Stornoway to Lochboisdale

Leaving Lewis is hard, such a special place. However, all good things and all that.....  Where to go? Tarbert (Harris) was tempting but there are only a couple of places we could hide out there if we wanted a berth rather than anchoring and as we were forecast to get some wet and very windy weather, walking ashore not using the dinghy was tempting. Eventually we opted to head further South, back to Lochboisdale for many reasons. The optimum timing would have been around 1am on Sunday for our departure. We opted for the less optimal 4am in the interests of sleep and at the cost of a few litres of diesel.

It was darkish, drizzling and misty as we headed off. There is a tradition in the islands of not going to sea on Sunday.  Local fishing boats and commercial crews stay in port on Sundays to respect the community tradition and day-of-rest practices. We didn't feel bad about heading out as a leisure craft but were amazed to be followed by a fishing vessel:

"Our Pride" clearly wasn't observing the tradition - maybe because it was registered in Castlebay, part of Barra. The more southerly islands always seem way less god-fearing (or simply more commercial?) 

Our FLIR (infra-red camera) was pretty much useless as the relative humidity in the air was nearly 100%. So, we needed to keep a sharp lookout with it and the old technology eyeballs for pot markers as we left the harbour. As daylight came, it was still grey and there were heavy misty patches so the radar was needed for several hours. We were gently pushing the tide passing the lovely Shiants, a bunch of islands that are inhabited by massive numbers of birds. Sad to say that in the grey they didn't look too impressive through the pilothouse windows:

Way nicer on a sunny day. However, we had the bird population to enjoy on the water and flying around us, including plenty of puffin antics. There was the odd dolphin for amusement too.

On our trip up to Stornoway we had to divert for a guard vessel and we commented that we had no idea what it was guarding. So, we looked at the very useful Kingfisher bulletin website and discovered that some serious surveying was underway:

Sure enough, there was a survey vessel that had launched an unmanned craft smack bang on the track we wanted to follow. A little diversion followed, you can see the small kink in our track as we passed Skye:

It looks like a small kink but in reality means a diversion that adds half an hour to the trip. Not a huge issue in a run that was going to take 11 hours or so. The weather continued to improve as forecast so the radar was retired and we settled into cruising in gentle seas and calm winds. Just lovely. There were a few pot markers to avoid though, this one:

was in a depth of 148 metres. You are never safe it seems - at least they use good visible markers here unlike the old milk cartons we see on the south coast. 

The sun came out as we approached Lochboisdale which was nice. Less nice was that the one bigger berth in the harbour was taken up by a Swiss flagged yacht that wasn't really large enough to need it. So, we had to back onto a finger berth that is way too short for us, and then have fun trussing the boat to it ready for some blowy weather. The evening sun on the hill that we faced showed the rock and textures well:

and yes, the sea really is that colour.

Maintenance news:

Nothing really - the stern gland on the main engine shaft was starting to drip a little too often so that got tightened up. The wing engine had a good run as we approached the harbour too and behaved itself. 

Lewis and Harris

Hebcelt had finally finished and we no longer were serenaded / disturbed by the music from the marquees in the grounds of Lewes castle, clearly visible from the boat:

As things had quietened down, we picked up a nearly new rental car (so unlike the things we'd had before) and headed to Aird Uig and the Edge cafe. A truly wonderfully quirky place, run single-handedly by Fiona who prepares everything freshly as it is ordered. See Facebook link for more information on this most individual place. When we arrived two German ladies were there, one who had lived on Harris for 30 years. A great conversation, which the owner of the place joined after feeding us all. Great food too - the captain much enjoyed his fish chowder, the crew her beetroot quiche. Everything felt and was just like our last visit which was 4 years ago. Not a bad thing really.

