Lazaway Life

  Glenfinnan Viaduct Work on the Fort William to Mallaig railway line started in 1897 and was completed in 1901. It was to be the last and most expensive railway extensions in Scotland for the next 100 years. The line was built by (Sir) Robert McAlpine & Sons.  Sir Robert was known as Concrete Bob for his pioneering use of mass concrete for building large structures - including the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which is 280m long, has 21 semi-circular spans at 30m high and forming a 240m radius curve.  It has featured in many films, particularly the Harry Potter films where it carried the Hogwarts Express. Due to rather a lot of wind we are not moving location today.  So, Susie and Mary took the train from Mallaig to Glenfinnan to see the viaduct, have a short walk, and a superb smoked salmon sandwich for lunch.  A great trip I’m told. Meanwhile Gordon and I investigated a water leak associated with the port engine. After crawling over and around it, and running it f...

  Lighthouse at Eileen Ban just before we went under the Skye Bridge And just after going under the Skye Bridge was Gavin Maxwell’s cottage, also on the island of Eilean Ban.  This was the last home of the famous Scottish author of ‘Ring of Bright Water’. It has been a reasonable wildlife day for us.  We have seen Harbour Porpoise, and even got a distant picture of one (they tend to surface only once or twice and then stay down, and they are not generally attracted to the boat, making them hard to photograph with a phone), plus Harbour Seals and also Bottlenose Dolphins - the latter briefly came to the boat just before we went under the bridge. Look carefully in the left hand picture and you will just see a Harbour Porpoise surfacing as we motored south between Raasay and Skye in mirror calm conditions.  The right hand picture has Harbour Seals loafing on rocks just off the town of Kyle of Lochalsh. Four Bottlenose Dolphins ride our bow wave shortly before we went un...

  Rona Lodge Left Tarbert shortly after 09.00 this morning, to make the journey back across the Minch, this time at its narrow middle where it’s known as Little Minch.  The weather was cold and grey, but the SE wind just a little lighter than we were expecting, and the rain didn’t appear.  Consequently the crossing was better than expected. Our route took us to the north of Skye and as soon as we were in the shelter of the island the sea got calmer.  Still cold and grey. Skye looked well as we passed - much greener than Lewis and Harris. Some of the cliffs on Skye looked like the basalt above the chalk on the Antrim coast.  I suspect these cliffs are of basalt of the same age as that in Antrim. Our destination was the island of Rona, and specifically the inlet of Acairseid Mhor. Rona as we approached  The inlet is quite narrow, with lots of rocky obstacles but once in it is well sheltered and beautiful.  There are 5 visitors moorings, one of which...

  Despite the rain, maybe because of the rain, spring in Tarbert is vibrant. This years Larch cones, Yellow Iris, Rhododendron (a ubiquitous weed). The day has been very wet from the outset - constant light rain, interspersed with periods of heavy rain!  The cloud base was only just above the town chimneys. On the plus side it is calm (which means the rain will not move too far) and not too cold. After a long breakfast followed immediately by coffee on board, we went for a walk. Over the isthmus again, on to the old piers on the West Bay, and then back to view the shops in Tarbert. On one of the old jetties on West Bay - next stop America. An extremely well tended small house overlooking West Bay.  Idyllic. The Red-hot Pokers in the garden were magnificent. Mr Akrams general store is a must. The window display should not be missed, but should not put you off visiting the internal emporium. Everything is available!  Two doors up is the grocery store - small but perfec...

  Stornoway still has a number of active fishing vessels.  This one arrived yesterday evening and left very early this morning. The fishing boats attract wildlife that consider them fast food outlets.  We saw this Grey Heron on a couple of different boats, and the Grey Seal was expecting something but was disappointed while we were watching.  Herring Gulls searched through nets on board, and a Hooded Crow looked for pickings. In the morning we walked round the harbour, across a footbridge and into the grounds of Lews Castle - literally just across the river from Stornoway.  A magnificent pile built by the Matheson family (building started in 1847) using loot gained from the far east opium trade.  It is now in public ownership via the Lews Castle Trust.  After extensive and high quality renovations it opened it’s doors to the public in 2016.  It operates as a function venue and has extensive grounds all open to the public, and an excellent cafe. Th...

Looking up Loch Carron from our mooring in Plockton on this very calm morning.  Perfect conditions for our jump from Inner to Outer Hebrides across the (notorious) Minch. 08.45 we slipped the mooring rope and left the safety of a beautiful anchorage.  We have 61 nautical miles to go across the Minch.   The myth says that the blue men of the Minch, also known as storm kelpies, are mythological creatures inhabiting the stretch of water between the northern Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink.   Hopefully, today, they will be thwarted. Here is a map of the Hebrides, Inner and Outer, just to help with orientation: By Kelisi, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=541156 The Minch, and the Little Minch, have fearsome reputations for bad weather and sea conditions.  We are crossing from the SE corner of Skye, where it says Longay on the mainland, to Stornoway near the top of Lewis. So, we...

The start of the day was good for wildlife.  Whilst having my early morning cup of tea on the flybridge, I spotted a Red Deer on the slope behind the seafront houses and below the houses on the next road up - right in the middle of the town.  It was obviously perfectly at home. The picture below is bit fuzzy because it was taken with my phone from the boat. Then there was a heron at the mouth of the river that runs beside the distillery into the harbour.  Maybe it is the quality control manager. And then, not long after we had set off, and before we reached Ardnamurchan Point, a pod of about 15 Bottle-nosed Dolphins joined us, albeit briefly.  Wonderful. Before leaving Tobermory we refuelled on the main commercial pontoon - at a price that is £0.22/ltr less than in Bangor - but which still hurt the bank balance because our tanks were at the lowest they have been since we acquired Lazaway.  We set off at about 10.30 in fantastically calm weather, and remarkably i...