Wednesday 24/08/05

The storm rages on through the night. By morning, the rain gives way to showers. The wind is a steady force 7 to 8, with frequent squalls to force 9 - 10. Spume flies off the crests of the waves, indicating force 10. Just after breakfast, we notice a boat in the basin being blown along by the wind in the direction of the Coastguard station. It should have been at anchor, but this is probably dragging. The owners manage to board it just as the boat reaches the causeway. I know that the boat has faults in its steering and engine, and those make it impossible to be sailed out of harms way. The vessel ends up against the Newton Street seawall, by which time the Coastguard has turned up. Half the town drives past to join in the drama and yours truly sits on the seawall to watch proceedings. Another boat tows the stricken vessel out of the basin and into the Inner Harbour. All the while the Lifeboat was on standby, as people's lives were in danger. By 10.45, everybody is in safety. Notice that the cruiseliner Arkonia has not left since arriving yesterday, probably as a result of the inclement conditions. Waves break over the seawall near the ferry terminal. Short sharp showers come along, but do not amount to very much. Hop on the Ness bus at 1 pm to watch the storm at the Butt of Lewis. Fair few people getting off at villages along the way. Arrive in Eoropaidh at 1.55, just as a shower is working itself up out in the Atlantic. I just manage to reach the beach at Port Stoth before it lets rip. Sit on a stone at the foot of a cliff, facing east, out of the wind. The tide is coming in, and by the time I've finished my rolls I have to lift my feet to avoid them getting wet. Continue to the lighthouse, where phenomenal waves crash into the offshore skerries, throwing up plumes of spray up to 50 m / 170 ft in height. The wind is strongest, force 9, immediately outside the lighthouse perimeter wall. I head off west, straight into the wind along the coast, then over a still and south to Eoropaidh. There are lazybed ridges about, which make things a little bit more difficult, particularly with the strong winds buffeting me from the side. Visibility is poor due to flying foam. Speaking of which, about a foot of the stuff is piled on to the beach. It's filthy, heavily contaminated with sand. The walk through the dunes is turned into a sandblasting purgatory, and the walk on the beach is unsafe because of quicksand. Drinking tea is made difficult, because the wind blows the tea out of my cup and into my face. The sand blowing onto the dunes has built very unstable dunes. Return to Eoropaidh village across a green but virtually flowerless machair. This is in contrast to my visit on July 27th, when there was a sea of flowers here. Bus arrives on time at 3.35, full of smelly primary school kids who are being delivered to their homes around the district. At 3.50, we pick up the S1 and S2 pupils from Lionel School. This is a lively lot, talking about you-know-what and whacking each other with NHS Western Isles waterbottles. Return to SY at 4.40. We have two German couples in; one set was already in last night, having been blown off a beach at Tolsta. They are going to Harris in the morning. The others arrive on a severely delayed ferry at 9 o'clock. This should have come in at 6.30. The gentleman looks a bit green around the gills and retires to bed straightaway. His girlfriend moans about the lack of choice in teabags. For goodness' sakes, she'd better be happy to have a bed for the night. I natter to the others in their native tongue. News comes in of a French trawler which lost power 60 miles / 100 km northwest of the Butt of Lewis. This happened when a 100 ft / 30 m high wave smashed the wheel house windows and flooded the electronics. Eleven of the 18 crew were airlifted off by the coastguard, the others remain on board to assist in the tow to Ullapool.

Tuesday 23/08/05

In the afternoon, I go for a walk to the Iolaire Monument. On the way I take notes and 'directive' pictures, in order that anyone else doing the walk knows what to expect. This is only a short, 7 km / 4½ miles, walk and acts as a trial-run. Go behind the Coastguard Station to Battery Point, then across to Lower Sandwick. There, I speak to a man who has just returned to Lewis after an absence of 4 years in New Zealand. I later learn that this was actually one of the island's GPs. Continue past Stoneyfields Farm to the monument, then retrace my steps. In the evening, the weather deteriorates, the barometer plummets and the wind picks up. We're promised force 9 to 11. Waves crash over the Goat Island causeway at 11 pm.