Just up the road from the cafe is the old Aird Uig radar station site. It has a fascinating history as a communications / early warning site. Worth reading this Wikipedia link for the background. The old buildings are asbestos contaminated and have that stark functional look, apparently with 3 metre thick concrete walls as some form of protection from conventional attacks:

Somebody has used their artistic skills on the smaller structures rather effectively:

and here:

There are several concrete bases left that used to support the radar or communications equipment and they jar with the beautiful surrounding landscape:

You turn 90 degrees and see this:

180 degrees and you see this:

We made another excursion to the south, getting into Harris not Lewis. Always a strange distinction to us as there is no causeway or obvious physical split between Lewis and Harris bar the hills / mountains/ For info on the odd distinction, look at this Wikipedia link  One of the must do things is to visit Luskentyre beach:

You can see why:

A long stretch of sand, beautiful hilly backdrop and big enough to make you feel alone there no matter how many cars are in the tiny car park area. Someone had been very artistic indeed, using some of the many shells :

The turtles were way more appealing than the various jellyfish that were stranded at low tide:

That was a Moon jellyfish, not a nasty stingy version. There were a few other less pleasant ones around but we've spared you their less than lovely images. The walk was, to use an old Skegness holiday resort advertising line, bracing. A bit windy but not cold, just invigorating.

Afterwards we headed to Tarbert, East Loch Tarbert that is. The ferry terminal was sporting the new Calmac ferry that passed us during our trip up to Stornoway:

Yes, for the nay-sayers it does exist and moves from time to time as well. The Harris distillery had to be visited - not for alcohol, just a coffee and to enjoy the lovely interior of the newish building that has been very nicely done. Here is a borrowed picture of the exterior:

and the sofas that we used too:

Travelling through the middle of Lewis you really notice the proliferation of overhead power transmission lines that are part of the wind generation plans for the island. They don't exactly add to the scenic beauty. When the turbines appear it really will change the lovely island for ever. We get why the local folks raised many complaints about the environment, disturbance and how the relatively poor facilities (one small hospital, few schools etc) will handle the influx of workers who will be installing and commissioning the new generation and transmission equipment. We hope the local folks get some benefit from it afterwards.

Travelling to the far north, you get to see the Butt of Lewis lighthouse:

 

which was a target for the Luftwaffe during WWII - we are told that you can still see some bullet holes in the structure. We couldn't - maybe too high up. The area is supposed to have some of the oldest rocks in Europe and it is listed as the windiest place in the UK too. Quite a dramatic area:

as you can see - the person on the cliff edge gives you an idea of scale:

Apparently, taking a picture of the captain taking a picture was important. No idea why:

Tiumpan Head has another lighthouse to admire, painted this time:

The surrounding area isn't as dramatic as the Butt of Ness but OK all the same:

and on the way back to Stornoway, you pass the Iolaire monument:

After the passengers had survived the horrors of serving in WWI, it seems so unfair:

One of those interesting but all too brief connections happened in the rather good Beckett and sons cafe place. Two neighbouring ladies chatted about life on the island and how one of them had moved to Glasgow for work. We mentioned before about the Tesco store now being open on a Sunday and how that caused issues. This cafe opens too. Well, one lady was brought up in Stornoway and her father was the manager at the local Woolworths store when she was younger. She was in the store and her father told her to run up to the office and turn on a tape recorder that was under his desk. She asked why - he wanted to tape a conversation with a visitor.  She told him that was not legal without consent. Proper old school place:

He had asked some store staff to come in on a Sunday to do a stock check as requested by head office. The store would stay closed but all the same, he was told to expect a visitor. Sure enough, a visit by a suited and booted member of the Lord's day observance group was arranged (and taped) who told him that if he asked people to work on the sabbath, the minister would tell his parishioners to boycott the store. Apparently the manager was not too stressed as there was nowhere else in the island to buy most of the things they stocked! He wanted the tape to play to the head office folks to show how different things were on the island of Lewis.

As Hebcelt was over, the castle area returned to a normal and way better looking parkland area:

We had a final good walk around there and the town which had begun to feel like home after two happy weeks. The town is an odd mix of more modern, rendered in a drab grey finish and pretty boring buildings and then some glorious stuff like the local government place:

We were pleased that our final day in town was not one with a liner visit. Even the fisherman's statue looked happy about that:

The spell of windy weather was due to calm down over the weekend so, we felt it was time to move on. We had a day and a half window before it was going to pick up again so wanted to hide away somewhere for three days or so. Of course, having had northerly winds as we headed north, it was turning SWly as we headed south....

Maintenance news:

We did a teeny bit more polishing. Still massive amounts left  to do of course.