Keeping me company in the car was Radio 1’s early breakfast (JK and Joel aren’t as good as Nemone!) and then it was onto Chris Moyles as I climbed up past the reservoir on the Ullapool road. When I got to Loch Broom the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky. Whilst sitting in the marshalling area I found out I’d left Oban on the wrong day. Radio 1 were broadcasting live from the North Pier this afternoon with Colin and Edith entertaining the nation. I was listening to them later on this afternoon.

Isle of Lewis in Loch Broom...

...and turning for Ullapool pier

There weren’t that many vehicles coming off the ship and it wasn’t long before I was boarding. Being one of the first on I was directed down the port side car deck and positioned in the centre of the vessel behind the bow ramp. I had now been up for nearly seven hours and it showed in that I was hungry. Unfortunately the cafeteria wasn’t open until after we departed so I went out onto the deck and enjoyed the sun

As we left Ullapool on the 1000 sailing I returned to the cafeteria where breakfast was finally being served. It was tempting to go for the full works, but I made do with a couple of sausage baps, and very nice they were too! (I’m actually a bit concerned in case people think I think through my stomach…it doesn’t, honest!)

As we cleared Loch Broom and passed the Summer Isles the captain came over the speakers and advised that it was time for the weekly fire and emergency drills and that passengers should ignore the impending alarm signals. I took my place on the open deck with the phone camera ready (see fleet news for the pictures). Sure enough the alarm came to life and the crew readied themselves at their respective locations for the fire drill. A few minutes later the seven short blasts and one long blast rang out and the drill upgraded to general emergency status. Crew started appearing in lifejackets and shortly after this, the ‘emergency’ got more serious and the ‘short-long-short-long-short-long’ signal rang out, indicating abandon ship stage 1. For the purposes of the drill, the starboard lifeboat was readied for deployment. It was lowered a little but nothing spectacular. A couple of crew were clambering all over it (tethered to the support cables of course) for a few minutes before it was raised and stowed once again.

Isle of Lewis having arrived at Stornoway

The Isle of Lewis was going to be busy going back to Ullapool! All the queuing lanes were full and there was even traffic that could not be accommodated which was being held outside the lane barriers! I left the terminal compound and passed through the town center, into the castle grounds. There is a really nice walk along the shoreline from the castle and I wandered off along there, baking in the heat of the early afternoon sun. I found a great viewpoint (which I had actually used back in 2004 when Clansman was here on relief) and set up ready for the Isle of Lewis’ departure. She backed away from the berth and spun around, shining brightly in the sun. I was in the perfect place for pictures as the sun was behind me once again as the ship crept past.

Later on in the evening I returned to the outskirts of Stornoway – well the Arnish Industrial Estate to be precise. Having managed to find it, I wandered out on the track towards the lighthouse. I felt a bit uneasy at first, as the path led past a factory’s boundary fence with CCTV cameras – I had visions of security guards accosting me and pointing me in the direction of my car… Nope! I went on out to the lighthouse but the view wasn’t that good. Instead I backtracked a little way to some old concrete bunkers which faced out to the Minch.

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