15 out, 14 in and 7 ready to go!

Well it’s been a busy old day or should it was a busy old day yesterday ( Sunday ) as I’m just catching up with myself. The pain of having to do an extra sailing at 21:00 from Raasay on Saturday was eased by having a most excellent meal at the   http://www.isleofraasayhotel.co.uk/ which just to confuse matters is now called Borrodale house but is operated by http://www.raasay-house.co.uk/ Whilst this may leave the establishment, not to mention the person that answers the phones with something of an identity crisis it in no way compromises the quality of the food or professionalism of the staff. I had herring marinaded in sherry as a starter which was divine and to my way of thinking about the only thing that sherry is fit for I followed that with Skye lamb chump, potatoes and veg which was two lovely pieces of tender lamb on a bed of mash with some kind of dark, rich sauce made from red wine, port and walnuts poured over it.

Yum Yum

I had to skip the sweet in favour of sailing to Skye but wife and child informed me later that it was yummy.

Sunday

So that brings me to my favourite working day, Sunday and a chance to have a look at the pigs before I head down ‘Calum’s road’ at 8:30 for my day on the Loch Striven. This particular Sunday meant that Bramble’s 7 wains were 6 weeks one day old and ready for weaning. The 3 year old Tamworth sow that is their mother was getting pretty fed up with the 7 of them clinging onto her anyway. Well she was according to the swineherd, who has far more experience of motherhood than I I had not actually planned to separate them before I headed for work, I just planned to turn the gate into their field upside down so they could get through then the swineherd could sort them out them out whilst I was at work.

4 gilts and 3 boars

However as soon as I’d turned the gate round they were through, all seven of them, 3 boars and 4 gilts. Turning the gate back over whilst they were grubbing about nearby would have spooked them, so I just put some hurdles in front of the gate secured by a trusty ratchet strap and felt very pleased with myself.

A fine wee grubber

This litter is all spoken for with 4 going to Skye and 3 staying here for fattening for Christmas

A double run

When I arrived shortly after 9:00am there were already 3 cars in the queue swelling  to 15 before the 10 minute check in time which meant an extra run to clear the traffic. A very pleasant day was then spent cleaning the boat doing weekly maintenance and safety drills. We had planned to launch the rescue boat and take a trip over to the new harbour but time was short so we contented ourselves with swinging it out and running up the 9.9 Mercury outboard using the fresh water hose to cool it. Before we knew it the 16:00 sailing was upon us, I can’t remember how many cars we shipped but I do remember that there were 11 sitting at Sconser when we arrived! By ‘last orders’ 3 more had arrived, 2 of which we could not squeeze on so had to return.

The end of an era

The later finish, a loud bang from the front axle whilst negotiating the first steep hill on ‘Calum’s road’ and a barbecue at my neighbour’s house meant no posting last night. Investigation of the loud and expensive noises from the ‘Old girl’ led me to a glass or two of

Looks can be deceiving!

a cloudy looking substance handed to me by a departing (not departed) friend This rather uninviting looking brew is proper English cider and has to be tasted to be believed. If it was a wine, the label on the back would read ‘ full bodied with a hint of oak and a fruity bouquet’ or some such tosh. Me I’d say somewhere between apple juice and red diesel with a kick like a mule   Anyway, work on Monday meant I left early and sober for my bed in preparation for the usually busy start to every one elses week and the penultimate day of mine

The  UKWind was predicting mist today and sure enough, there was a great deal of it about but it clung mainly to the cuilins and Ben Tianavaig

The 'Golden cliff'

I don’t know what this cliff is called below Ben Tianavaig but we used to call it the ‘Golden cliff’ as it often looked that colour in the early morning sun. Many times we passed below it in my old boat MV Conqueror on the way to Portree with a load of scallops and many times we saw sea eagles soaring above it.

The 7:55 sailing was a little quieter than usual as the schools were off and just as we were leaving our berth I caught sight of what must be one of Raasay’s best known boats.

Sulaire

Having over the last 18 years become as much a part of the old pier at Clachan as the two stone mermaids the bilge keeled ketch Sulaire (and I’ve probably spelt that wrong ) departed Raasay for the last time. I have no idea what her new owner paid for it but I can tell you now that it was not enough for the time and love that went into this craft!

Anyway, that’s about it from me, the rest of the day was the usual returning harbour workers and a 1000 hour service on one of the Lister HRW6 generators

Lister HRW6 genset

It’s now almost 22:30 and I need my bed. It’s the boy’s birthday tomorrow and somehow I’ve got to compete with the fathers day card he made for me yesterday.

What can I say?

My 9 year old boy has got me summed up in a few lines on a bit of card, buried under Landrover surrounded by tools, shooting at a rabbit ( you will notice the bunny smiling as the bullet passes safely by ) A wind turbine, a quad, the MV Loch Striven and I think that might be  clam diver under the ferry. What can I asy!