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Crew Dave Goes On
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SOC
CREW OUTINGS - April 2005; Day 2
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This morning I awoke from a much needed nights sleep. Yesterday I had been
up and about for about 25 hours, so a lie-in this morning was just what I
needed. I think however that I may have been out in the elements for too
long yesterday. I woke with a stinking cold with all the works; blocked
nose, sore throat, headache etc... Today the plan was a simple one; get from
Oban to Ullapool in time for the ferry to Lewis this evening. The journey
was one I had done before, last October with Steve as part of the first SoC
Trip, so this time at least I knew which way to go.
After a very filling breakfast I loaded up the car, packed the camera and
laptop and set off north up the eastern side of Loch Linnhe. The radio was
on and the sun was out - for the first part of the day at least. I got to
Fort William by around 11.00am and despite having breakfast just a couple of
hours earlier, a quick trip in to McDonalds was called for. 9 chicken
nuggets, a milkshake and a full tank of petrol from the Shell garage later,
Fort William was left behind as I headed off up towards Loch Lochy, Loch
Ness and Inverness. The duration of this leg of the journey was lengthened
thanks to another caravan, tractor and four articulated lorries. Patience
was eroded and I took a break about half way up Loch Ness.
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I did try and get some photos of Loch Ness but last night I did something
rather stupid - I forgot to charge my camera battery up... So alas - no
pictures of the scenery in the Great Glen today. What a muppet!!! (So
apologies but not many pictures on this page folks)
I got to the outskirts of Inverness around 1.00pm and the traffic was
horrendous to say the least. I followed the signs for the A9 and in the
space of 400 yards I was nearly witness to three separate road accidents.
One bloke pulled out in front of another poor guy on one of the many
roundabouts and had the bad judgement and the nerve to hurl abuse at the
driver he cut up. There were a couple of other similar incidents and these
left me with the impression that Inverness is a hazardous route to take
and I should avoid it like the plague if I am up there again in future!
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I crossed the Kessock Bridge and hit the roadworks immediately after. The
speed restrictions were set at 50mph - so I duly reduced my speed whilst
watching out for hidden speed cameras (something I have always been very
wary of). Ullapool now became signposted so I left theA9 and headed
northwest. Ullapool was just over an hour away by this point and as the
road wound its way up into the hills the rain set in. I gained height and
the road became lined with snow poles. I passed through the snow gates and
the road then followed a reservoir for a couple of miles before dropping
down to a gorge (the name of which completely escapes me). There was a
road off to the left leading eventually to Kyle of Lochalsh. I remembered
this road from when I was a child - it took hours to get from one end to
the other! I carried on down towards Loch Broom and could see Ullapool in
the distance. I pulled in at a viewpoint just outside the town,
overlooking the loch and tried in vain to get a couple of pictures. The
battery on the other hand was having none of it. I came clean about my
glaring oversight from last night, and confessed to Alan at SoC - who
ribbed me mercilessly and threatened me with the sack! (I think it
was a joke)
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Isle of Lewis approaching
Ullapool
(taken last October)
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The Isle of Lewis was at this point making her way slowly
across the Minch. The time was about 2.30pm and check-in was still a good
two hours away. With nothing to do in the meantime I made my way down to the
ferry terminal and became the fourth car in the queue within the vehicle
marshalling area. It is no secret that I am not a fan of Ullapool terminal.
The main reason for that is because the queuing lanes are tucked round the
back of one of the Calmac offices, thus obscuring any view of the ship as
she arrives!
With the two hours I had at my disposal before the check-in
I fired up the laptop and finished off yesterday's diary before moving onto
the events of earlier today. My tickets were checked and I filled in a
registration card for the crossing and shortly before 5.00pm I drove in
through the stern ramp and along the port side of the car deck to park just
behind the bow door. I left the car and went upstairs to the cafeteria. It
must have something to do with being full of cold but I was starving once
more so indulged in a rather large helping of fish and potatoes while
loading continued down below.
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After eating and satisfying my hunger I went out on deck where it was by
this time pouring with rain. The stern ramp was being closed and sealed
ready for departure and the pre-recorded safety announcement was played out
for all to hear (well, just about audible - I think some of the loudspeakers
could do with replacing!)
The sailing was full in terms of passengers. When I returned inside as we
sailed down Loch Broom, I found all the internal seats were taken. Despite
her enormous size, I can't help feeling that the Isle of Lewis does have a
lot of wasted space inside her. There is so much open space which could be
put to better use with additional internal seating (well that's my opinion
anyway - although that could be put down to the fact I felt like c**p and
just wanted to get some sleep!)
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As we headed down Loch Broom towards the Summer Isles the wind picked up. I
found myself a sheltered corner to huddle in out on the starboard promenade
deck; out of the wind and sheltered from the drizzle and I resigned myself
to the next two and a half hours on my feet.
As we left Loch Broom we hugged the coastline for several miles because
of the swell that we to be found further out. This did add nearly an hour
onto the crossing duration and the captain came onto the public address
system to apologise for the delay in arriving at Stornoway. After an hour
and a half we turned starboard and headed out into the Minch, leaving the
mainland far behind us. The swell did pick up considerably the further out
we sailed, and the Isle of Lewis was bouncing up and down with a reassuring
regularity. There were some green faces among the passengers who ventured
out on deck. Quite conversely I was feeling a lot better now that I was in
the fresh air.
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One of the better features of the Isle of Lewis is that she supports a full
Vodafone signal right across the Minch. I rang Steve from roughly an hour
off the Lewis coast. It had been a while since I had spoken to him so there
was a lot to go through regarding various parts of the website. All was
going fine - until my mobile phone battery dropped the subtle hint of 'shut
the .....' by means of cutting out.
Maybe this was no bad thing as we were by now fast approaching Stornoway,
only an hour late, but who's counting?!. I could see Muirneag at the freight
berth on the far side of the harbour as we swung round the lighthouse
marking the entrance to the harbour. We came round past Goat Island with its
boatyard and slipway and crossed over to the main ferry terminal. There
wasn't actually an announcement calling drivers back down to the car deck,
so I just followed the rest of the herd and returned to the car. On the way
back down I noticed that the mezzanine car decks were being used as well.
This would explain why there were so many passengers on board.
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We bounced off the pier a couple of times and a crew member came over to the
ramp control cabinet. From where I was parked, I could see the CCTV monitor
showing the image from a camera mounted under the visor. As the ramp was
activated, I could see the forward section being raised slowly. The two tone
siren going off right above me added considerably to my headache and a
couple of Lemsips were called for. The main part of the ramp began to go
down and after it was completely down unloading began. I was the second car
off, which was a major advantage as it meant I was ahead of the rest of the
120 or so cars we were carrying.
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The B&B for tonight was located about 10 miles south of Stornoway, on
the road to Tarbert and the Isle of Harris. I eventually found it, after
completely missing it on the first attempt. I apologised for my late arrival
- and laid the blame on the weather and Calmac. I remembered to plug the
camera battery in to recharge tonight, after last night's careless
oversight!
I wasted no time in going to bed as I felt worse than earlier by now.
Unfortunately I didn't get much sleep as the place was freezing cold and I
spent much of the night huddling in bed trying to keep warm. I hope tomorrow
will be better.
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Click here to see the next day...
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 SoC Useful Links: |
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To see a more detailed description of the islands and photos, visit
Undiscovered Scotland and click on a place. |
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To view details of the crossings we have been on see the Crossings
section, or for the vessels featured in this diary, see Ships
of the Fleet and click on a vessel name. |
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