Well, they were certainly correct about the forecast last week https://lifeattheendoftheroad.wordpress.com/2017/04/22/snow-on-the-way/ the snow arrived bang on time around Monday afternoon just after a few lambs were born near North Bay. They don’t call it ‘the lambing snow’ for nothing 
A blizzard around 17:00 0n Monday the 24th us heading ‘dead slow’ to Sconser with two extra lookouts and wishing we’d ‘stayed put’ on Raasay pier!! Sure it didn’t last, the relatively warm ground saw to that but pretty much the whole week was pure ‘Baltic’ with a frigid north wind ensuring temperatures never even got close to double figures.
Right enough, it didn’t stop the first rhododendrons showing there flowers on Tuesday 25th but it did seem to slow the cuckoo down. The North African visitor didn’t put in an appearance until the 27th when the wind changed. I guess he’d the sense to steer well clear, no point fighting a bitter northerly when a warm southerly will carry you along to the breeding grounds much much less effort. I’ve not actually heard it yet but the Post Lady and others assure me it’s here
Spring like at last
By Wednesday the northerly wind was a dim and distant memory,
The Penfold and Macmillan buoys were at rest and the swell had stopped breaking on the rocks.
Here’s Ferguson Transport’s MV Harvest Caroline taking some comfort from it on the end of Raasay pier.
The weather improved dramatically and both lambs and crofters were happy.
The Lustre took and advantage of the good weather and big tide to get her bottom scraped and painted 
Raasay House also had their sgoth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgoth Oigh Niseach for the fist time this year, or at least the first time I’ve noticed it
Hallaig at Raasay on Thursday morning
and the NLV Pole Star https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLV_Pole_Star
passing by on Friday night. She anchored of the Moll until Saturday morning when she took advantage of a rising tide to service the buoys at the entrance to Loch Sligachan.
A pleasant change
I dunno when it it happened but at some point during the first ‘week on’ I was asked to join the MV Lochinvar at Lochaline for a few days familiarization and I ‘jumped at the chance’. Hallaig’s sister ship, yard number 726 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Lochinvar has been ‘billeted’ there for the summer at least.
I spent many years in the late 70’s and early 80’s diving in this area for clams and scrap. Tis a part of the world I love and have visited little in the last 30 years. The Sound of Mull abounds in wrecks and in the 80’s at least was still a ‘scallop mine’ before the dredgers laid it to waste. 10lb lobsters and crayfish could be picked up here with ease when I was a ‘spotty yoof’ in my early twenties and in the early 80’s half a dozen of us bought a 2500t cargo ship nearby. Sure the SS Meldon was on the sea bed and had been since 1917 but I do have the deeds for her at home somewhere Indeed the steam whistle resides in my garden along with one of her ‘sounding leads’ still clearly embossed SS Meldon 28lb
Of course she don’t look anything like that anymore,
but by all accounts her large cast iron propeller still looks impressive according to http://diveoban.com/s-s-meldon/
Me, I wouldnae know, I’ve not seen it in thirty years
Seventy years of service
So, I managed to get away early last night to prepare for my trip sowf but arose, as usual at ‘stupid O clock’ to set off for Lochaline with the ‘Old Girl’ and caravan.
This is what greeted me from the living room window at 6:30AM, the MV Astoria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Astoria she did look familiar but the last time I saw this elegant septuagenarian who was launched in 1946!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she was called the Azores. Originally ordered in 1944 when Hitler was still in power and the world at at war this Swedish beauty was called the Stockholm and went on to collide with the Italian ship Andrea Doria in 1956 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Andrea_Doria . Boodly amazing to see that out me living room window I can tell you
Anyways, I left home this morning with the old caravan in tow and here I am.
Though I first had to cross the Corran Narrows on this
the rather unusual looking MV Corran that plies the fierce tides of Loch Linnhe between Corran and Ardgour.
It’s hardy ‘work’ is it
And, I’m so close to my ship I can have a ‘lie in’ despite having to start at 6:00AM
I’ve been looking for one for a while now and typically, on my last evening before going back to work after a month off, I found one!!! Of course it was after the last ferry but I phoned up the chap and he turned out to be an acquaintance. This stood me in good stead cos he agreed to hang onto it for me until Tuesday. 
