Stormin’ away from Stornoway – again

 The call at Oban was a success – a white-knuckle (for Diva) tender ride followed by a walk along the seafront for air and exercise and bird spotting.

For the second time on this voyage, the weather conditions at Stornoway were not favourable for tender operations and the call was cancelled. TSH had been following the weather forecast and had been predicting this for several days. The sea is a little rougher – TSH and Diva are not venturing outside or onto the higher decks. But they have travelled through far worse in the past and they are well and have plenty to do including booking food deliveries for when they are back at home. They will not need to attend the cappuccino art lesson or the napkin or towel folding demonstrations.

The cancellation of the tour at Stornoway has left Diva with the problem of how to spend the remaining onboard credit. No doubt she will find a solution to this problem before reaching Southampton.

 

Life ashore

 

TSH and Diva walked around Falmouth but did not go ashore in Fishguard, because there was a long tender which was not properly available until 11:00. It seems to have been a good decision as there is very little there, many shops are boarded up and there was only limited access to the tapestry which is the main ‘attraction’ of the town.

In Belfast they visited the Titanic museum – their second visit, but still very much worth doing. There were limited numbers of visitors and so no problems with social distancing. In Oban, they went on their first excursion – to a nearby garden run by National Trust of Scotland. The garden was moving into its autumn state but there were pleasant walks and excellent viewpoints. It was a first to see a dog being pushed along in a child’s buggy with no actual child in sight. The sail-away from Oban was extremely scenic and comparable with a Norwegian fjord.

In Stornoway, the plan was for anchor and tender but TSH and Diva knew it was all cancelled when Captain Arma’s voice could be heard at 8:00. Due to the heavy swell, tendering would not be safe. The cruise director then announced an exciting new programme for the day. When TSH and Diva were movers and shakers at work, no-one would have guessed that their retirement excitement would involve napkin folding. They will not be attending this event.

Wildlife sightings: A few gannets (on and off the ship), white horses on the sea and llamas in a field.