Tuesday 15/11/05

Nice morning with a shower passing over Arnish at breakfast time. It's cold, but afterwards nice and clear. A vast improvement on recent times. Chat to a new guest, who is starting a new job for which he is receiving in(tro)duction here in Stornoway. Another guest is due in tomorrow night; he is a regular, who comes to the town to check the IT equipment in the hospital. The man who is here now had to wait for 6 hours at Uig, Skye, for a ferry to turn up. Weather fairly OK with the odd shower every now and again. Papers are full of the crossing from hell on board MV Muirneag last Friday. I find the history of the boat on the Net, and she's been shunted from owner to owner over the 26 years of her lifetime. Mrs B attempts to obtain logs for the fireplace through the Stornoway Trust. Her fire also burns coal. Today is a cold day, with temperatures of barely 5C, a lot lower than of late. A remarkably low tide late at night. During a TV report from Yorkshire, I can see the moon and the planet Mars, both close together behind the reporter's head. We have a different ferry today, MV Clansman (image below, (c) Ships of Calmac.co.uk). The Isle of Lewis is undergoing repairs.