The Scalpay Ferry
Originally
the ferry was run by a small private company but was
taken over and run by Caledonian MacBrayne. The ferry
would run in all but the most extreme weather, sometimes
having to sail around to the north harbour to offload
its passengers. The ferry was an important aspect of
Scalpay life as the island was very much shaped by it.
Comparisons were made to the Scalpay ferry being like
a drawbridge of an old castle, in that, once the ferry
had completed it's last run for the day there was no
way on or off the island.
"Prior to the completion of the Scalpay bridge, the ferry was the only link to the Isle of Harris. This was rather inconvenient, especially in the winter, when the last ferry was around 6 p.m. most nights. Of course if it was an emergency you could always hire the ferry to do a special run but this was expensive. If you were really stuck, a local fisherman could always pick you up and drop you off the other side. It was extremely frustrating missing the last ferry, because, as you can see the distance from one side to the other was minimal. I know somebody who, in their frustration, left their car on Harris, changed into a wet suite and paddled across on a surf board. I must stress that this was EXTREMELY FOOLISH, the tides in that area are very strong and you can easily find yourself in serious trouble".
(Anonymous).
If you are interested in diving this area CLICK HERE. (Photo with permission www.hebrides.com).
