Saturday notes

Brilliantly sunny day, and probably the last for a while. According to the weathercharts, fronts will come toppling in from the Atlantic as of this evening, bringing an end to our bout of spring weather. It has lasted for nearly a fortnight, though, so no complaints.

This morning, a large sailing yacht came into port - which I knew was due. I found it anchored in Loch Leurbost off Crossbost on Thursday, and it was announced in the local paper that same day.

I mentioned in a diary entry for the last week of March that someone used satellite navigation (sat-nav) for finding his way around Lewis. The roadsystem here is very simple. The problems people have finding their way around the island relate to the fact that until very recently, most roadsigns outside Stornoway were exclusively in Gaelic. So, anyone looking for Garynahine might find themselves confronted with the name Gearraidh na h-Aibhne. That place only consists of about 10 houses, but does contain an important junction. Looking for a way to Stornoway means you're looking for Steornabhagh.
Mind you, sat-nav is far from faultless. It has already led one person to drive her Mercedes into a river, because sat-nav said so. It has seen hulking big coaches going up a farmtrack, next to a 100 ft drop. Another coach got stuck up a farmlane, a few hundred yards from the main road. The only way it could get out was for the farmer to break down the wall, allow the coach to drive across a ploughed field and into the adjacent dual-carriageway. Sat-nav? Give me an old-fashioned map any time.