Friday 11 January

Another fairly bright and coolish day out here in the Western Isles. The Beast from the East is threatening snow to the east coast, but out here in the west we won't be as severely affected. In the Castle Grounds, they are doing a lot of maintenance, and burning off the debris. Quite visible from my position.



Apart from the five lost in the hurricane of 2005, the turn of the year also marks the death of a young merchant navy cadet in 2008, who disappeared following a Boxing Day dance at Daliburgh. He was let off a minibus, but ended up dead in nearby Loch Bi - only a few miles from where the family of five perished in '05. In December, it was the 8th anniversary of the grounding of a fishing boat at Arnish Point. Its autopilot had gone wrong, steering it straight into the cliffs below the lighthouse - but nobody had been on watch. The skipper died after helping his crew to escape the sinking boat.

Eight years ago

High winds, gusting up to 134 mph, lashed the Western Isles this day in 2005. The winds claimed the lives of five members of one family in South Uist. They had fled their storm battered home at Liniquie, only for their car to be swamped and carried off by the sea on a causeway. At the time, I was staying in Kershader, 20 miles south of Stornoway (by road). These are my diary entries from the time. 

11 January 2005
Gales forecast for today, so decided not to go out for walk. Could have done, in retrospect. The sun was out at 3pm, but then all hell broke loose. Alarming reports on Radio Scotland, no ferry, the Isle of Lewis did not leave Ullapool after the early sailing and Western Isles Council has closed libraries, schools for tomorrow. Calmac has cancelled sailings on ALL its routes. At 5.20pm the power went off. It's off in Uig (Lewis) and all of Lochs. There is no signal on the entire FM-band; the transmitter at Eitsal is off. Isles FM is still going as this has a separate transmitter in Stornoway. Power briefly came back at 6.23, but didn't last. Blue lights at Laxay, apparently police telling people to abandon their car journeys. Bins flying about at the back; I'll be retrieving them from the loch shore in a few days time. Isles FM keeps me posted with my battery powered radio. Radio Scotland on 810 kHz mediumwave reverts to football. What a night! Oh there was no TV signal either, when the power came back at 6.23. Pity it's dark. Before dusk, the caps on the waves were sheered off by the wind, at 4.15. People are being advised to stay in. Scaffolding on a site at South Beach Street in Stornoway has collapsed through the window of a restaurant across Kenneth Street. The A859 in Stornoway is shut  between Newvalley and the Manor Roundabout. Only light indoors is from the emergency lights and my own little torch, by which I write this account. Storm rampages through every nook and cranny. All sorts of meetings are being cancelled. The causeway between North Uist and Benbecula may be closed. The hostel building is shaking in the wind. Skye Bridge closes at 7.15, other bridges in Scotland follow suit. No traffic goes down the A859 - it's pitch dark. Isles FM went off air at 7.32, leaving me with a silent FM band. The transmitter keeps going, but there is no signal from the Newton Street studios. Radio Scotland on mediumwave only has bloody football until 9.30, aaargh! I'm already bored. No lights anywhere, not in the village, not in Laxay across the water either.

12 January
Very disturbed night, with the wind shaking the building. Electricity remains off. Trains, planes, ferries: the lot are cancelled. Shop nextdoor is closed, a rooftile lies in front of the door and one tile has come off the roof of the centre next door. Storm has been rampaging through Stornoway, and high tide led to flooding. Overnight windspeeds: Barra 106 mph, Stornoway 99 mph (steady speed: 62 mph), North Rona (40 miles north of Lewis) 124 mph. Briefly ventured out at 12.30, found the minibus for the centre had lost all its windows on the windward side, blown in. Walked round to the top of the road, then doubled back through the moorland. Encountered Mr McLeod who stopped short of calling me mad for venturing out in this weather. Shower started, which changed to hail, and very strong winds. People are asked not to venture into the Lews Castle grounds, as trees are coming down. Likewise, the Willow Glen road. Caught the shoplady, so have beans and bread. There is no busservice today. There is no mains water in Gravir and Achmore. The Eitsal transmitter is off with stormdamage. The Co-op on Macaulay Road in S'way reopened at 3 after they fixed the roof. The sun comes through at 3.10. Funny, all the water had been blown out of the U-bend in the toilet early this morning. Had to flush in order to fill it up again. Electricity not expected back on until tomorrow evening. At 4.30, Laxay had the electric back on. Found that local supply comes across the loch from there.More than half the island is still without power, so as yet: hanging on in a rather cold hostel. Only one room heated on a gas-heater which smells. Went to bed at 8 - all the emergency lights are out and it's pitchdark. 

