Evening notes

Quite a strange day, in terms of weather. We started overcast and a bit wet, but after midday the sun came out and we got up to 20C / 68F! It was in other words very warm. Tomorrow should be even warmer. Went to see some interesting old fishing boats this evening - much like the one that was in on Monday, but not open to the public. Pictures to follow; I'm out for most of tomorrow (trip to Harris), so it may be a while.

Friday 29 May

No, I didn't do a posting yesterday. Was out to the west of the island and was cold and tired upon return. Went to Uig to see the local museum there, then crossed the few miles east to photograph 3 or 4 wargraves in the cemetery outside Valtos. Found myself waiting for a bus about half an hour at the Miavaig junction. Weather was misty, drizzly and cold with a very strong wind in exposed places. I already remarked on Facebook about the discrepancy in fares: when you go on the postbus, a return costs £5.45, but if you go on the Maclennan's bus (with onward connection from Garynahine) it is £6.00. The distance is 35 miles. May not sound much, but the postbus (which delivers mail along the way) takes 80 minutes, and there is a long section of roadworks, involving poor roadsurfaces etc. I'll make an entry with some pics later.

Wednesday 27 May

Day started out overcast and wet, but the cloud is presently breaking up, allowing the sun to come out. I spent the morning lugging sacks of coal and logs to a new home: an old pallet that someone was desperate to get rid of. When removing the sacks from their old position, the woodlice, centipedes and earthworms scurried away, looking for a new home that was dark, wet and warm. It was unpleasantly cold earlier on, with the thermometer just about cresting 10C / 50F. Now that the sun is back, we should warm up a little.

Spring evening

I am looking out at showerclouds, moving east rather quickly on a blustery westerly wind. They are dumping heavy but brief rainfall on the islands. Typical for the Hebrides in spring.

I am sad to report that a man in his twenties, missing in the Central Highlands since Sunday, has been found dead near Ben Alder. He got separated from his walking partner near the mountain and was reported missing later on Sunday. Police, mountain rescue and a helicopter carried out a search, and located a man's body at the foot of Ben Alder.

Locally, the war of words between the Sabbatarians and the ferry company continues. The row is centered on which piece of legal advice was issued by who and to who. Why equality legislation is being focused on is unclear to me. There is a host of reasons for starting a ferry service asap.

Tuesday 26 May

Quite a nice day out here, with sunshine and fluffy clouds. Although 12C isn't terribly warm, I think I prefer that to the severe thunderstorms that battered Holland overnight. They went up to 27C yesterday. The ferry appears to be sailing on time today, after yesterday's disruption. Away from Stornoway, the ferry from Harris to Uist was disrupted due to low tides and the Barra to Eriskay ferry was full up. It is very busy with visitors at the moment. Many people opt to holiday at home (in the UK), due to the economic recession and the unfavourable £ to € exchange rate. A year ago, 1 pound sterling was worth €1.25, today it is more like €1.10.

Boats galore - II

The ferry has finally left Stornoway, 9 (or 2) hours late. It had technical problems with its bowdoor. Whether these are now fixed I don't know. I can imagine there is a bunch of very fed-up passengers on board.


The cruiseliner Spirit of Adventure is still docked on the other side of the ferry pier. A number of its passengers were taken on tours of the island by coach, as is customary. Weather not too good; although the sun is out, there are some showers about and it feels cold. The other cruiseliner, Quest, is docked on the near side of pier number 1.


The Reaper has moved from the quay at Amity House to Lazy Corner, and was open for visitors today. The crew showed the interested (myself included) round. Tomorrow, they will continue on their round Scotland trip to Scrabster, 20 miles west of John o'Groats.


And I had the very minor inconvenience of an acute boot lace failure. Fortunately, Lewis Crofters had replacement laces, so that was easily sorted.

Missing walker found

The 60-year old walker who was missing around Glen Finnan, has been traced alive and well to Barrisdale in Knoydart, 20 miles away to the north. Automated messages were not being transmitted due to a fault in equipment. The man is continuing on his way to Cape Wrath.

Pointless in the 21st century

I found out last week or so that MSN Encarta is closing down. This morning, they have a list of 10 pointless things in the 21st century, and I can't say I agree with some of it.

Item 10: Ties serve a purpose; they started out as a lady's kerchief, that her champion knight would wear round his neck as he defended her honour. The 16th century ruff did have a purpose; they hid the scars, left on someone's skin if they were suffering from syphilis. That's a sexually transmitted disease with some very nasty symptoms.

Boats galore

Four big boats in port this morning, plus one smaller one - which is about four more than average. The MV Isle of Lewis, the ferry to the mainland, is tied up with bowdoor trouble. She had to sail with its bowdoor closed all week last week, meaning every vehicle had to come and go through the sterndoor; last night, I was going to see the FV Reaper (an old fishing boat), when I noticed the Isle of Lewis with its bowdoor open.

This morning, I was up at the unearthly hour of 7.45, and I saw a small cruiseliner in Glumag Harbour: the Quest. She has been in twice already this season, but was awaiting the arrival of the Spirit of Adventure, a much larger boat. This inched its way into a berth alongside number 3 pier, opposite the ferry. AIS tells me the Quest is docked now as well, by the look of it along number 2 pier. I cannot check it out from my position, as the Spirit of Adventure is blocking my view.

The Reaper is a herring drifter, built in 1902, which has seen service up and down the Scottish east coast. I may pop along later today.

Sunday 24 May

We had a bright spell this afternoon, but it is once more pouring with rain and blowing hard. Last year at this time, when I was not in Lewis, it was wall-to-wall sunshine for 6 weeks. Not this year; back to normal.