The pictures show the sequence of the walk. Further details on www.walkingworld.com, walk ID 3281

Monday 22/08/05

In contrast to yesterday, Monday dawns sunny with some cloud. The cruiseliner Astoria lies anchored in the Glumag, off Arnish and tenders ferry passengers ashore for tours of town and island. A fleet of coaches is waiting on pier no 3 to take everybody round. This boat carries a whiff of notoriety. Two years ago, she was inspected for hygiene during a visit to Greenwich, near London. The galleys for passengers and crew were found to be infested with cockroaches. Although the captain pledged to quarantine his ship, he hightailed it down the river the next morning at 3 o'clock and turned up in Bremerhaven, Germany, later that day. Go into town at lunchtime for a haircut, a new pair of trousers and to scan a load of piccies in the computer. I've got to buy another pen, catching up with the old journal. As evening falls, the wind picks up strongly and heavy rain starts. That gale is not expected until Wednesday.

Sunday 21/08/05

Weather today is pretty awful, intermittent heavy rain and strong winds. Jimmy and Isabel head off for a drive round the West Side at 11.30. Everything will be closed today, but they can at least look at the outside of things. We're having a springtide today (full moon 3 days ago), and the difference between low- and high-tide level is 5 metres (16'8"). The old beacon at Arnish Lighthouse is completely submerged at the morning's high tide. Normally, the top of it remains above water. At low tide, during the afternoon, it is linked to the mainland at the lighthouse, which is not normally the case. Cloudcover sinks to about 200 feet, measured by the fact that the top of Gallows Hill is wreathed in mist in the evening.

Saturday 20/08/05

The group of 4 depart on the lunchtime ferry. I head into town to buy a paper, a book with 200 Sudoku puzzles (should keep me happy for a while) and have a look at new trousers. Nothing exciting at Underground. They have a sale on for jeans, but I don't wear jeans. It's pretty busy in town. A charity bike race is being held today. Two groups of 6 and 20 cyclists came whizzing round the corner from Island Road into Newton Street at 2.20. They would carry on to Lower Sandwick, Plasterfield, Laxdale, Marybank, Pentland Road, Achamor, Liurbost and back to the Castle Grounds and Bayhead. Spend some time on the library computer and writing up events that happened 11 months ago, if only to have a complete written record of the last 12 months.  In the evening, mrs B receives an Aberdeenshire couple, who are here to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. The man can only be described as a red-hot socialist, and I can only dig out a recording of the Internationale or Red Flag.

Friday 19/08/05

Nice bright morning, following overnight rain. My ideas about a walk go in the bin just before midday, when the cloud moves in from the west and the rain starts. A steady downpour ensues until 3 o'clock. The clouds break and the sun reappears. A very nice evening follows. It remains relatively mild. A group of four older folk take over from the Germans. They have come to celebrate a 44th wedding anniversary.

Thursday 18/08/05

It's newspapers day today, so I gather in the lot: Gazette, Free Press, P&J. Sudoku puzzles are beginning to pop up everywhere. Sunny but cool today. Hand in a film for processing, which I collect at 5pm. Join mrs B in talking to her son, whose own 15-year old boy is totally away with the fairies with his first love. Awwww. The only thing they want is to be together. Do go out for a walk after nightfall. At 11.25, the full moon hangs low in the southeast. As I stand at the Coastguard Station, a string of fishing boats come put-putting past. To the north, a very dim glow indicates where the sun went down 2 hours before. Nine months to wait until the midnight light returns. :-\

Wednesday 17/08/05

It's blowing a gale today and pouring with rain. I advise our German guests on a route to take, which will be the West Side circular. Callanish - Carloway Broch - Garenin Black House Village - Shawbost Mill & Kiln - Bragar Whalebone Arch. Don't do an awful lot myself. Discover a website that promotes walks in the UK. You can submit walking routes yourself, and receive commission for the walk, as well as payments for each time a prospective walker downloads your work. By 6pm, wind and rain relent and later on, the sun calls in for a smile before setting at 9.05 pm.