13 January
Nice, benign morning, but cold. Remains of wintry showers on the ground. Bus arrived a little after 10. Had previously retrieved the dustbins and their contents (yuk) from the hill behind the hostel. Fair amount of damage along the road to Stornoway. Garage wrecked, trees down by the dozen, trailers overturned and an isolator dangling loose on a powerline. Bins as well - anyone missing their bin? It's sitting in the garden at 6 Back (Isles FM). A row of pinetrees is uprooted in Balallan, some trees have snapped halfway down the stem. Fences are blown over as well. A funeral causes a tailback on the A859 at Laxay, because mourners park on the road. A huge number of trees are blown over in Willow Glen, including the ones that were blocking the road a few days ago. Sandbags outside houses on Bayhead, seaweed on seats at the Bridge. The grounds of Lews Castle are devastated, scores of trees (300-400) blown down, situation remains precarious. Christmas lighting has been smashed all along the harbour front. In the town, repairs are being carried out on Cromwell Street, and on the corner of Kenneth Street and South Beach Street, where the Star restaurant was damaged by flying debris. Two boats lie wrecked on the shore next to the ferryterminal. Owners clamber over boulders to check their state. Weather absolutely perfect - sunny, not a breath of wind and not too cold. Incredible, after the storms. Boat came in for the first time after Tuesday morning. Lots of electricity vans came off. Spoke to a few shopkeepers about their experiences and overheard several people exchanging experiences and showing each other their damage. Nice "warm" and sunny. Had a meal at HS-1, to compensate for not having a hot meal for a few days. Went back on the 2.20 bus. Terrible story of a family of 5, grandparents, parents and kids aged 5 and 7. They had fled their house because of rising floodwaters in two cars. These got swept off the causeway between South Uist and Benbecula, and they all drowned. Eitsal transmitter is still off air. Now a gardenpond has ended up in the wrong garden. Not all schools will reopen in the morning. People are urged to check on elderly or infirm neighbours. Missing your oiltank? It's lying in the loch just as you get into Balallan. Fire at Benbecula Hospital, worsened by an oxygen tank. Visitors are helped to move patients out of the affected ward. On return to Kershader, the power was still off, but it should come back this evening. Can't wait... It's 4.35, and I'm back to writing by torchlight. Have a book with walks and a book with Lewis history to read. Laxay has its lights back on, lucky them. Still, could be worse. Gravir has no water as the pumping station at Garyvard has no power. Eating habits slightly altered. Soaking the porridge overnight. Everyone was plundering a rather empty CO-op of buns and the like, if their power was still off. Western Isles hospital will resume normal service tomorrow, it's been on an emergency footing since Tuesday. Staff stayed in overnight Tuesday/Wednesday on account of weather. New moon in the southwest at 5pm. Not completely dark at 5.30, 85 minutes after sunset (4.06); sun rises at 9.03. Balallan is lit up again - when do we follow? At 5.50, the lights are back on, 48 hours and 30 minutes after going off, leaving that brief spell at 6.23 on Tuesday to one side. Central heating boiler plays up, need to reset it continually. Electrics still seem to wobble. There are apparently still problems at Lemreway, 10 miles down the road. Mysterious flood in kitchen, hot water tank had a lot of water on the floor. The librarian in Stornoway library was blown all over the shop on Tuesday. Still no reception on FM, apart from Isles FM, so no BBC; and no TV reception either. Don't know when that's going to be back. Various bits and pieces on Isles FM, including a song with rude lyrics, which was cut short very quickly by the DJ. Frost expected tonight; busdriver nearly lost his bus on a patch of ice at Orinsay this morning. Power still off in many areas. At 8 o'clock were blacked out briefly. Schools remain closed tomorrow, good week for the kids. Nipped out at 8.30 to watch the stars. Saw the Milky Way and Jupiter in Gemini. Have the hot water and the hot shower back: bliss... 

Thursday 10 January

A pretty bright day, a little cooler than earlier in the week. Much high and middle-level cloud, but that did not impede the sun. The sunset was nowhere near as spectacular as yesterday. Went into town to buy stamps for postcrossing (and a family birthday). Diverted up Francis Street to check on developments by the old school, which was pulled down last autumn. They are still shifting big piles of soil around.

Francis Street

Wednesday 9 January

An increasingly bright day, with phenomenal sunset colours. Went into town this afternoon for a handful of small items in the shops. Included in those were some lightbulbs, filament bulbs to be precise - not all old fittings will take the new long-life ones. Mind you, they do have special long-life ones, but they cost something like £8 each. The old-fashioned ones are only £2 each. Filament bulbs burn out quickly here, because of surges in the electricity supply. Over Christmas, there were repeated powercuts, and those tend to get preceded by a surge.

