Tuesday 20/06/06

After midnight, I went out for another amble to the Coastguard Station. Temperature dropped away quite sharply between 11.45 and 1.00 am - it's only 5C. It is cloudless and windless, with hardly a ripple on the water. What a contrast 9 hours later, when cloud has moved in, wind has picked up and rain starts to chuck down. The older couple leave on the lunchtime ferry today. They don't appear to have had a very good time in the islands; weather has been bad, and yesterday's trip round the West Side was a failure, after they didn't realise that the wee red minibus at Carloway was the one they were supposed to have taken. I did write down - change into MINIBUS. The Coastguard down in Barra have sent a lifeboat to the aid of a yacht with difficulties, but nothing major appears to have been the case. Weather turns nasty during the afternoon. Winds of force 6 to 7, with gusts to force 9 further south. Up here, it's only barely touching force 8. Venture out into the driving rain at 3pm, by which time the coastguard helicopter is out over the harbour and the town. Visibility is very poor indeed. Somerfields is full of wet and miserable shoppers. The rain continues unabated until 7 pm, after which we get a 2 hour dry spell. The sun even comes out. Wind and rain return with a vengeance at 10 o'clock. It's dark "early" tonight.