Monday, 2 April 2012

The First....

Yesterday saw our first sighting this year of the Hebridean Princess, a small cruise liner which spends most of its summer months off the coast of western Scotland. It is high quality cruising at its best: the Queen, since she had her own ship taken away by an ungrateful government, has used the Princess for some of her summer holidays. Sadly, the weather when she passed yesterday afternoon was dismal. Hebridean Island Cruises' website is here.

Another first over the weekend was the latest of the more and more varied courses being run by Kilchoan Learning Centre under its dynamic principal, Pat Glenday. On Saturday it was Bushcraft. Yes, Bushcraft.

An enthusiastic group of budding Ray Mearses gathered at Trevor Potts' Ardnamurchan Campsite on Saturday to spend six hours surviving in the Ormsaigbeg bush. One thing which went badly wrong was the weather, which was absolutely beautiful, so warm that they had to stretch a groundsheet between some trees to prevent course members getting sunburn.

Amongst other skills, participants learned to make fire using two pieces of wood, something the Diary has tried but dismally failed at. Despite the privations, the course was thoroughly enjoyed by all - particularly as they went away clutching spoons which they had carved out of a piece of wood.

Following up from the post about the squid that Kilchoan Early Bird caught (post here), he reports that, three years ago, he never saw them in his creels, now he's catching them all the time. Can anybody explain why this is happening?

Many thanks to The Raptor for the picture of the Hebridean Princess, and to Trevor Potts for pictures of the Bushcraft course. Trevor has a smart new website, here.

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