Tuesday 8 January

A fairly bright day, although not very warm. Spent most of the day catching up with things like postcards, Christmas cards, photographs, and file management on the computer. A freight ship was in port, the Nordstern, which was delivering coal or roadsalt or something like that.

It was announced that jobs are under threat in the local salmon processing industry, in the plants at Marybank (north of Stornoway) and Arnish, across the bay from the town. Economic and biological reasons are quoted, but in an economically fragile area like the Western Isles, any job losses have a larger impact than might otherwise be the case.

Monday 7 January

By bus, train and two planes, I found myself back in Stornoway just after 7pm. On arrival at Inverness, at 4.20pm, the monitors showed the 6.10pm plane to Stornoway delayed by 90 minutes. Fortunately, that was reduced to 20 minutes, and we duly took off just after 6.30 - in darkness. The journey from Amsterdam was above the clouds, as the sun sank down to the horizon for sunset just after 4pm. There was shallow fog at Inverness airport, right across the runway. But even from my seat, I could make out the lights on the runway.

Hurricane update - 1 January

Happy New Year - but it could get nasty on La Reunion in the southern Indian Ocean by Friday. Tropical cyclone Dumile is headed straight for the island from the north, and will reach a peak intensity of 100 knots upon closest approach to La Reunion. The local hurricane centre is monitoring the situation closely, and has placed the island on YELLOW alert. The last link is in French, by the way.

I am continuing to blog on the Shell Gallery.

Moved blog

Until 8 January 2013, I am blogging on the Shell Gallery blog. See you there.

Wednesday 19 December

Well, we lost the nice weather with a colourful prelude to sunrise - by 9 am, the sky was completely covered by grey clouds. After lunchtime, the rain started and is continuing as I type, at 6pm. Further south, it is blowing a gale, but that is not anticipate to reach this far north. We seem to have changed weather pattern to wet and windy, something that is set to continue over the next couple of days.

Locally, the community buy-out for the Pairc Estate in South Lochs has received a boost, with the news that land owner Barry Lomas's human rights were not infringed by the hostile buy-out bid. Under legislation, enacted in 2003, communities can mount a hostile bid (i.e. against the land owner's will) to take over the land. Mr Lomas has also stated that the ballot in favour of the bid, taken 3 years ago, was legally flawed. The court in Stornoway is to rule on that issue next month.

Tomorrow morning, I fly off to Amsterdam to spend Christmas and New Year in Holland. This is therefore the last post on Atlantic Lines until 8 January 2013, the day after I return to Stornoway. As of Friday 21st December, I shall resume blogging on the Shell Gallery.

Tuesday 18 December

A beautiful day, which started very cold after an overnight low of -4C / 24F. The frost did not lift until 11 am, and was quick to return as soon as the sun set. I just checked the latest reading, and found that the temperature had jumped from -2C to +4C between 7 and 8pm, with a southeasterly breeze springing up. This heralds the transition to a wild day tomorrow, contrasting with the absolute flat calm we had today. We had 19 hours of NO WIND. Don't believe me? Look at the pics below.

Quite a lot of my internet contacts use a photo-sharing site called Instagram. As of January 16th, 2013, it will give itself the right to sell its users' photographs, without giving the users a penny (or a cent, depending where you are reading this from). Instagram was recently acquired by Facebook, a site that is none too particular about its users' interests either. Want to know more? Read this article on the BBC website.



A few nocturnal pics from last night as well

Monday 17 December

A beautiful sunny December day, which ended in a hard frost. There was very little wind, and the sunset, at 3.35pm, was stunning. Apart from Christmas cards I have also taken delivery of a handful of postcrossing cards, from Hungary, Ukraine, Germany and Holland. I'm not sending out huge numbers of postcrossing cards, partly on account of the cost of stamps.

Today, it became known that the cost for a legal case involving Storas Uist (the community body that owns the estate encompassing South Uist) is £200,000, a sum that Storas will have to cough up. The legal costs are also those of their opponent in court. It should be born in mind that land is sacrosanct in these parts, and people are prepared to go to extremes to defend their rights - or what they perceive to be their rights. The sadness of this particular case is that it is the community that (indirectly) will be paying for this; on the other hand, £200k can easily be recouped by selling 40-50 plots of house building land, making hardly any dent in the land assets of Storas Uist. Even worse, a petition had circulated the island in 2010, pleading for the case to be settled amicably.

Sunday 16 December

A quiet and overcast day, which saw the mercury gradually rising to 7C, which it still is as I type this at 11pm. Sunday is always quiet here, and even the ferry departure at 2.30pm went virtually unnoticed.

America is still coming to terms with the school shooting at Newtown CT. All victims were shot with 3 to 11 bullets each, and that just does not bear thinking about. However, it would appear that the culprit had a serious psychological disorder, which has highlighted that there are quite a few children around with such problems. I refer to the blog of "Anarchist Soccer Mom" for a description what form that can take - and it's not pleasant reading.

