Arnish Lighthouse

That is, in a word, how Comhairle nan Eilean Siar must be feeling right now. Plans to upgrade Stornoway Town Hall running into mounting opposition, including from within its own authority (see two posts back). And a few days ago, its plans to fill in part of the Inner Harbour at Stornoway were rejected by Stornoway Port Authority on grounds that did not seem unreasonable to me. The rejection was not taken lying down; on the contrary, the reaction from councillors was one of unmitigated fury.

I am reasonably familiar with the problems posed by water getting too close for comfort. As such, it would appear to me that filling in the upper reaches of the Inner Harbour would have been asking for trouble. Anyone who knows our town in winter, will be familiar with the problems posed by flooding at times of high tide and / or high winds. North Beach, Cromwell Street and Bayhead properties can be seen lined with sandbags at such time, and still people end up with wet feet. If you take space away from the water to go to, it will go somewhere else. Like onto the streets of Stornoway.

Perhaps the Town Fathers should go to the oil barons to ask for a contribution towards cleaning up the mess left behind at the Maclennan’s Oilyard on North Beach. This is due to be converted to a carpark (and that’s what this whole saga is about, carparking space).

The MV Isle of Lewis, which plies the route between Stornoway and Ullapool, went into Garvel Drydock at Greenock today for its annual overhaul. MV Clansman is currently covering the route, but it should be noted that this vessel takes longer to sail from Stornoway to Ullapool and vice versa. Calmac has NOT advised any changes in its timetable, but be prepared for slightly later departure and arrival times through the day. I do not know when the MV Isle of Lewis will return on the route, but two weeks from now is a safe assumption.

MV Clansman at Stornoway, 30 January 2007

HMS Rawalpindi

Today is the day in 1939 that HMS Rawalpindi was sunk by Nazi German battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The brief battle has gone down in naval history as an incredible display of bravery on the part of the Rawalpindi’s crew. After trying to hide themselves from the Germans in the North Atlantic fog south of Iceland, they were ordered to surrender by the Scharnhorst. In response, the captain of the Rawalpindi said: never. And he fired a shell at the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau to underline his point. Bear in mind that the Rawalpindi was a converted passenger liner, kitted out with a gun and some armour plating. The Scharnhorst had to reply in kind, and sank the Rawalpindi. The bravery was noted by the German admiralty (sic!). All but 37 of the Rawalpindi’s crew were lost in the sinking. Their sacrifice was not in vain; before battle commenced, the Rawalpindi had been able to signal the position of the German battlecruisers to back to base on the Clyde, and an armada of British warships was heading north to intercept. More on this story here.

[Line below edited in response to comment #5]
Of those lost on the Rawalpindi 8 men were from Lewis, namely:

Seaman COLIN MACKAY, 31 South Bragar, aged 29
Local memorial: West Side, Bragar

Leading Seaman MURDO MACKAY, 53 Back, aged 33
Mac Choinnich Dhomhnuill Alais ‘c Dhonnachaidh
Son of Kenneth and Henrietta MacKay, of Back, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.
Local memorial: Back

Seaman DONALD SMITH JNR, 52 North Tolsta, aged 19
Domhnall a’Bhard
Son of Angus and Margaret Smith, of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.
Local memorial: North Tolsta

Seaman DONALD MACARTHUR, 10 Cromore, aged 20
Dollan Mhurchaidh Alasdair
Local memorial: Pairc, Kershader

Seaman JOHN MACKENZIE, 21 Swordale, aged 26
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald MacKenzie, of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.
Local memorial: Point, Garrabost

Seaman NORMAN MACLEOD, 25 Swordale, aged 31
Son of Donald and Mary Macleod, of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.
Local memorial: Point, Garrabost

Seaman JOHN MURDO NICOLSON, 39 Lower Bayble (and 3 Marybank, Stornoway), aged 36
Son of John and Christina Nicholson, of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis; husband of Williamina Nicolson, of Stornoway.
Local memorial: Point, Garrabost

Petty Officer WILLIAM MACLEOD, 14 Sheshader (and Marybank, Stornoway)
Local memorial: Point, Garrabost

These names are mentioned on the Plymouth Naval Memorial (panel 35); a picture can be viewed on this link. They are all cited in the third column.

