Monday 14/11/05

Ferry never came back, it was due its refit 2 weeks ago. As per normal, the replacement ferry was unavailable. Weather quite unpleasant, heavy drizzle and strong winds with galeforce gusts. Loch Glascarnoch reports gusts of up to 44 knots, which is force 9. There will be an inquiry into the sailing of MV Muirneag on Friday. Someone was injured, and had to be airlifted off, 5 miles east of Tiumpan Head. The Coastguard is asking why the boat was at sea in such conditions in the first place. Lorries were damaged in the crossing. So, we've got NO ferries. The Small Isles ferry cannot call at Muck today. The story surrounding the Muirneag takes another twist, when the BBC breaks the news at midday that a crewman assaulted a passenger on board. This was later sorted amicably with a handshake. Muirneag sailed on Friday from Ullapool at 10 a.m., but could not enter Stornoway Harbour for 16 hours due to winds gusting at 65 knots. In other news, this weekend a digger burned out at Balallan. Went into town to drop off my pictures for processing. There is driving rain with force 9 gusts. Temperature today 13C, but set to decrease later in the week with wintry conditions. On Saturday, a large barge with 265 people on board was sent adrift in the North Sea. The occupants were taken off by helicopter. The lifeboat sailed yesterday to help a fisherman who was hurt after falling in his hold. More cancellations on the ferries: The Uig ferry is stormbound at Lochmaddy, the Armadale ferry is cancelled as are the ferries at Leverburgh and Eriskay. The strong winds abate at 4.30, when clouds break. The moon comes out later in the night, close to the planet Mars in the sky. Grampian TV showed a graphic report from Cuddy Point, interviewing passengers who had travelled on board MV Muirneag last Friday. Two men said they had written letters to their loved ones, as they were convinced the boat was going down. A vintage Rolls Royce was badly bashed in the crossing. CalMac claim they didn't know it was going to blow - well, they should have. A man arrives from Skye at 10.40pm, after the Uig ferry arrives at Tarbert. Methinks the excitement in the weather will now refocus on temperatures: looks like a cold night in the offing.