Bow Doors Open

16.8C starting dry and dull then rain on and off from early afternoon. Wind to 24 mph with gusts to 33 mph.
(Ferry cancelled due to wind gusts over 30 knots)

Since there was rain forecast for later I took a camera when I went out with Maeve the Deerhound before 7am. When we got round as far as the park I thought I could see the tell tale red of a CalMac ferry funnel, so we wandered along to the harbour. Sure enough the ferry was there. A bit of a surprise since the crossing from Ardrossan was cancelled yesterday evening but gives me another Ferry Friday. The ferry wasn't on the side of the new quay where the linkspan is, but was tied up on the side where the cargo ships usually load the wind turbine tower sections. Ayress was on the linkspan side being loaded with wood.

I decided to go for a walk just after 10.30am. Runrig (Mara then Amazing Things) on the iPod Mini. I went round to the harbour then along by the ferry terminal and followed the shore side of the park and on out Kilkerran road to the 69 mile marker on the Kintyre Way near the Goldsmith's studio. There was a brief smirry shower so I turned there and came back. Back at the harbour the ferry had its bow doors open and its ramp down. Some scaffolding was in place across the opening and some crewmen in overalls were working. If you look closely you can see right through :-)

The CalMac website has the crossing from Ardrossan cancelled for this evening. High winds it says. Nothing to do with the ferry being in Campbeltown already then ...

Maeve came to the door to meet me when I got home. Unusual, so I took her out for a short walk before lunch.

Tomorrow we are off to Ullapool for a week. We hope to leave about 9am to give ourselves time to make the journey since we have only a rough idea how long it will take. Apothecary7 is at Bridge House Art from Monday to Friday on a course called Hidden Colour - Secret Light. Maeve and I will be amusing ourselves with a few visits to Ardmair I expect.

Afternoon music ... Craig Charles on BBC radio 2

DMC-LX7 f/2.8 1/320 sec. ISO-80 13mm (35mm focal length 77mm)