Lewis!!
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Thu 8 Sep 2016 06:17
Here is our first landfall, the Butt of Lewis at the northwestern point of Europe:
Our arrival was greeted, to our total astonishment, by the Harbourmaster's staff welcoming us to the pontoon with a bunch of flowers seen here with the other half of the VS crew:
These came courtesy of our good friends Robbie and Jenny of Maymio/Mandalay, for which many thanks - a lovely gesture.
Due to ahocking weather forecasts VS is hiding in the new, outstandingly friendly and reasonably priced marina right in the centre of Stornoway, next to the lifeboat:
On our last visit six years ago we voted this Britain's most unfriendly port; yachts were decidedly not welcome. Now there is a new Harbourmaster and how things have changed. A realisation that there is money to be made and a moderate investment in facilities, but above all a total change in attitude - they just could not be nicer. Fantastic!
And it's so nice to be back in countryside where one can walk. Here is your correspondent out in a lovely Scottish wood, trying to remember the names of the trees and flowers:
It's good to be back in what I reckon to be the world's best cruising ground, despite the weather (I'm writing this as we cower in Stornoway awaiting the arrival, every other day for a week, of severe gale force winds, rendering us unable to move south).
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