Standing outside the Church of Scotland Manse you have a great view.
In one direction you look out across Gott Bay to the Isle of Mull.
In another direction you look out towards the Rum Cuillin
Look behind you and there is our own Ben Hynish.

This morning Ben More on Mull was snow covered.
At this particular point in time the sky was bright blue
It did not matter which direction that you looked it was beautiful.

All of a sudden the sound of a plane could be heard.
The morning plane had long since arrived and departed.
This was not a day when you would expect a flight from Oban or Coll.

The plane sounded quite low.
The sound was coming from behind.
Then it was overhead and sightly to the left.
It appeared to be taking a zig-zag course over the bay.

‘G-SMMA’ belonged to the ‘Scottish Fisheries’.

‘G-SMMA’ belonged to the ‘Scottish Fisheries’.

‘G-SMMA’ belonged to the ‘Scottish Fisheries’.

It headed towards the Isle of Mull.
It then changed direction turning back on itself.
Well. Not quite. It was heading towards the Isle of Coll.
It might even have been further away over the Little Minch.

An examination of the photographs was interesting.
The plane ‘G-SMMA’ belonged to the ‘Scottish Fisheries’.
It is one of two aircraft that is used for marine surveillance.
They are referred to as Watchdog Alpha and Watchdog Bravo.
Research reveals that they are two Reims Cessna Caravan II F-406 aircraft.

Today the ferry was operating to an amended timetable.
There was nothing particularly fishy – it was for operational reasons.
The MV Clansman had first to provide a sailing from Oban to Colonsay.
(Yesterday’s weather must have resulted in the cancelation of their ferry.)

The ferry was rescheduled to arrive at Tiree at 14:35.
It arrived on time but departed slightly behind schedule at 15:03.
For a Tuesday in the winter it appeared to be reasonably well loaded.

Earlier in the afternoon the Met Office cancelled its snow alert.
We have photographic evidence that it was snowing.
It is what is known as a heavy berthing shower!

The MV Clansman then headed out to sea bound for Oban via Coll.
Much of the Isle of Mull was hidden by snow laden clouds.
The backdrop was some snow capped peaks on Mull.
What a colourful sight – a delight to behold.

This is ‘Life-on-Tiree’
On a day when we had fish for lunch.
On a when we were under fishy surveillance.
On a day when the Met Office cancelled their snow alert.
However we are not done yet with snow on an island that sees very little snow.