Ullapool Tall Ships Festival

The Ullapool Tall Ships festival was great fun. Nice to take a few 'proper' days off and, judging by how busy the village got, driving lessons would not have been too productive. The weather forecast was not good, but, although not exactly 'July' weather, it wasn't too bad. Around Friday lunchtime it was actually quite hot and, even when it did drizzle, it did nothing to dampen the festival atmosphere.
There was talk of trying to beat the world record for the most people taking part in a 'Strip the Willow' dance. About 500 people took part (pictured), some way short of the record, but, even if they had have taken the record, it would have beaten by 2000 people in Oban, just an hour later.
Perhaps it was because Loch Broom is so sheltered, but it was a little disappointing that the Tall Ships did not come into Ullapool under sail. I have to admit, I was expecting a few more ships, but the ones that did dock were very impressive. Jane and I enjoyed the hospitality of Sarah and Sandy Mackenzie, in their B&B overlooking the harbour. The first evening Sandy took us out in his boat to take a closer look at the ships. After that he got his fishing rod out and, in complete contrast to my most recent fishing experiences, caught two pollack and a mackerel within just a few minutes. Now that kind of fishing I can understand.
There was live music on the pier each night. We went the first night, where The Vatersay Boys kept the whole crowd dancing. Afterwards, it was refreshing that, when you heard the thump-thump-thump of an approaching car's sound system, it was Ceilidh music that was being belted out. There was plenty of choice for live music in the pubs and bars on Saturday night, so we passed on The Saw Doctors, but it didn't really matter who had been playing because everyone was just out to have a good time.

Parking was very much at a premium, in fact, a park & ride system was in operation, and sadistic fun was had watching people trying to squeeze into impossible gaps before giving up and driving off. Campervans are not the easiest vehicles to manoeuvre, but I hope that almost all my pupils could have done a better job of parking  than the driver of this vehicle... Why use one bay when you can take up four?!