Personal Responsibility

This is, of course, a huge topic on which every one of us who read and write blogs doubtless has an opinion. However this is a very narrow area where I see a lack of personal responsibility which has led to inconvenience for the many.

Like, JayCee, I live on an Island. Off the top of my head I can't think of any others of my readers who rely on seagoing ferries as part of daily life. We need to go to the Mainland and we are reliant of goods coming in on a daily basis for our fresh food etc. In the last year or two Covid has exacerbated the situation by depleting staff and  requiring the ferry to get a new crew or to be thoroughly cleaned. The principal problem, however, is the weather.

Almost 50 years ago we had a ferry plying between Ullapool and Stornoway called MV Suilven. She was a boat originally built for use in areas with potential ice floes with which to contend. She was an incredible seaboat and all the Masters I knew sang her praises. She sailed in all weathers and, on occasion, the 3¾ hour crossing could take many more hours. She had been known to run down and hide behind the Shiants because she couldn't get into Stornoway Harbour. Everyone who sailed on her will have a tale to tell. I used to travel quite a lot and have many tales that would put you off ever coming here except in high summer.

Some years ago, I was told by a member of the ferry staff, that there had been a big outburst one day when the ferry sailed and it was very rough and people were sick and, apparently, afraid.  I can understand that because I have been afraid on several occasions when the Good Ship Suilven plied the route. 

However, it was always our choice as to whether, given the weather, we wanted to sail or go another day. 

That choice is still available and anyone who lives on the Island knows the weather conditions and what to expect and, in any case, the ferry company used to post sea conditions at the passenger entrance.

The result of all the complaints received by frightened passengers with no sealegs was that the Masters decided that if the conditions were so adverse that complaints may be forthcoming then they wouldn't sail. It appears to have been thus ever since. So the many suffer because of the decisions of the few (to sail when they could have decided against it). 

Isn't this mirrored in every area of life now? Personal responsibility has gone. The responsibility is always that of someone else - preferably of someone "in authority" and preferably someone who is employed by an organisation which can be sued for compensation.

Monday Miscellany

Well last week was, from the point of view of Blogland, a complete write-off.  On Tuesday I was up before 0500. I got the early ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool and at about 0945 set off on the 270 mile drive to Ayr. As I'd come out of quarantine it was a question of go straight there without passing Go and without collecting £200 (I hated Monopoly but still use Monopoly analogies). 

I arrived at the Hospital and was immediately tested for Covid-19. I passed - negative.

Next day I had the kidney stent replaced. Unfortunately the fact that it was around 7 months overdue meant that the surgeon had a rather difficult time extracting a stone from some passage or other and the work proved a little sore for a day or two and it took a few days for the infection I'd had for the last few months to be conquered. Anyway by Saturday all was back to normal and I was released into the big wide world once more. I stayed overnight with a friend because I couldn't get a ferry until the Sunday evening on which, fortuitously, I was already booked. 

So today has been sort out and try and get back to normal day. 

The ferry on the way over was awash with barking dogs. What is it with people who can't control their dog? If you can't control your dog and stop it barking at every passing shadow then don't bring it on public transport (or muzzle it)! It's bad enough having a massive mountain dog 100 yards away at home that barks constantly but at least I can close the windows and go into the other side of the house. I detest barking dogs - in case you hadn't noticed. Rant over.

Social distancing on the ferry is very good and, unless eating or drinking their coffee masks are the order of the day. However a chap walked past me (duly masked) a few metres away and as he did so a massive wave of tobacco smoke from his clothes followed him. Apart from the distinct unpleasantness, it occurred to me that the aerosols that contain the smell are presumably the same ones that can contain the Covid-19 virus. Food for rather unpleasant thought. 

On a lighter note one of the chaps in the hospital had been feeding his neighbour's two dogs for a couple of days. He let them out into the garden (their back gardens were adjacent and could be accessed without going through the house) several times a day and fed them too. He was puzzled after the first night as to why one dog came out and then after eating and doing what it had to do went in and the other one came out. After this ritual had been repeated for the whole weekend he went in to see what was happening in the house. He followed the second dog into the house and it immediately went upstairs (they usually lived downstairs). He followed and found a chap on top of the wardrobe with the dog standing guard. It turned out that the chap was in fact a burglar and when he broke in on the Friday evening the dogs had chased him upstairs and he's been on top of the wardrobe all weekend with one or both of the dogs on guard! Yuk. The chap next door is a police dog handler/trainer.

