Hebridean boats

[SidW]

You're never far from boats in the Hebrides, and the Hebrideans themselves are never far from boats.

The further west you go, the more likely you'll see boats left with oars and sails. Probably unheard of anywhere else:

Loch Steisebhat, near Leverburgh, Isle of Harris:


Port Nis, Isle of Lewis



Then there are the fishing fleets. There was a time when I could tell a trawler from a trawler,
but I'm not sure now. These seem to be fitted with all kinds of specialised equipment.
Some have diggers - for clams?

Still on the mainland - Mallaig harbour:


Stornoway harbour, Isle of Lewis:


Returning home in the morning. Stornoway:





I also thought I could tell a tug from a tug, but there are so many specialised working vessels
for servicing oil rigs and weather stations etc, so I don't know. This is Pegasus of St John's - I
couldnt find a St John's in UK, Canada perhaps?



Then there are the ferries, the year round lifeline of the Western Isles.

MV Hebrides at Uig, Skye, a service that alternates between Tarbert on Harris and
Lochmaddy on North Uist:


Much further south on the Clyde, west of Glasgow, there are two service linking Gourock and Dunoon.
Their respective starting and ending points are several miles apart, plus a bend in the river,
so they cross at rightangles.

MV Sound of Scarba, Western Ferries running north-south:


MV Jupiter, MacBrayne's running east-west:


All Canon G11 compact, mostly 100 ISO depending on the weather.

[photax]

Hi Sid,

Great pictures ! Thanks for showing, whats the construction at the last pictures ship, a drill tower ?

MIK

[daveh]

Sid, an interesting theme and interesting notes on the theme. It makes me want to tak' the high road and go up there.

SY3 looks an old trawler in need of a lick of paint.

Thanks for posting them.

Dave.

[SidW]

Hi Mik,

Regarding that structure on the last photo.

MacBrayne's is a national enterpise I believe, providing the essential communications between the islands, and presumably have to be prepared to move whatever is necessary. My guess is it's some kind of derrick for lifting heavy stuff. Maybe John P has some ideas.

PS. Just did some googling. Other MacBrayne ferries have a similar structure. On Jupiter it rises from the twin funnels, one on each side. One description of Jupiter refers to it as a tetrapod mast. So that's it, a fancy mast.