Category: Islay News

Some Islay related news

Swimming from Islay to Ireland

Islay EventsI’ve heard of various ways to get across the North Channel from Islay to Ireland (or vice versa). By plane. By boat (mainly RIB). By Laser sailing dinghy. By kayak. By stand up paddle board. I don’t think I’ve heard of swimming before. That might be about to change:

I don’t know more than is mentioned in the blog post New Swimspiration, The Celtic Quadrant (and the links posted there) I came across today. Of the four swims included in the quadrant one is the following:

The Oa Channel Swim, a 45 km 6-person relay between the Isle of Islay and Ireland in 11°C to 13°C water at £200 per swimmer with a window between 15–20 July 2017 with an estimated time of 18+ hours for crossing.

Further links:

Certainly sounds like quite a challenge to me…

Vote for Islay High at FilmG 2017

Islay NewsI’ve lost count how many times a team from Islay High School / Àrd-sgoil Ìle has submitted an entry to the annual FilmG (GD/EN) competition, it’s certainly been many times. It’s an annual event where young people write, film and edit a short film in Gaelic (hence the G in the name). This year’s entry is called ‘Air Splaoid’ and many will recognise events portrait in the movie:

For those who (like me) don’t have the Gaelic, here’s the English description:

Five school friends are all packed ready to go to FilmG Awards in Glasgow when they discover the ferry’s cancelled. They set off on a trip to find alternative means of transport to the mainland and some funny things happen on the way.

But now to the important part, as already mentioned you need to vote for Islay High in the People’s Choice Vote. As of Saturday the 7th of Jan the entry was in the top 20! Now make sure it wins:

You can do this on the two pages for their submission, Air Splaoid GD and Air Splaoid EN. They are both for the same film, just the text on the page is in Gaelic and English respectively. Click on the yellow ‘Vote’ button and you’re done. You can vote once a day, voting is open until February. Hopefully we will see Islay High at the awards ceremony in Glasgow on 17/February.

A New.IslayBlog.com for Christmas

Islay NewsWell then, there we are, here is my Christmas present for you, a new.islayblog.com for your perusal. After 10 years of blogging ‘manually’ on www.islayblog.com I’ve decided to move on to a new blog with a real CMS. With my recovery from my heart surgery progressing well I thought it was finally time for something new here as well.

The header remains the same (well, OK, I had to tweak it slightly to fit in here), it’s still the familiar view of the Loch Indaal lighthouse with the Paps of Jura in the distance, one of my favourite views on Islay. The content of the blog will largely remain the same as well, as will the categories. I’m going to retire at least one of them though, with the Islay Pictures Photoblog going strong I’ve decided to retire the Friday Islay Picture. I’m undecided on the Islay blogging roundup, time permitting I might revive that one. In a way I’m still fond of the idea. Apart from that I’m going to blog about essentially the same as before, anything Islay (or Jura, Colonsay, Gigha and may be even Kintyre) related I come across. Videos, pictures, news, stories, fun things, events, businesses, short snippets, longer texts, links, updates and whatever else crosses my path.

I hope you will join me here on the new blog if you were a reader of the old blog and I hope to may be gain a few new readers as well. I’m keen to make it a dialog as well, the comments are open for everyone, so don’t be shy and make your voice heard (within reason of course, you’ll be in my house after all).

That’s all for now, enjoy the new blog. Oh, and if everything goes to plan I’ll have another Christmas present for you later today. Watch this blog…