Tuesday 16/08/05

Another drizzly day with poor visibility during rainfall. And again, it improves as the day goes on. We're expecting 4 German tourists, who will be staying for 3 nights. In the evening, another German comes in for a social visit. He stayed with mrs B last year. Stefan brings his bagpipes and regales us to an earshattering and not quite noteperfect performances. He retires to his digs, with mrs B's brother-in-law, up the road at 10.30.

Monday 15/08/05

Today starts cloudy and rainy. News comes through of a French tourist who has gone missing from the hostel at Gearrannan Youth Hostel. The coastguard is searching the coastline between Dalbeag and Linsiadar after 9 o'clock. Later that day, I learn that the man was found dead at the bottom of 30 m / 100 ft high cliffs near Gearrannan. He must have slipped in wet conditions. Today, the Arnish Yard starts production of the 3 wave power generators for Portugal. Not for the Western Isles - why not? The usual weekend mischief includes a car damaged in Francis Street, a mountain bike stolen from Cearns and a girl assaulted in the town centre. Would never merit a mention on local radio elsewhere in the UK. The weather improves as the morning progresses, with the sun coming out at times. I go to the shops and library at 2 pm. It's only then that I notice the large cruiseliner Bremen tied up alongside the ferry pier. In town, I find the usual cruise passengers wandering about: elderly, clad in red anoraks and looking lost in Cromwell Street. Spend quite some time writing in the library, pop a present in the post, then head back.

Saturday 13/08/05

Today starts wet and grey, but around midday the rain moves away east, the sun comes out and it all cheers up a bit. Watch the basin where a cormorant is doing battle with a flat fish, taking a long time to swallow it. Even after it has gone down, the fish keeps popping back in the bird's croup. Otherwise an increasingly sunny day.

Sunday 14/08/05

Although it's fairly sunny today, I keep inside all day. Nattering to mrs B, monitoring the news regarding the crash of an airliner north of Athens.

Friday 12/08/05

Right, that was a complete off-day. Felt feverish and kept to my bed all day. A couple of herrings in vinegar revived me at 5 pm. Weather grey and getting dark rather earlier than the official advertised sunset time of 9.15 pm. The open fire is very pleasant in the evening.

Thursday 11/08/05

Close and muggy day today, overcast but fairly mild. The elderly guests depart on the lunchtime ferry. The Stornoway Gazette makes a complete dog's dinner of the report on the poor soul who fell off An Sgurr on Eigg last Sunday. Apparently, the coastguard helicopter that airlifted Robin Cook off a mountain in Sutherland subsequently had to fly down to Eigg. There is no such place as An Sgurr Bheag on the island, and neither is there such a thing as 'Eigg Police'. Dear oh dear. If it weren't so serious, it would be farcical. Isles FM are auctioning off a four-day trip round Taransay, Scarp, St Kilda and the Monach Isles. Normally, this would cost £400, but bidding has now started at around £80.

Wednesday 10/08/05

The elderly guest continues his stories over breakfast, telling us that he served in Belgium and Holland in 1944/45, with the Royal Artillery. He came within a hair's width of marrying a Belgian lass. He gave me name and address, which I will not quote here. The lady might still be alive today. The gent is quite happy with his current wife. WAP access is restored to my phone later in the day. It's fairly mild with sunny intervals.

Tuesday 09/08/05

Find that I do not have WAP (Internet) access on my mobile. Virgin Mobile is obviously not interested in my custom. Watch the Space Shuttle land safely in California at 12.12 GMT. It's a warm, muggy day outside, in complete contrast to the forecast, which had predicted rain. In the morning, one of Mrs B's relatives calls in for a cuppa and a yarn. As soon as I've updated the journal for last year, I'll adjust the page counter in my handwritten journal. It stands at 417 at the moment, but it'll probably be 220 pages more once I've finished the entries up to October 7th. A two-master windjammer leaves SY at 12.30. We have an elderly couple staying. The husband is originally from Point, and has many a story from his younger days. His family had to relocate from Port Mholair to Marybank after TB killed one of his siblings in the 1930s.