Home Again (Again)

I arrived home late on Sunday evening after a good journey up the road and a remarkably calm ferry crossing given the huge storm on Saturday. 

Sailing out of Ullapool and down Loch Broom to The Minch

It had been a Good Week. The scans were clear and I'm continuing on the drugs trial. I've spent a couple of days getting back into my daily 'routine' (a silly term because I have few actual routines). I'm up at crack of dawn in the morning to take Gaz to the airport and his return to Italy.

Settling back in wasn't helped by the fact that the internet had, once again, disappeared in my absence. This time it was because the box on the telegraph pole had been destroyed in Saturday's storm. I was reinstated yesterday.

An Engineer up a telegraph pole. He's spent a lot of time mending my phoneline one way and another

My last day in Glasgow included a visit to one of my favourite (and much blogged about) places: Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. A visit is never complete without seeing the Glasgow Boys exhibition.

Old Willie - The Village Worthy -  Sir James Guthrie 1886

The Last of the Clan -  Thomas Faed 1865

A Highland Funeral  Sir James Guthrie 1882 
The cottage in the picture still stands but is in a derelict state.
It can be found alongside the Black Water river just up the lane from The Byre Inn public house in the village of Brig O'Turk,
As can be seen women did not generally attend funerals at that time

Home - again.

I arrived home last night. The original plan had been to come today but several texts from Calmac made it clear that the weather could well affect the ferries today and tomorrow and they could be cancelled. As I had to be back this weekend and for appointments at crack of dawn on Monday and visitors arriving on Tuesday, I decided to make a run for it yesterday. I was obviously not alone and the ferry was full of vehicles. The ferry was actually the MV Isle of Lewis which is covering for the MV Loch Seaforth which is having her annual overhaul in Aberdeen.

Today broke with a stiff breeze from the North (the worst direction for the Stornoway to Ullapool ferry) but cold and sunny. As the wind rose the sea swell got worse. The ferry left Stornoway after lunch but it came past my house and when that happens you just know it's going to be a choppy crossing in places. Shortly after these photos were taken I received a Calmac text saying that the ferry would not be coming back tonight. There could be considerable disruption because the supermarket was short of some things this morning and the freight ferry won't be running today or overnight either and they do not open on Sunday.

The picture on the right shows the position of the ferry in the last of the photo sequence below.

Sailing up the coast and towards the rainbow.

Into the rainbow

Turning across the direction of the swell

Turning towards the South and East

Next stop Ullapool (nearly two hours away)

Ullapool: The Starting Point

The first time I saw this sight was 1975. MV Suilven had been commissioned and the new route between Ullapool and Stornoway had been opened. In some ways Ullapool has altered little since then but on the other hand the new ferry terminal and pedestrian access to the ferry completely block the view of the town's central junction and much of  Quay Street and the Shore Street seafront from the aft passenger deck. I shall try and find some of my original photos of the seafront before the new piers and terminal were built.

West Shore Street

The recent passenger gangway.

Loaded and ready for sea

A view of the passenger facilities on the quay

The new harbour and pier development.

Looking back from the ferry along West Shore Street

A Week and A Day

Yesterday, one week after I returned from theatre, David took me back to the hospital. I wanted to walk onto the ward without any stick or aids to take a thank you to the staff and find out how one patient in particular was doing. He had gone to surgery a good few hours before I left the hospital but hadn't returned when I left. He'd had a rough time but was doing well.

I felt good being a walking beneficiary of all that is best in our National Health Service.

Today's been an easier day: coffee at The Woodlands and then rest and exercise. I cannot believe how much time getting back to full strength occupies. All the plans for doing this and that have still not materialised. No showers until the dressing comes off means washing takes up quite a lot more time as do exercises (absolutely essential) and rest (unfortunately also essential). And I don't even have to do anything else because David and Molly are looking after me.

