Wednesday 09/11/05

Brilliantly sunny morning, not a cloud in the sky. Colossal hangover. Own fault. Have a nice chat with Geoff and Jerry (try not to think "Tom and Jerry"). Jerry will be viewing houses today. The weather gets interesting as the day wears on. It clouds over at lunchtime, and the temperature drops. At 3 pm, a Norwegian submarine pulls into port. It leaves not long after, first going round behind the lighthouse, then going east. She had a flashing light on the conning tower. Submarines do not rise high above the waves, so they are easily overlooked. Crew stood to attention on deck as she came in. As evening falls, the wind picks up, until there is a full gale going with gusts up to force 10, 50 knots. Very strange, at 9.45 the wind drops back to force 5 and the rain stops. Jerry tells stories of the three properties he has viewed. At Garyvard, the house had been unoccupied for 14 years, with the personal effects of the deceased occupier still untouched. Newspapers, going back 70 years, hats, caps, it was all exactly as the man had left them the day he died. The house needed a lot of work, due to the effects of worms and damp. In Hacklete, Bernera, the house had proved difficult to find. The property had been unoccupied for 3 years, after the French couple that owned it had left. Apparently, the lady had died and the husband had never returned. Again, things had been left as if the owners would come back any day. But damp and rot had taken their toll here as well. The third property, in Sheshader, Point, was an incomplete conversion. Just walls, with windows and a cement floor. No interior walls or facilities connected. Jerry will be putting in a bid for this property. He currently lives on a boat, which costs about £100-150 in monthly harbour dues.