As a former J-land blogger, I cannot help but notice that several members of the community have lost their pets in recent days. One had to put their cat to sleep, two weeks after the same had to be done to another feline; another person lost their dog. As I always say in such situation, the pets will await their owners beyond the Rainbow Bridge, for them to join them again when they pass on.

Saturday 15 December

Today, I saw the last new moon of the year 2012 just after sunset.



It has been quite a reasonable day, following a night with wind reaching all of force 5, although Sumburgh in Shetland had to put up with a steady 45 mph, force 8-9 through the night. The day dawned fairly bright with variable amounts of mid-level cloud, leaving us with a panoply of cloudscapes.



I am still very upset following the shooting at Newtown CT yesterday. What has really made me upset is the cavalier attitude of some, who claim to support the right to bear arms. I think it says enough that your average European country sees about 10 to 40 deaths through firearms each year. The USA has more than 10,000. States that have stricter gun control laws have lower death rates than states that do. Lobbing arguments about like "it's not the alcohol that makes you drive" is infuriating and disrespectful to the dead through firearms. Limiting their availability will reduce the likelihood that a firearm will get into the hands of the likes of the shooter at Newtown CT, who appears to have suffered from a psychological disorder (according to some). Which is a feature in common with many of the culprits behind the US's many gun atrocities. So, what happens with those unfortunate citizens who do suffer from mental health and psychological problems? Well, not that much, apparently. I hope that, apart from doing some serious and substantive reviews of federal and state law regarding gun control, the USA will also take a long and hard look at its mental health care - because something is seriously wrong here.

From Dunblane to Newtown

In 1995, a gunman burst into a primary school in Dunblane, near Stirling in Scotland, and opened fire. Sixteen children and one adult were killed. As a result of this atrocity, private gun ownership in the UK was practically outlawed.

In 2012, a gunman burst into a primary school in Newton, Connecticut in the USA, and opened fire. Eighteen children and several adults were killed. As a result of this atrocity - no changes are likely to be made to federal or state legislation on gun ownership.

RIP little ones, we won't forget you. 

Friday 14 December

A day of changes in the weather, and as I type this (at 10pm), the mercury is higher than it was in the daytime. At present 6C, was 3C earlier in the day. The wind has picked up, but to no more than a force 5 - it is blowing a severe gale in Orkney and Shetland. These high winds will slowly migrate north, away from the northern isles. Further south, rain will once more present a threat of flooding.

Tropical cyclone Evan is moving from American Samoa to Fiji, and will affect that archipelago on Sunday. Current forecasting places the storm just north of the islands, but it will impact Fiji. It wreaked havoc in Samoa, leaving at least 2 dead and a power plant destroyed.

Once more, a shooting incident has rocked the USA. 27 people, including 20 children, 6 adults and the gunman himself, lie dead in Newtown CT. My thoughts are with the families affected, including those of the children who had to go through the ordeal. This of course poses questions about gun control and about how people with mental health issues are dealt with. However, mass shootings seem to be have assumed a saddening regularity in the States, and I could not begin to surmise what could be done to stop them.

Thursday 13 December

Another cold day, with temps not above 3C / 37F. Although it started sunny, cloud moved across from the south from midday onwards, leading to rain at 5pm. The progression of clouds had me glued to the window, and I went for a wee amble round the powerstation to have a better view of it. I'm a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society as regular readers will have guessed by now.

Currently keeping an eye on tropical cyclone Evan which is on the rampage over American Samoa. The storm has strengthened to the equivalent of a category III hurricane, with winds of 115 mph, and increasing further. The system is in the process of performing a 180 degree turn, and will move off towards Fiji. I am informed that, to date, two people have died as a result of Evan. Hope there are no further casualties.


Frontal boundary over Stornoway, 2.30pm

Wednesday 12 December

OK, today is 12-12-12. And at 12.12 pm, 51 happy couples got married at Gretna Green. Until not that long ago, couples would elope to get hitched over the blacksmith's anvil. I think the practice was discontinued in 1977.

Today was another in a long series of beautiful winter days with good sunshine, low temperatures and fantastic cloudscapes. Tomorrow will see a change to wind and rain, with perhaps a gale at times, but I don't expect the high winds to last. We managed 4C / 39F today, much better than yesterday's zero.

Talking of freezing, there has been a problem with the local ice plant. This is used by fishing boats for chilling their catches between pulling them from the sea and landing them ashore. The last plant broke down a few months ago, and is beyond repair. Rather than forcing boats to sail dozens of miles for ice from Uig, Kallin, Ullapool or Lochinver, the council has leased a machine for the use of boats.