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.