This cruiseliner, the largest passenger vessel afloat, came blasting down the Minch on Sunday afternoon at 20 knots. It is on a round-Britain cruise, in celebration of the 5th anniversary of its launch. The first time I encountered it was in June 2005, when its waves disturbed the placid waters of the Sound of Shiant in thick fog. This time round, it was visible, but at a distance of 12 miles from Stornoway. As I type, the QM2 is docked at Greenock, and will depart for Liverpool later this evening.

Queen Mary II passing down the Minch, as seen from Stornoway

I’m sure our Norwegian friends will forgive me for this title, which was inspired by this scene on Saturday morning.

Submarine S300 and cruiseliner tender from "Marco Polo"

The Marco Polo left just after lunchtime, but the submarine appears to be attracting a lot of attention from the Saturday shoppers. Firmly tongue-in-cheek, it could be suggested that the sub is there to take people to the mainland on Sunday who do not want to be seen going on the ferry…

AIS (Automatic Identification System) is a system which logs the location, course, destination and speed of most ships over 300 tons. I am an avid user of its reflection on the Internet, www.shipais.com, particularly to find out about ships in my area. Stornoway is not a busy port, so any unknown vessel has my attention. This afternoon, nothing is coming or going (apart from the ferry), but AIS shows the following - the boat I’m on about is highlighted in yellow.

It looks like this:

My attention was on the large yacht, the Gundamain, which you can see against the backdrop of the hills. Its description as a 2,159 gross tonnage oil products tanker is patently wrong.

The IMO number refers to the tanker Janet C, pictures of which now feature on AIS in connection with this yacht.

The weather here in Stornoway is pretty dismal this Saturday, with frequent heavy squalls, carrying rain and gusts up to 40 mph. Monitoring the ShipAIS.com output for Stornoway, I nearly needed that site to identify the Northern Lighthouse Board’s Pharos, as it was barely visible from a few hundred yards away as it left port. ShipAIS also showed the cruiseliner Delphin approaching from the south, closely hugging the Lochs coast. About half an hour ago, it hove into view from my position but then it made a graceful turn from a northwesterly to a northeasterly course and went on its way again.

ShipAIS shows a vessel’s destination, which was marked as Stornoway until about 12.30pm; now, with the Delphin moving away into the Minch again, it is due into Invergordon at 6 am tomorrow morning.

I can understand why the ship chose to abandon its date with Stornoway. The southerly wind, blowing at a steady force 6 with higher gusts, has already whipped up the sea to choppy state, making transfer by tender a hazardous undertaking. The Delphin has a draught of 6.3 metres (21 feet), which is only 1 metre / 3 feet below the maximum draught that Stornoway harbour can take.

I hope the passengers on the Delphin have a comfortable crossing to Invergordon today, and that they will one day return on a better day to see what the Isle of Lewis has to offer.

I hope that the novelty of the Sunday ferry will wear off soon, so that it will become as normal as the departures through the week. From my perspective, my day is punctuated by the vessel’s appearance in and out of port, and I can add that routine to the Sunday. It is not my intention to demean the sincerely held beliefs of those who object to the Sunday sailings on religious grounds. Unfortunately, events have now caught up with them. I do believe that it is perfectly feasible to operate the ferry on Sundays without any fuss. As long as shops don’t open, or buses start to run, the impact will be minimal.

Tourists will be able to come 7 days a week now, which is good for the local economy - in the summer months. Leaving that to one side, there will be one less reason for families to move away. Anyone working away will now be able to come home on Friday evening and return on Sunday evening, on time to go back to work on the mainland on Monday morning. Depopulation being a major demographic nightmare for the local authority, that is another plus for the Sunday ferry.

