the Tom Sandersen  was back out again.

Sunday 29 June

Isles FM, our local radiostation, has been off air since last Tuesday, after a powersurge or lightning strike. However, I still get the carrier on the 103.0 MHz. Engineers are due round on Monday to sort out the problem.

At lunchtime, the St Kilda swimmers took the plunge from Huisinis, Harris, to commence their 60 mile swim to St Kilda. They hope to arrive there on Tuesday, weather, waves and creatures permitting.

A tragic road traffic accident at Strombane, North Uist, killed the local manager of a haulage firm last night. Everybody in Uist knew William K. Morrison. RIP.

Saturday 28 June

It's Armed Forces Day in the United Kingdom, and I would find it slightly more palatable if they had toned down the celebrations a bit. As I stated earlier today, it is a hundred years ago today since the events took place that precipitated the First World War. I am the first to salute the efforts and sacrifices made by our military in today's world, but an acknowledgement of the historical significance of today's date would be appreciated.

At 6pm sharp, one of the two vessels docked in Glumag Harbour repeatedly sounded their foghorn in remembrance of the start of events leading up to WW1, 100 years ago that moment.

Visited Museum nan Eilean for the Stornoway Historical Society's exhibition on WW1 casualties from Stornoway and environs (as far afield as Berneray. Had a brief discussion with the Society's chair about WW1 and WW2 casualties who were missed off the CWGC's registers.

Friday 27 June

Bright but not sunny, as there is a fair amount of mid-level cloud around. 12C / 54F (at 10.30 am) is rather cooler than of late. The summer is here though, as monitoring has revealed increased levels of algal toxins, in West Loch Roag and in Loch Stranndabhat.

Interesting. Isles FM (on-line) report that there are already questions over the capacity of the new ferry, MV Loch Seaforth, which will come on to the Ullapool route in September. I would have expected an assessment of required capacity to be carried out before the boat was even designed. Although there is no point going back over done deeds, there was a question whether TWO boats should be doing the run. I can sort of envisage the good ole Isle of Lewis kept on stream to double up on the route.

Thursday 26 June

Brilliantly sunny in Stornoway, but with a very keen northeasterly breeze. Once again 15C / 59F at the moment.

Local radiostation Isles FM 103 put out the following statement: We remain off air. Isles FM continues to work at identifying the damage to our transmission network, which we believe was caused by an unknown surge or lightning strike. We are hoping to be back with you next week, if not earlier, and will continue to prepare excellent, local, volunteer-led programmes for your listening enjoyment.

Ships, ferries, and fishing boats are to fly their flags at half-mast between sunrise and sunset on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the first event which triggered the First World War. In addition, vessels berthed in port are encouraged to sound a remembrance signal by giving a blast on their fog horns at 6pm (5pm GMT) that day - to mark the hour of the first shot fired in the war.

Wednesday 25 June

Discovered a newly reopened path in the Castle Grounds, leading off from the path to Strawberry Hill. Another new path branches off in the opposite direction, so will have to go back to explore that. However, I have a good idea where that leads: to the top of Strawberry Hill and on to the quarry and Marybank. Why do I keep going on about Strawberry Hill? It was previously inaccessible.

My camera came back from the repair place, unrepaired. However, it is back in a semblance of working order. Maybe taking it to bits and reassembling it did something. Fingers crossed - next time it conks out it'll have to be replaced.

Today was a glorious day, after a slow start in terms of sunshine. At 9pm, I'm watching the ferry going OUT on its final crossing to Ullapool. It is due back into Stornoway at 2.45 am tomorrow morning, and is due to depart on its Thursday schedule by 7 am.We had a cruiseliner in as well: the Louis Aura.

Tuesday 24 June

Quite a nice day here in Stornoway, a pleasant 15C on the thermometer and the sun is slowly sweeping the clouds away. We have an easterly breeze, which usually brings us fair weather.

Went on a walk to Sandwick in the afternoon, in blazing sunshine and this easterly breeze. I recently found an old picture of one of the gravestones in the cemetery there, and revisited the site. Only to find the inscription badly faded, 5 years after being touched up. Sandwick Cemetery gets blasted by sand, wind and rain. 

Monday 23 June

Slightly brighter this morning, but I can still see the drizzle draping itself over the Arnish hills.

I am very pleased that I managed to obtain a photograph of the gravestone for Finlay Maclean in the Lambhill Cemetery in Glasgow. I am proud that it is thanks to my efforts that Finlay was recognised as Commonwealth War Dead in December 2010.

Sunday 22 June

Rather dreich and at times wet in Stornoway. No improvement through the day, in fact it's going to get worse. Never mind, tomorrow's another day. I have a lot of cropping, cutting and pasting to do (the portraits from the Roll of Honour), with which to adorn the website.

Saturday 21 June

Morning all from a fairly overcast Stornoway. We're in for some showers today, with the mercury around 15C. It's always nice to be different, the rest of the country is basking in sunshine. The summer solstice occurred at 11.51 am, and the Callanish Stones were overrun by misguided stone-huggers, by all accounts.

I'm told that the wreck of the Monaco has finally been fully removed from the Inner Harbour. It was plainly visible from Cromwell Street / Bayhead near the Kenneth Street turn-off, and presented an eyesore from the Castle Grounds. I'm sad to see any boat being reduce to rubble like that, particularly in the Monaco's case. If it hadn't been for a protracted legal battle, she wouldn't have had to linger in port for the past 12 years. The only winners are the lawyers, the two people disputing ownership now have the object of their battle turned into whisky casks!

Friday 20 June

Quite a bright morning, although a good amount of cloud as well. Two cruiseliners in today, the Black Prince, anchored behind the lighthouse, and the Hebridean Princess, along pier no 1.

Fuel poverty among the elderly in the Western Isles turns out to be an endemic problem, according to Ofgem. 60% of the over-60s spend more than 10% of their income on keeping warm, sometimes choosing to keep warm rather than keeping fed - or the other way round. Fuel costs here are higher than on the mainland at any rate.

 
Black Prince (left) and Hebridean Princess (disappearing beside the lighthouse) this evening.