Day 3 (28 March)
A beautiful dawn just before 7am.
Mainland at Dawn
The owner’s daughter (she does have name, but… ) told me yesterday that a walk over to the beaches on the west of the island would be worth the effort. Good advice. A beautiful beach and wonderful views of Rùm.
Rùm
I got my socks and shoes off and paddled along the beach. Released my inner child… My feet needed a wash anyway. Mind you, the warming effect of the Gulf Stream wasn’t very noticeable.
Solitude
A few interesting facts about Eigg:-
- The island has never been connected to the national electricity grid, so each house had a noisy, dirty, expensive diesel generator to produce power – the diesel arrived by ship from the mainland.
- In 2008 the islanders set up their own electricity supply grid. They generate using 4 wind turbines, PV panels, and 3 micro hydroelectric generators. They have batteries for storage and diesel generators as a fall back in case there has been no sun, wind or rain.
- Each home is allowed a maximum of 5kw electricity consumption, and has a meter to show how much is being used. People have learned not to boil the kettle and run the washing machine at the same time.
ⓒ iain taylor, 2017