I was asked if there are any downsides to this Sunday sailing. It has been suggested that an upsurge in crime is to be expected. Well, the alcohol-fuelled disorder that is sometimes in evidence over the weekend is already there, thanks to the Sunday opening of pubs. If there was ever an ungodly decision made in these parts, it was the one to allow Sunday drinking in pubs. Not the one to sail the ferry on Sundays.

A very unremarkable occasion on any island, but a hugely momentous occasion this afternoon in Stornoway. It is Sunday 19 July 2009, the time 2.31pm. A crowd of several hundred have gathered outside the Calmac terminal, six lines of traffic have just driven on board the MV Isle of Lewis for the journey to Ullapool, as per timetable. The ropes are cast off, and as the vessel backs away from the pier, cheering, whistling, waving and shouting erupts. It persists for a full minute. After five minutes, the Isle of Lewis halts, then assumes a forward motion to head for sea. Another protracted cheer erupts spontaneously.

Hebrides News refers to a noisy crowd being present at the terminal. It was only noisy when the ferry cast off. Otherwise, it was a well-behaved, large group, quietly talking among each other. A group of church-goers sang Psalm 46 (God is our refuge and our strength) as passengers boarded the ferry, according to Hebrides News. By 2.30pm, they had disappeared.

It was a momentous and moving occasion, showing the relief felt by many that an oppression had been lifted. We can now travel if we want, and should that be on Sunday, there is the option of the ferry now. If anyone doesn’t want to travel on Sunday, they don’t have to. The choice is there.

Vehicles waiting to board the first Sunday ferry

Placard held aloft by island church-goers

Crowd of onlookers at the ferry terminal

This video shows the MV Isle of Lewis pulling away from the quayside amidst a prolongued cheer from the assembled crowd.

Well, that is a mad 36 hours we’ve just had here in Lewis. Yesterday, Friday, the MV Isle of Lewis, limped into port two hours late after developing a fault in her engine. She had only managed to complete one of her scheduled three return crossings to Ullapool. Whilst the engineers went to work to fix her exhaust system, passengers piled up at the ferry terminal only to be told there would be no ferry services at all on Friday. This was nothing short of a disaster. We’re currently hosting the Hebridean Celtic Festival (with about 8,000 visitors in Stornoway & environs), and many of them will have been on their way here, or on their way back to the mainland. Some people managed to divert to Tarbert, Harris, to cross to Skye. Compounding the situation was the fact that the Isle of Lewis had carried 200 passengers on a daytrip to Stornoway, who had intended to return to the mainland on the scheduled 7pm crossing. They now had to be put up in Stornoway, whilst there was not a spare bed left due to the Hebridean Celtic Festival. Some unfortunates were reduced to sleeping in the ferry terminal, or in sleeping bags outside. Just as well it’s summer, and not desperately cold at night.

Whilst this mayhem was going on, Calmac organised a relief vessel (in the shape of the Isle of Arran) to take over on the Stornoway to Ullapool run. On Friday evening, it was still doing the Kennacraig to Islay run; by 11 o’clock on Saturday morning, she was up here. Also on Friday evening, the Hebrides (which normally plies from Uig in Skye to Tarbert or Lochmaddy) sailed to Ullapool to help clear a backlog of vehicles which had built up on the mainland.

Loaded to the gunwhales, the Isle of Arran bravely sailed to Ullapool shortly before midday. Passengers were reported sitting on the ground, as there was no seating left for some. Checking shipais.com a minute ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Isle of Lewis steaming into the Minch, headed for Ullapool. It is due back at 4.30 this morning, preceded at 3.00 am by the Isle of Arran.

The Sunday sailings are certainly getting off with a bang, with no fewer than two ferries coming in first thing on a Sunday - the first scheduled Sunday service will depart as billed at 2.30pm tomorrow afternoon.