Stornoway, Lewis - 17-19 July 2006 (day 58-60)

Yacht Gothik

Stornoway Yacht Pontoon

Stornoway Harbour

Isle of Lewis

Outer Hebrides

19 July 2006

Click here to see a map.

Logged distance: 6.75M

Chart distance: 6M

Time under way: 1h 35m

Monday 17 July 2006

By early morning the wind had dropped significantly but the speed and direction did not match that of the clouds in the sky - they scudded fast and low overhead. The forecast today was good but thinking it would still be pretty rough out there we waited until the afternoon before starting the short trip to Stornoway.

We set out after lunch, still with fast moving clouds but strangely with very little wind. It took nearly 20 minutes to weigh anchor - it was stuck fast. Keith tugged on the tripping line (a line tied to the head of the anchor to help 'trip' or loosen a fouled anchor, (the chain is attached to the shank)) but the anchor would not budge. In the end we made fast the chain to the boat and I motored forward eventually prising it off the bottom.

An hour later we had reached the entrance to Stornoway harbour - a big harbour, very sheltered with a sizeable town and much activity. A little too much activity, the small marina was full. Yachts were berthed three abreast along the harbour wall, sharing it with the fishing fleet. We chose a suitable boat to pull alongside and cast our lines.

There were hot showers ashore - the shower was blissful. Although we'd taken advantage of fresh water lakes it had been eight days since a hot water shower. The best part was putting on a set of clean clothes.

Showered and presentable (more or less - I've given up trying to get a haircut) we took a short walk to the Indian restaurant. We could have been anywhere in the UK - a Stornoway Indian restaurant was no different from a Basildon Bombay Balti. As usual we ordered far more than we could eat, ate it all and left the place burping from too much larger. Most enjoyable.

Some more pictures...

A closer look at the entrance to Stornoway Harbour; note the rock between the red buoy and the lighthouse.

Our view aft from the harbour wall.

Our view forward from the harbour wall.

Keith spent a patient hour trying to get a picture of the fast moving terns diving for fish. Here is his picture of a tern with a fish in its mouth. For some reason, after catching a fish, the terns would fly round and round with it in their mouths, squawking at the same time. Maybe it was just their way of bragging; "I've got a fish, I've got a fish..."

Tuesday 18 July 2006

Today was laundry day and nothing else. We decided to take it easy, leaving all the other chores - washing the boat, filling up with water and diesel and shopping for food and supplies - until tomorrow. Taking it easy meant sunbathing and reading books so it was something to look forward to.

Before we had a chance to get our laundry together a berth came free in the marina. We slipped into it. Now we had all comforts, clambering across the decks of two other boats and then scaling a slimy harbour wall to get ashore is fine for a while but the simplicity of stepping off the boat and straight onto a floating dock is something to be appreciated.

The chore of doing our laundry was further reduced by the fact it was not self service. It hadn't been like this since the Scilly Isles; we dumped our bags and were told to come back at four o' clock. Fantastic. More reading, more sunbathing.

After dinner Ben and I were keen for a good old Caribbean sundowner of rum and ginger beer (Jamaican ginger beer - not ginger ale). We didn't have any rum and neither did we have any ginger beer so we deiced to go and find some. It wasn't until we started looking that we realised there seemed to be no off licence in Stornoway. There may well be one but we couldn't find it, neither did the pedestrians we asked know either. There seemed to be nothing for it but a pub - Ben and I dove into the nearest.

The criteria of being 'nearest' was the only reason for choosing it. From the outside it looked pretty rough, from the inside it was clean but seedy. Only one other person was in the place. Swaying on his stool at the bar he was well on his way to not being able to stand but he was jovial and polite. The barman was talkative and friendly. The chef was Jamaican with a truly lively "Yeah mon, cool mon" accent who proceeded to play a tape of of his own good choice. There was (now less importantly) both dark rum and ginger beer plus plenty of change for the pool table.

When playing pool with Ben one needs plenty of change. He cracks them into the pocket with a sure fire certitude, immediately walking around the table to wait for the white ball to come to a standstill. Game over, insert coin. It is a pleasure to play Ben (especially when the pub is near empty of spectators) just to see how it should be done. Feeling though that it must be boring for him with such a poor match I readily agreed to stand aside when the barman challenged him. It turned out that he also grew up with a pool table in the home - and it showed.

Ben and the barman played three games. Ben ended two up with the rum losing the last. Due to lack of customers (apparently they had all over done it yesterday in some celebration and were now taking a rest) the bar was closing early but the barman gave us six bottles of ginger beer and a half bottle of rum compensation. We thought this was 'cool mon' and walked away with a head full of reggae.

Back on the boat, Ben managed to get Keith out of bed to join us for a game of cards. 'Texas Holdum' I think it was.

A good time was had by all until Ben and I had a quick dance in the cockpit, upsetting the balance of the boat and making Keith fall over.

Wednesday 19 July 2006

Well there is nothing like cleaning the bilges after a little rest and recreation the day before. It was my turn to do the bilges while Keith and Ben hosed down the decks in the sunshine. Hmmm... as captain of this vessel should I even be lowering myself to the level of cleaning the bilges? Answers on a post card please.

After getting all things ship shape it was grocery shopping. Keith tends to groan at this exercise. He gets the job of pushing the trolley while Ben and I fill it rapidly with everything from root ginger and raspberries to toilet roll and balsamic vinegar. I don't think Keith minds pushing the trolley but he does have a bit more of a mind about the fact that we have to carry it all the way from the supermarket to the boat - no short distance. But then it's not just that, we have to store it. To be honest I'm amazed myself that we managed to get it all in the boat. The trolley loads at first seemed a trifle extravagant to Keith but he's swung round to our view of a healthy diet.

With jobs done, I paid a visit to the Stornoway museum. I like small museums. You never know what you will find in them. Sometimes they simply contain a collection of all things donated - akin to a charity shop with labels and no price tags - other times they can be wholly big league and thoroughly researched. Both are great but you need to put yourself in the right frame of mind as soon as you walk in to avoid being disappointed. The Stornoway museum was of the thoroughly researched variety. It concentrated on island life from the stone age through to the middle of the 20th century and in particular island life on Lewis. A small museum but one not short of detail. I came away feeling nourished.

Sailing and remote anchorages have a tendency of disconnecting oneself from what actually goes on (and went on) on the land. The museum (and to a lesser extent the bar last night) wove some context back into where we were and what we were doing.

Barbequed sausages and a salad selection completed a relaxing day.

To finish off, here is a picture of a seal. There were one or two fairly tame ones in the harbour. It seems the fishermen regard them as lucky and will throw them a few fish when returning with their catch.