This was a most wonderful day spent with Donald MacCauley out on his boat checking his lobster creels around the island of Pabaigh.  We started out at the pier on Bhaltos and we could not have asked for better weather – a whip of wind, bright sunshine and calm seas. It was very interesting to see how the creels are placed, Donald knows where there will likely be lobsters and places the creels accordingly.   As he lifted his creels there were two edible lobsters that had made their way into a creel, there were two juveniles caught which were thrown back and a female covered in eggs, which was also thrown back.  There were also a lot of crabs caught in the creels and we kept three of them which I took home and cooked – my first time boiling and cleaning crab!

Donald knows the waters here like the back of his hand and we found ourselves close to where the Atlantic meets the loch and a great view out over the vast expanse of this mighty ocean. To think my country lay across this vast expanse of water was humbling. Onb the way back to the pier on Bhaltos he maneuvered through a cave that was extraordinary – the colors on the rocks were vibrant and I could easily picture a tartan woven with these pinks, golds and greens. Mother nature never ceases to amaze! The small island of Pabaigh is also where Calum puts his sheep to graze for the summer – he showed me photos of taking the sheep across in boats! Motoring around this island I did spot several sheep but they had obviously scattered over the hills.

The afternoon was spent driving into Stornoway so I could stock up on food for the next few days as I was getting ready to journey to Harris.  I explored the town a bit on foot before returning to Uig and my little cottage.  It was a good night for just settling in and planning the next day’s adventures.