An elderly walker is missing around Glen Finnan, 15 miles west of Fort William. He is on the Cape Wrath trail, a long-distance walking trail to Cape Wrath, the farthest point northwest in the British mainland. After the man failed to contact a friend last night, the emergency services are currently searching this remote corner of Lochaber.

Church rules

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has decided tonight that the Presbytery of Aberdeen did nothing wrong in appointing a minister who is homosexual. They do retirate that standards of conduct for ministers remain unchanged. The minister, who officiates in a church in the city of Aberdeen, lives in a homosexual relationship with another man. A complaint was formally lodged with the General Assembly, which is the Court of the Church, but rejected.

Another legal move, an Overture from the Presbytery of Lochcarron-Skye, will be discussed this coming Monday. Adopting the Overture, a proposal for Church law, would mean that training and admitting ministers who are in active homosexual relationships is not allowed.

I am much obliged to Stuart for clarifying this (to me) obscure piece of church law, which is having major repercussions around Scotland and beyond.

Cruiseliner

MV Polar Star called in this morning, and the Hebrides fully answered the expectations of its passengers: it was chucking it down with rain most of the day. Only now is the sun beginning to come out. You need a fairly deep pocket to cruise on Polar Star - $3,500 to $7,000 for a 12 day trip. The vessel can usually be found in Arctic surroundings, and commonly calls into the Hebrides at the start and the end of the season.

Saturday 23 May

Wet and miserable today, not a good day for the runners in the Stornoway Half Marathon. I did not count their number, but it was probably around 100 of them, filing past between 10.10 and 10.25 am. They have a 13 mile course to run, which goes out to Sandwick, then back towards the Castle Grounds, with a finish at the Golf Club.


Image courtesy Stornoway Running and Athletics Club

No, I've never fancied taking part. When I ever did do any running, I would usually perspire after about a quarter of a mile - and that was when I was a teenager. I can walk long distances though (or used to be able to). My longest one-day hike was 21 miles, and not on paved roads or pavements either. On roads like this (Isle of Rum, October 2004).

Hurricane update - 23 May

A tropical disturbance is approaching the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and will make landfall in the state of Mississippi later today. There is a chance of more than 50% that this system will become a tropical depression. Six hours ago, it lay 150 miles south of Mobile AL. Heavy rains and gusty winds of up to 30 mph are occurring from the extreme west of the Florida Panhandle as far as New Orleans.

Please monitor NHC output for the latest information.

Correcting a correction

I am a user of shipspotting.com, where people can upload pictures of ships to the Internet. They also give news related to shipping, and it is in such a news item that automatic correction kicked in - where inappropriate. Spot the fault:

Mariners may need to brush up on their skills with the #OOPS#tant. A recent report from the GAO notes that while the Air Force is in the process of modernizing the Global Positioning System, "it is uncertain that [it] will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected."

What the heck is an #OOPS#tant?

Image courtesy brasscompass.com

Well, it's a sextant.

Friday 22 May

Quiet day, with a lot of cloud but also a lot of blue in between the clouds. Rain is due overnight, and will be continuing through tomorrow. Not much fun for the runners in the Stornoway half-marathon (in which I am NOT taking part).

Revelations continue in the parliamentary expenses scandal, and the stress is beginning to tell on the Honourable Members, who knew full well that they were milking the system. One reacted by saying it was all in envy of his big house - he could be suspended from the Conversative Party - and others warn of suicides. Excuse me. Can we drop the melodrama please?

The Sunday ferry row here in Lewis has brought out the Sabbatarians, as well as all the inaccurate rumours. A gas explosion in the 1970s was divine retribution, as the owner of the house that got destroyed had opened his hostelry on the Sabbath. This coming Sunday, the ferry will be repaired - it can only dock stern first due to a mechanical failure on the bowdoor. It was nearly an hour late coming in this afternoon.

The sky this week

The Naval Oceanography portal (managed by the US Department of Defense) has some useful information. Apart from tropical cyclone information (on which I rely heavily), it also has a feature: The Sky this Week. It can be accessed from the Astronomy section of said portal.

With regard to astronomy, I can about forget about watching stars in the coming weeks. It is not going to get fully dark up here until late July or August. I'll show that picture I took in June 2006, at 1 am.

Tombstoning

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency MCA have launched their tombstoning campaign. Tombstoning is a euphemistic description of a daredevil practice, where (mostly) young people jump from the top of a cliff into the water below. It is an extremely dangerous act to perform, particularly if you don't know what lies below the surface of the water.

Please relay.

Thursday 21 May

Slightly better day in terms of weather - although the showers are still plagueing us, they are not as heavy as yesterday. We are warned against thunder, but that is a rare occurrence in these islands. Thunderstorms usually happen in winter. I was caught up in a fierce one in the middle of an ice / snow / hailstorm in January 2005. The bus I was on was reduced to crawling along at 10 mph on the main road down to Tarbert that afternoon.
Just as I start a new paragraph, a hail shower starts. Right, that's me told.

Seaweed used to be an important part of the economy of the islands off the Scottish west coast. Until 1815, it was a major source of potash (potassium nitrate, used in the production of gunpowder). It has resurfaced once more, and a small firm is using seaweed to produce items for the pharmaceutical, food supplement and other industries. In days gone by, people went down to the shoreline to cut the kelp. Now, a machine has been brought across from America to harvest it from the water. Read more here.


Image courtesy Hebrides News

Midweek pictures

MV Isle of Lewis docking stern-first, because the bowdoors cannot be opened. Repairs will be carried out this weekend.





The weather today was very iffy, with beefy showers - which is great for cloudscapes. It is also good for generating rainbows, like what showed up at 9.30 tonight.