Monday 08/08/05

Spend the morning chatting to mrs B about the subject described in the entry for 07/08/05. The afternoon finds me in the library, writing up last year's journals for my trip round Orkney. Did I say that the Press and Journal printed my letter last Saturday? The Scottish Executive apparently does not know how many people don't hand in their prescriptions for filling. The reason appears to be the prohibitively high prescription charge of £6.50 per item. In my letter, I told the Executive how to find out how many prescriptions are not handed in for dispensing.

Sunday 07/08/05

A late start today. Hear that a 76-year old walker has fallen from the summit of An Sgurr in Eigg, and went down 300 feet. He did not survive the fall. Keep it nice and lazy again today. At 4 pm, I go for an amble round the backstreets, which are at best rundown and unsightly. Many of the buildings on Inaclete Rd, Bells Rd and Rigs Road used to be part of the Harris Tweed industry, partially owned and operated by mrs B's late husband, who died in 1993. Local shenanigans meant that several conglomerates squeezed each other out of business, rather than helping each other to keep the industry afloat. The result was a slump in the industry, and only two or three mills now remain. After one conglomerate went down, the competition bought all their premises and left them empty, in order to prevent anyone else from setting up in business. Read The Islanders and the Orb, by Janet Hunter. Suffice to say that it was an old-fashioned and highly successful exercise in shooting yourself in the foot, together with some very short-sighted business dealings. The mills would take in raw wool, card it, dye, spin and turn it into yarn for use on weaving looms. This yarn would be taken to the crofters for weaving. At a requisite time, the company lorry would go round and collect the end product. Obviously crofters being what they are, they also have other things to attned to, such as sheep and cattle. On the whole, an ideal industry for the Hebrides. Quality is governed by the Orb scheme, and allegations that its products were sub-standard led to the recent closure of a mill in Carloway. Now, the backstreets of Newton echo to the sound of silence, and there are only very few weavers left in Lewis. The sound of the loom has died off. On return from my walk, mrs B gives me an ice cream. A ray of sunlight reflects off the plaque on Bonny Prince Charlie's monument across in Arnish.

Saturday 06/08/05

My birthday today - another year older. Receive some presents from mrs B and flowers from family. The latter consists of a sunflower, lilies, chrysanthemums, carnations. Go to see the Lewis Carnival at 2 o'clock. In Willowglen Road, several lorries are lined up. One has a group of Irish folklore figures, dancing to lively Irish music. Another lambasts the arrival of opiumbaron Matheson in the 1840s. Carloway Youth Club has an empty lorry, with just a sound system. Multistorey carparking is advocated by stacking cars on top of each other, and suggesting that carparking augments the price of a house by £100,000. A Galson Motors half-open topped bus carries Miss Lewis and Harris. The procession is billed to set off at 2 pm, but is 15 minutes late. The pipeband leads the way, then comes the procession. The rear is brought up by another pipeband. It goes down Macaulay Road to Bayhead and Cromwell Street. Children and adults run alongside, waving collection boxes in spectators' faces. At the bottom of Kenneth Street, everything comes to a temporary halt. Oh forgot about the fantastic dragon, carried by a number of youngsters. The pipeband was handed drinks during their break. I have never seen the town centre packed the way it was this afternoon. There were only 5 floats in the procession. Last year, a man died after he fell off a float and was crushed under the wheels of the lorry. Since then, stricter safety measures were imposed, like handrails on all floats. The Carloway float did not have that, so they had to run alongside it.

Friday 05/08/05

Franzesca leaves on the 12.40 ferry for the long journey home, via Inverness, Edinburgh and London. I end up being lazy again. There is another Dutchman in the B&B, Mike from Amsterdam, who plays the recorder and wants to learn the keyboard. An older couple arrive from Tarbert, who intend to attend a marriage in SY that evening. The newspaper carries the story of a man who was taken to court for emptying a bucket of dog poo over the head of a minister of the church in Shetland. The culprit must have been running after all the dogs in Papa Stour to collect that much s**t.