(New) IslayBlog.com, a blog about the Isle of Islay, Scotland
Cask Strength since 2006
Some Islay related news
It’s only a few seconds long, but a fascinating video reached my inbox this morning, courtesy of John Connolly from Port Charlotte. Out on his morning walk he spotted a mermaid on the beach next to the pier. John managed to capture a short video of the mermaid while hiding behind the pier. Shortly after the mermaid disappeared into Loch Indaal again.
Definitely a very rare sighting, both on Islay and Scotland in general. Have you ever spotted a mermaid?
Almost there. If all goes to plan the new Islay ferry perfectly named MV Isle of Islay will go into service by the end of March 2026, ie a week from writing this. It’s been a bit of a wait, but finally it’s coming to fruition. I expect there will be quite a few videos over the coming weeks and months, I hope to travel on her at least once in April. In the meantime two videos I’ve found recently. The first one is a tour around the almost completed ship, giving a fairly good overview (even though it seems to have been filmed with a camera from the 1990s):
The second is more of a slideshow about the build of the new ferry, mixed with a few short video clips. Anyone who has been following the construction will probably have already seen most if not all of it, but I think this is a decent summary:
That’s all for today, looking forward to see many more videos and pictures of the MV Isle of Islay (and hopefully soon the MV Loch Indaal as well).
Having a baking Saturday afternoon (nothing Islay related, just my normal bread baking. Two Hemp Hearts breads and one Walnut and Cashew) is a good afternoon to review and share some Islay related links I’ve found. I hope you find them interesting as well:
That’s it for this afternoon. I hope you found at least one of the links interesting, but ideally all four. Maybe let us know in the comments?
That’s enough for another year, as the vast majority of you of course spotted the Islay Gisky release was this year’s April Fools from this here blog. The German speakers among you probably spotted the names, Gibtihnnicht means as much as “doesn’t exist” and AllesErstunkenUndErlogen as much as “all made up and a lie”. Of course I wasn’t the only one trying it out, in particular on Facebook (meaning you will probably need to be logged in to see them) I noticed a few more Islay related April Fools:
What will we come up with next year?
Some fascinating news for Islay whisky and gin drinkers today: German scientist and inventor Bernd Gibtihnnicht after moving to Islay is launching a world first, a genuine fusion of whisky and gin. Not a blend, but a genuine fusion of the two drinks, creating completely new and previously unknown taste experiences.
With his unique, patented and trademarked (as well as TOP SECRET!) AllesErstunkenUndErlogen® parallel dual still Doppelkondenser technology Bernd has been able to distil a unique drink on Islay that merges yet maintains the taste profiles and characteristics of Islay whisky and Islay gin. Of course it includes various Islay grains including rye, barley and wheat, but is also infused with various rugged Islay botanicals including gorse and dune grass.
Bernd is convinced that both Islay whisky connoisseurs as well as Islay gin enthusiasts will love his innovative fusion of the two drinks. Further details about availability and where to buy the Gisky will be released through the course of the day.
It’s a rather wet October Sunday morning where I’m writing this (and rather breezy on Islay), a good time to stay in for some Islay reading. So here are a variety of links to articles and more I’ve found. I hope you’ll find something interesting:
I hope you found something of interest, please leave your thoughts in the comments.
Just last week I shared the news of the old Islay ferry MV Hebridean Isles upcoming retirement. To my understanding that can’t be pushed out, as its certificate expires in November. That could potentially create some issues as news emerged today that the replacement, the new Islay ferry MV Isle of Islay, is going to be delayed:
You can also read the Interim Update on MV Isle of Islay on the Scottish Parliament website.
Not the news anyone wanted to hear, hopefully Calmac can somehow work around this delay without significant impact to the lifeline ferry service.
An era is coming to an end. For many years the MV Hebridean Isles was one of the ferries on the Islay route, I’ve done many many crossings on her, don’t know how many. Initially it was together with the MV Isle of Arran (still in service, at times still on the Islay route), more recently with the MV Finlaggan. With the two new ferries coming into service later this year and next year this is now coming to an end.
In November the MV Hebridean Isles will be retired after 38 years in service, as reported widely:
As someone who likes to be outside during a ferry crossing if possible I will certainly miss her. While I’m not sure about the exact layout of the two new ferries I believe they will be more like the MV Finlaggan in regards to outside spaces accessible to the public, much more limited than the older ferries.
OK, I assume most or even all of you have figured out that the Islay Space Port news was this year’s April Fools. After all April Fools has a long tradition on this blog. I didn’t spot any other ones on other websites or blogs (if I missed any Islay related one please let me know) but noticed a few on social media:
I hope you enjoyed this year’s efforts, if I missed any publicly accessible Islay related ones please let me know and I’ll aim to add them to the list here. Let’s what we can come up with next year.
Some amazing news from Islay this morning: After some long and secret negotiations I can reveal that an Islay Space Port is expected to open in late 2024. Scotland has long been the prime location for the development of spaceports, now Islay is joining this effort to establish Scotland on the forefront of space exploration.
This development will create many highly qualified jobs on Islay. It is expected that Islay High School will create some specialised courses leading to space engineering degrees at Glasgow University. I understand the space port will be located on the south coast of Islay (I believe between Lagavulin and Ardbeg) and some of the Islay distilleries will contribute to the specialised rocket fuel.
What do you think? Is this an exciting and positive development for Islay? Or is this too much and will put further strain on ferry capacities?