After a winter of 'to-ing and fro-ing' staff and dog made permanent landfall on the island on 8th March when a brief break in an unsettled spell of weather meant a mad dash to launch the boat and go for it!
I did a quick supermarket sweep on the Thursday night, hoping my memory of what was still in the island store cupboard was correct (and it hadn’t been eaten by voles!) before getting up at the crack of dawn on the 8th with barely a breath of wind to be felt
Derek and I launched the boat and we were landed on Ramsey by 8am, just in time for breakfast! The past week has flown by in a blur of cleaning and tidying as we get the place ready for opening on April 1st. It’s a good job we got back when we did as the weather has been very unsettled again since but it looks as though a much needed calmer spell is on the way to allow us to a) plot where our chough are nesting b) get some much needed harbour repair work in and c) try and find some spring migrants! (not even a wheatear as of today…)
I’ve not totted up the rainfall totals yet from each winter visit but, judging by the copious amount of water in the centre of the island (and the collapsed roof in one of the volunteers bedrooms!), it’s been one of the wettest on record.
Well that’s a whistle stop account of week 1 – more to follow.
If you would like to come and pay us a visit, boats start running (weather permitting) on April 1st. Contact our boat operator Thousand Islands Expeditions on 01437 721721 to book.
Just about enough room to squeeze Dewi in after shopping!
The harbour on arrival - not too bad, but not the place to be hanging around....
So dump all the gear and get out of there!
The official pond is in the background but this new 'temporary' pond has sprung up over winter - a scene repeated across the island
Typical scene all week of rough, storm driven seas
Everything came to a halt on Saturday to celebrate yet another Wales Grand Slam watched from an island! (that's 4 now! Grand slams, not islands...that's 2!)