Doubling the fleet :-)

Not only does it look like another ‘peach of a day ahead’ it’s 7:25 and I’m not long out of my bed!!!!! Yesterday was a busy wee day of pottering about the North End followed by the remains of MiL’s pasta bake and a good night’s sleep  

My first task, if you can call it that, was to drive south and try and catch MiL before she departed Raasay. For some reason the phones didn’t appear to be working and I couldn’t raise Wifey or her mum. Still, it was a bonny morning, a good excuse to give the Disco clutch a proper test and I’d no major projects that required my immediate attention. At some point during my ‘holiday’ I’ve a major ‘infrastructure project’ requiring much digger/dumper work but that wasn’t crucial.

BRD17 Mary M Broadford

After a pleasant potter south passing deer, sea eagles and lots of damaged verges at the side of the road I arrived at the ferry terminal to find MiL long gone It was 8:30 and she must have abandoned Raasay on the first ferry. Still, it was far from a wasted journey, the drive had been far nicer than my commute of the last fortnight from hotel to dock Sure the company wasn’t as good as my chauffer Richard on those work related jaunts. Molly seems to have an uncanny sense of nearing the village and starts whining incessantly about a mile out, usually at the cattle grid by the Youth Hostel.

  

It was nowhere near as dark when we arrived as the picture suggests, the sun was just rising over Churchton bay as I let Molly out and went to ‘have a nosy’

There was a new addition in the harbour, Donnie Mackenzie’s replacement for the MV Lustre had finally arrived.

 

The 24’ Mary M is a compact multi purpose little vessel that has just doubled the size of Raasay’s fleet of fishing boats

 

Powered by a 90HP Kubota (I think) based Beta marine engine with a 3:1 reduction box swinging a rather large propeller for towing a trawl but still retaining Lustre’s MacLeod of Raasay hauler for lifting creels.

 

Sure it’s gonna be a busy little port with Speedwell and Mary M working out of Raasay  

There will be an official wee naming of Mary M today at 13:30 down at the ferry terminal so methinks that’ll be on today’s ‘to do’ list

I’d kinda thought that the bin lorry was responsible for all the recent Raasay verge damage cos it’s been doing extra runs to Brochel and Arnish the last couple of months.

Then I realized it was actually the ‘SAS’ in their fleet of seven vehicles moving around the island like a ‘wolf pack’ in their 4×4’s. You gotta laugh, I recently received an email asking me if I could refrain from parking at Arnish on certain days    

  

Well, it’s almost 8:30 now, full daylight and I’ll be needing to feed and let out the pigs. Arnish and Torran are looking magnificent in the ‘shades of autumn’ with the prize (for now) going to Torran’s golden aspen.

Me I’m just gonna pick some raspberries for my muesli and let out May and Snowy.