So.....

What could possibly go wrong. The closing words of my last post were still echoing when I opened an email from Calmac. Our ferry onto South Uist has been cancelled up to and including the day before we are due to sail. This would mean that our journey would be the first scheduled crossing for the ferry after an extended time covering a different route. The return to normal duty is dependent on the repair or replacement of other, currently unavailabe vessels. If you have been following the woes of Calmac's ferry services to the islands, your expectations that this crossing would run as planned may be on the low side.

A few days later, in what eventually turned out to be a computer error, our second ferry was rescheduled 10 times in the space of an hour, moving sequentially from the morning of the first day's cycle to the evening of the third and final day. It is fair to say our confidence in the logistics of the trip had hit rock bottom.

Some serious thinking and weighing up options was needed. Some of the costs were locked in but the majority could be refunded at this stage. The prospect of not getting onto the islands or getting stuck on the wrong island and being unable to complete the route are all too real. Cutting to the chase, cycling the Outer Hebridean Way has been returned to the bucket list for another time. The bidding process for a new ferry to serve the Outer Hebrides is underway so maybe in 10 years or so......Read more