An Outer Hebrides noodle amongst other things

As we returned from our Ullapool excursion, we saw that another Nordhavn had come into the harbour to seek shelter from the upcoming gales. A French flagged 46 was in place:

with an interesting name too, wonder if the boat objected to being called "Old Chap":

For the non Nordhavn afficionados, the 46 was the first ocean going motor boat that the American team designed and has a bit of a cult following. You can see some details on the Nordhavn website. They are more "slippery" than our 47 with a "purer" hull form and are renowned passage making boats. One drawback of the hull shape is that you get less interior space but everything in life is a compromise it seems...... 

We tried to say hi to the owners but it looked as though they had left the boat there for a while - curtains all closed up and no signs of life. Then, before we had properly surfaced one morning, they were gone. Apparently the official name for a gathering of Nordhavns is a "noodle". So, we had a mini noodle going on.

After enjoying two days of gales during which even a walk to Tesco into the wind was a challenge, the forecast finally looked like it would play ball for us to move:

The green bits mean only around 20 / 25 knots rather than the 47 knot gusts that we "enjoyed" on Saturday and the waves were going to calm down too. Xmas had arrived early it seemed. Well, at least for one day or so.

Timing the trip to South Uist is important, in the "narrower bit" between Harris and Skye (known as the Little Minch) the tides run at up to 4 knots, nearly 2/3rd of our cruising speed. So, we wanted to optimise that bit and ideally arrive in the daytime too, in case the little harbour area was full and we needed to move on and anchor somewhere in the loch instead. Guess what - that means another middle of the night departure. Wonderful but necessary.

We exercised the rather neglected leg muscles with a walk around the Lews Castle gardens and waterfront. Nice area indeed. As it was Sunday everything was shut, including the castle cafe and shop which is supposed to be one of the few places on Lewis that opens on the sabbath. Shops - well some of the Stornoway offerings look extremely sad. Here is one example:

Zoom in and have a look at the stunning window displays then remember that this is a hobby and craft centre. A little short on crafty imagination and paint we fear. Still, when you are the only such shop on Lewis / Harris we guess that there is no need to worry about presentation. The joys of a captive market.

We didn't realise that one of the Stornoway pubs was, perhaps, the site of Prince Charles' first serious misdemeanour:

Worrying that he will become king sometime, with a taste for Cherry Brandy.

As we returned to the boat, we found another local fisherman who was very focussed on his task:

He was very good, he managed to leave his berth with minimal disturbance, no noise, no shouting and screaming at the rest of the crew. Some of the little trawlers could learn from this guy. 

Maintenance news:

After the wing engine had a run approaching Stornoway, a weep of diesel was noted on top of the secondary fuel filter. The bleed bolt was snugged up a little more and that stopped things nicely. Luckily it didn't need a new washer. The Captain always tries not to over-do the bolt when changing the filter as stripping the thread in the housing or on the bolt would not be hard. This time he clearly had under-cooked things. 

We also deployed for the first time one of the inflatable fenders that we bought, together with Andrew (Mr Zephyros, the N43) a while ago. It helped protect us during the two days of strong gales and did an excellent job. Got to try stowing it in the flybridge lockers now to save deflating it - that might be a tight squeeze.