This winter has turned into a very windy if not stormy affair. A fortnight ago, we suffered gusts in excess of 90 mph, which caused some damage. 'Ordinary' gales have punctuated the time since, churning up the seas between the island and the mainland and leading to frequent cancellations of the ferry service. This week saw nearly three days without a ferry, leading to scenes like this in the supermarket.
On other routes, the vessels concerned have suffered technical breakdowns or were away for their annual refit.
The breakdowns can sometimes be traced back to the age of the boat; I think the eldest ship is 34 years old. You'd think that these would be replaced as time goes on, but no such plans appear to exist. Worse than that, two ferries that should have been in service 4 years ago are still in the shipyard, being built. Problems of a political, business or technical nature have led to that.
In the coming week, a major storm is pencilled in for Wednesday. The forecast has only just about moved within the 5-day timeframe for reliability, so we'll see if the 90+ mph gusts materialise. Hopefully, they don't.
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