Cal mac staff to the rescue

Shipping operator Cal Mac came to the rescue of a couple desperate to get to the mainland for Christmas before stormy weather cancelled sailings.

The pair suffered car problems and thought they had lost their chance to catch the last guaranteed passenger sailing out of Lewis yesterday.

The male and female - who were too vexed to give their names due to what they said was a “very stressful situation” - explained their plight to staff at Cal Mac’s ticket office in Stornoway just as the ship was due to depart.

But Capt Lewis Mackenzie delayed the ferry while Cal Mac shore staff rushed out with a battery charger to give the broken down vehicle a jump start.

It was enough to drive the car and its relieved occupants down the ferry ramp to be among the last people to leave the island before Storm Barbara arrived.

No ferry sailings for the Western Isles operated today.

Plane services are cancelled or badly disrupted.

Cal Mac staff to the rescue

23 December 2016