TV crew film the action as wild weather threatens to ruin a couple’s wedding day in North Uist

Stormy weather forecasts threaten to ruin a couple’s wedding day as they prepare for their nuptials in North Uist in this week’s episode of Island Crossings, the behind-the-scenes TV show about CalMac.

Sailings are on cancellation alert as ferries across the Western Isles scuttle for shelter with strong winds and downpours moving in from the Atlantic.

But Lorna Clarke needs to travel from Harris to North Uist to perform a wedding ceremony.

Meanwhile, the majority of the wedding party and guests are booked to travel from Skye to Lochmaddy on the MV Hebrides. The forecast is bad. Will the ship sail?

Back at HQ in Gourock, CalMac’s chief executive Robbie Drummond and his disruption management team have called a crisis meeting to discuss the dire state of the network, as yet another of their large passenger ferries, the beleaguered MV Hebridean Isles, has broken down, leaving the network in real difficulty.

The knock-on effect across the network could be catastrophic as engineers work hard to try to find and fix the problem before the busy Easter weekend. (CalMac didn’t know it during filming but, many months later, the Heb Isles steering fault still hasn’t been fixed).

Captain Andy Gill explains the dry dock delay affecting one of Arran’s main vessels beyond its planned two-week overhaul schedule, causing havoc with the rest of the network.

Major issues with both the MV Caledonian Isles' ageing engines have been discovered, and specialist contractors have been brought in to clear debris which could potentially have caused them to explode while in service.

On Islay, the programme features Bunnahabhain, one of the island’s nine whisky distilleries, on a day when they are loading casks onto a lorry bound for their bottling plant in East Kilbride.

Assistant distillery manager Torin Currie explains the amount of freight required to keep the distillery trading, how much they rely on CalMac ferries, and how only having one ferry can have a detrimental effect on business.

Islay's two ports, Askaig and Ellen, are busy every day. Port assistant Terry and the teams deal with tons of whisky trade freight as well as business vehicles, tourists and islanders as they struggle daily to share the reduced ferry service.

Queuing traffic builds up at both ports as vehicles without bookings try to make it onto the single service being supplied by the MV Finlaggan.

On board, retail and catering staff work tirelessly to keep up with the ever-increasing demand from islanders and tourists.

Apprentice retail trainee Aleks, who has been in the job for six months, and senior catering steward John McKinlay, a CalMac veteran of many years, star in the show as they serves regular passengers and greet new visitors to the island.

Island Crossings airs on the BBC Scotland channel at 9pm on Sunday.

TV crew film the action as wild weather threatens to ruin a couple’s wedding day in North Uist

2 September 2023