This will probably be the final 'bulletin' post although the fact that I shall not be allowed to drive or put too much pressure on the knee for another five weeks at least will doubtless get a mention as my knee gains in strength and I want to do things.

After some glorious days (with lots of sun but cold winds) when David planted out my potatoes in sacks and tubs:

Yesterday, however, turned wintery with a blast from the Arctic and snow on the Mainland hills driven by near gale-force winds. This morning, for the first time, I saw the ferry MV Loch Seaforth venture past the house in the lee of the Island before executing a u-turn to run with the heavy northerly swell down and across the Minch to Ullapool. I may be sitting in the conservatory soaking up the heat from the sun but David and Molly are walking on the shore dressed up to the nines against the icy conditions.

Safari Day 6: From Lewis to Inverness

This was possibly the one day of our safari that I'd have planned differently. I had originally wanted to show Pauline the Isle of Skye but I discovered that accommodation on Skye for a single night on an August weekend is well nigh impossible however far in advance or however short the notice you give. So I decided to take the ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool and then travel to Inverness via the road to the north and across to Lairg and Bonar Bridge. The Highlands of the first part of the journey are as spectacular as ever but then the landscape becomes more gentle, 'though still wild, and, frankly, far less interesting than much of the rest of Scotland north and south of the central belt.

We had arrived into Ullapool on MV Isle of Lewis which we then watched sailing back to Lewis down Loch Broom

Stac Pollaidh (pron polly) and Cul Mor just north of Ullapool (looking West).

Bonar Bridge has a Carnegie Library for its 1000 inhabitants. 

The current Bonar Bridge

We stayed for the night just across the Moray Firth from Inverness at North Kessock.
We very much enjoyed the friendly service, the food and the accommodation in the recently re-furbished hotel.

MV Loch Seaforth

The new ferry for the service between Ullapool (on the Scottish Mainland) and Stornoway (on the Isle of Lewis) is called MV Loch Seaforth.  The ferry has capacity to take 700 passengers, 143 cars or 20 commercial vehicles. The vessel was named after the Loch Seaforth, a mail boat that sailed between Lewis and Mallaig on the Scottish mainland  between 1947 and 1972.

MV Loch Seaforth (picture from the BBC website)

She was due to take up her duties in September. However there have been a number of problems at the German yard where she is being built and now it is reported that the yard (Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft) is on the verge of bankruptcy.  It is understood that an offer has been made by a Norwegian yard but if that falls through then it could be a matter for the German courts to decide and the handover of the ferry to it's new owners could be delayed and that doesn't bode well for the coming winter services.

Ah well.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Ferry Across The Sound of Harris

When I first crossed the Sound of Harris in 1975 it was on a small converted fishing boat - a lobster boat I seem to recall.  We sat down in a makeshift wooden structure with a sort of roof but still open to the elements.  Gradually over the decades the boats improved and the service improved.  Now there is a  a 32-car ferry MV Loch Portain.  It is upon that ferry that David and I travelled across the Sound of Harris a week ago.  

Leaving Berneray with the Causeway to North Uist 

I never tire of watching a ship's wake. 

A blackhouse which was (and may still be) used as a hostel on Berneray 

Leverburgh nestling under the Harris hills

Sailing towards Leverburgh

Entering Leverburgh harbour

Approaching the jetty

Vehicles disembarking

The Return

It's seven days and 30 minutes since the Isle of Lewis ferry sailed out of Stornoway with Anna and I aboard for the journey to Bishopbriggs.  In less than an hour I shall be retracing my steps. To me it seems like I have been away from home for an age and done so much and yet, at the same time, it seems like no time at all since I arrived here.  Time plays very odd tricks.

At that point various things happened and I'm now back home after one of the most traffic-free journeys I have ever made from Glasgow to Ullapool in the summer up the A9.  Add to that a flat calm, if rather dull and unphotogenic, crossing of the Minch on MV Isle of Lewis and it was a nigh on perfect journey.

MV Isle of Lewis arriving at Ullapool 

Stern open waiting to disgorge the vehicles

Leaving Ullapool

Looking towards the head of a very dull and dour Loch Broom

I'm hoping that I will now have a couple of weeks to catch up fully with Blogland and all the things I have to do around the house and garden.  

