WILD DIAMOND WATER SPORTS SHOP - 4 July

Wild Diamond have announced changes to their watersports shop at Cornaig. The shop will now be open from 10am to 6pm six days a week (closed on Sunday) and will carry a wide range of wetsuits, beachwear and watersports equipment. All Wild Diamond wind-surf,
kite-surf and sand-yacht tuition and equipment hire can now be booked through the shop by calling 07712 159205.

BUMBLEBEE WORLD - 28 June

Tiree has the unique privilege of being the only place you can see all three of the rarest Bumblebees in the UK – all ‘priority species’ in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan for Scotland. The three (the holy trinity of the bee world) are the Red-shanked Carder Bee, the Great Yellow Bumblebee and the Moss Carder Bee. The Red-shanked Carder (seen above)is found no-where else in Scotland and the Great Yellow is now restricted to certain parts of the north and west of Scotland. The Moss Carder has done something of a ‘cinderella’ act on the island, transforming itself from a commonly seen gingery colour, into a bee with a foxy chestnut thorax, lemon yellow abdomen and a jet black belly. Something of a show-off!!!

WORLD OCEAN DAY – 8 June

Our house overlooks the sea – with views towards Mull, Iona and the Treshnish Islands. We live with the sight and sound of the ocean every day so it is appropriate to mention that today we World Ocean Day.

The day was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Although not yet officially recognised by the United Nations, an increasing number of countries mark this day as an opportunity each year to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea. Events and activities are organised with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools and businesses. The oeans are important because they generate most of the oxygen we breathe, help to feed us, regulate our climate, offers a pharmacopoeia of potential medicines and provides limitless inspiration! For too long we have taken the world's ocean for granted, over harvested it and used it as dumping ground for our waste. World Ocean Day encourages us to to think about what the ocean means and what it has to offer all of us with hopes of conserving it for present and the future generations. I love living on the coast and watching the ever changing ocean and I hope that this day really catches the imagination of millions of people.

MORE POWER TO YOUR ELBOW - 23 March

We’ve had some great news recently. After three years of feasibility studies, financial models and various surveys Tiree now has the
go-ahead to build a single wind turbine. The plannning process has taken well over a year, but at a Coucil Area Committee meeting held on the island last week, it was granted planning permission.

The turbine will generate revenue for the island – estimated to exceed £5m over the next twenty-five years – and will provide an opportunity for the community to shape its own future. The income from the turbine will be distributed by the recently formed Tiree Trust, and it is expected that the growing income stream will fund community projects and new initiatives for the benefit of all islanders. An added bonus is that ‘the windiest place in Britian’ will be carbon neutral and contributing to the greater use of renewable energy in Scotland.

SHIP AHOY - 5 April

Its been lovely to see the new Pharos. She has been standing off the coast opposite our house and providing a stunning visual picture all day as the shafts of sun have caught her and highlighted her against the dark Mull hills She replaces the previous vessel of the same name built in 1993.

The Pharos X was built last year in Gdansk and has a powerful
crane, a forward helicopter flight deck and hydrographic surveying equipment. She is a service and maintenance vessel for the Northern Lighthouse Board who are responsible for all the lighthouses around the Scottish coastline. She has probably been over to the Skerryvore Lighthouse to undertake regular maintenance work now the light is automated.

OH ISLAND IN THE SUN - 12 May

A message in a bottle has been found on one of Tiree’s beaches. It was cast adrift off Cat Island in the Bahamas on 26 June 2006 and arrived on Crossapol beach last week!!!  This takes snail mail to a new level – and probably exceeds the speed sometimes achieved by Royal Mail. The message was from Crista Ryan who lives in Palm Beach, Florida, and reads “Please help us to continue our family tradition by writing to us where and when you found this message. Our tradition is to have a wonderful summer vacation cruising the Bahamas by boat, drinking fine wine and writing messages and sending them to sea in the hope that someone will find it.” Sounds like nice work if you can
get it!!!

Cat Island is the sixth largest of the Islands of the Bahamas and is said to be named after Arthur Catt, a pirate who used to make frequent visits to the island – probably to collect water but possibly to bury treasure.

BASKING AGAIN - 16 May

Yes, the basking sharks are back. Reports have been circulating for a few days that two have been seen in different locations around the island. Today, in our own bay in front on the gallery there were six lazily hoovering up the zooplankton and enjoying a scorching hot day – doing what they do best – basking. The basking shark, which is a filter feeder, is the second largest shark after the whale shark and return every year and spend the hottest part of the summer lazily swimming around the island. It is a cosmopolitan species and is found in all the world’s temperate oceans. Females can grow up to 10m in length and the largest recorded specimen, found off Canada in 1851, was 12.27m long and weighted about 19 tons.

It really means that summer is here when we see the familiar dorsal fins in the bay in front of the house.

WIND TURBINE - 20 May

We’ve had some good news on the island. The Big Lottery application that was made to fund the wind turbine, and other smaller projects, has been successful and the money has been awarded to the Tiree Trust to carry these initiatives forward. This is great news after many months of delay and disappointment. This now means that the island can move on to the next phase – purchasing the turbine. The turbine will generate electricity for the national grid and much needed finance for the island. In this rather uncertain economic climate – the ability to generate an income for the island, from a sustainable source, for the next 20 years, is a great opportunity.

The success of this application is due to the dedication of a small group of volunteers who have overcome obstacles, set-backs and delays to secure the funding. Isn’t it good to know that in this world where ‘big is beautiful’ and most of our lives are influenced, remotely, by politicians and multi-national corporations, there is still a place for small communities to do something ‘up close and personal’. Perhaps this will give encouragement to others who want to create a sustainable future for their community.