Monday 9 July

A bright day with sunny intervals and some 1-minute spells of light rain. We have had the grand total of 9 mm of rain this month so far, whereas Edinburgh had nearly 100 mm in the same period. In other words, our drought conditions basically continue.

The main event of the day was a bit of a damp squib, with the Entrance of the Fleet consisting of barely half a dozen sailing craft assembling near the lighthouse, 45 minutes late. I was installed on Goat Island at 4pm, but there was this chilly northerly breeze and no boats. OK, to give them credit, here is my best pic.



I suppose I'm disappointed because, a year ago, we had sights like this moving up and down the harbour.

Sunday 8 July

An overcast, grey and very wet day today. Not much to write about, apart from Murray mania, which ended at 6.15pm when the Dunblane-born tennis star was eclipsed by his Swiss opponent. He'll live to fight another day. I watched a few more episode of Star Trek - The Next Generation, which I always like to watch. I'm normally averse to 'crap science', but I make an exception for this series, which presents it well. I also sometimes watch cop shows, in which cameras ride along with police officers on the beat. High-speed car chases, drunks and booze-fuelled mayhem - but one episode also showed how officers from Wiltshire police accompanied a hearse, carrying a fallen serviceman, through the town of Royal Wootton Bassett en-route to the final resting place. Wootton Bassett was awarded Royal status after its residents turned out in force to pay homage to the dead servicemen who had been repatriated to RAF Lyneham - each and every time. The casualties from the Afghan war now come through a different airfield, but Wootton Bassett quite rightly gained royal approbation.

This week will see the Hebridean Celtic Festival, and the ferry was bulging with festival goers on Saturday. Musicians have flocked to the Festival as well, and will be playing in jam sessions across the town through the week. The Heb Celt Fest runs concurrently with Sail Hebrides, and on Monday, we'll have prime position to witness the entry of the fleet [of sailing ships] at Glumag Harbour. Long term readers of this blog will realise that this body of water lies a quarter of a mile away from my position, within line of sight from the front window.