Taking Stock

Anna's gone.  We were up at 0540 and Anna caught the morning ferry to Ullapool and thence to Inverness and the Inter-City Gold Bus to Glasgow to be home well in time for dinner.  It's been all too short a visit.

The ferry came up the East coast of the Island just after 7am before it made its way across The Minch with the sea on its stern.  For those who are not reasonable sailors the first part of the journey could not have been pleasant as these photos show.

The house is quiet.  Yesterday's storms which battered the Country gave us gales but little else but now the wind has abated just enough for the sheets and towels to be drying on the line without being blown away (I hope!).

It's the first time since the 31 May (with the exception of a few scattered days) that I have been home on my own.  Unless Marcel and Molly appear I've no visitors until friends come for dinner and the night on Monday and Viv arrives from France on Tuesday.  

It's all strangely quiet apart from Mahler's First Symphony which I've chosen to keep me company.

So today will be a catching up day when I will, hopefully, manage to catch up with my emails and phone calls and perhaps even manage a blog post or two.  After all I have enough material to keep me going until Christmas and I see that I've only got 36 days before I return to my other life.  

Stranded

Last night it became apparent that the ferry was likely to be storm-bound today.  I'm in Bishopbriggs near Glasgow.  It's about 5 hours' drive to Ullapool for the ferry.  The ferry is unlikely to sail.  That would mean an overnight stay in a hotel in Ullapool.  I'm a good sailor.  Anna's a terrible sailor.  Even if I go Anna will not be accompanying me.  So I decided to re-book for tomorrow.  All bookings are closed until Thursday.  So, in theory, I'm stranded on the mainland until Thursday.  Arghhhh.  

It's hard to believe that a few days ago we were bathed in sunshine and the hottest October day ever recorded in the UK was logged. 

Inter-Island Ferries

When Wendy and the children were here we went down to Harris and had lunch at The Anchorage Restaurant at the ferry terminal at Leverburgh.  Leverburgh is the point on Harris from which the ferry goes to the Island of Berneray and to North Uist.  North Uist is the northernmost of the Southern Isles.  I will post on the island chain soon because I’m conscious of the fact that I’ve never done so and few of my readers are likely to be au fait with the geography of the area.

When I came to the Islands to live in 1975 the only ferries between the Islands were passenger ferries and they were basic passenger launches or converted small inshore fishing boats.  The exception to this was the Caledonian MacBrayne deep sea ferry between Harris and Skye and North Uist.

The Leverburgh, Berneray, North Uist ferry in 1984

The ferry between Ludaig in South Uist and the Island of Eriskay , MV Eilean Na H-Oige came into service in 1980. (Scottish Gaelic Eilean na h-Òige "The Island of Youth")  until the causeway opened in July 2001.

MV Eilean Na H’Oige

By the time the late 1970s had arrived the ferry between Leverburgh and Berneray and North Uist had been improved to a 12 seater motor launch with a proper cabin:

That was replaced on the sector between Berneray and North Uist by MV Eilean Bhearnaraigh (a similar vessel to the MV Eilean Na H’Oige) in 1982.   This operated until the Berneray Causeway opened in 1998.

The distance between Berneray and Leverburgh is too great for a causeway and a vehicle ferry Sound of Harris service started in 1996.  However the 18 vehicle ferry proved to be inadequare because the popularity of the service was greater than any of the estimates had anticipated.  The new ferry capable of carrying 36 vehicles, MV Loch Portain, came into service on 1 June 2003.  This is the ferry which we saw when we were in Leverburgh last week:

   

Directly across the water from Leverburgh is the Island of Ensay.  There is no permanent occupation of the Island although there is a large holiday house and a chapel.  There used to be a service held every summer in the chapel which was attended by members of the church in Stornoway to which my wife and I belonged.  There was no ferry to the Island so each year the local cattle boat which was used to ferry sheep and cattle to and from the local islands was used for us human cattle:

As you may have realised I have been delving into my old boxes of photos yesterday and was lucky enough to find old photos of the ferries and scan them onto the computer.  It’s been an enjoyable exercise made possible by the horrible weather outside.