Knoydart, November 2017

Knoydart is a peninsula in the Lochaber district on the West coast of the Scottish Highlands. Situated between Loch Nevis and Loch Hourn, the peninsula comprises approximately 55,000 acres which today is divided up amongst a number of landowners, with the largest area managed by the Knoydart Foundation.

Knoydart is cut off from the UK mainland road network, thus meaning access can only be made either by boat or by foot. The rugged and remote landscape is one of the primary attractions of the area; and with four munros and numerous corbetts within the Knoydart boundary, hillwalkers flock from far and wide to make their ascents.

Inverie is the main settlement area and is home to over half of the full time residents (currently around 120). The village holds the majority of local amenities, including the Primary School, Post Office, Community Shops, Knoydart Pottery & Tearoom and The Old Forge pub; and is where the pier is located for boat access to and from the peninsula.

Cromarty Firth - 'Deep Energy', October 2017

Constructed in 2013, the Deep Energy is one of the largest pipelay vessels ever built.

She has the capacity to install rigid pipe, flexible pipe and umbilicals in water depths up to 3,000 m via the reel-lay method.

With a fast transit speed of 19.5 knots, high product storage capacity and an abandonment and recovery system rated to 500 Te, she can operate on North Sea and on Intercontinental projects.

Here she is spooling on pipe at Technip's Evanston Spool Base. The Cromarty road crossing can clearly be seen in the background.

Yankee Pier - Dalmore, October 2017

During WW1 the American Navy took over Dalmore Distillery and used it as a mine base.

The so-called ‘Yankee Pier’ still juts out into the firth. In the 1930s the RAF’s presence grew.

Alness became a training base for flying boats. In 1938 228 Squadron with Saro Londons and Stranraers came to the firth from Pembroke Dock and this was followed in October 1939 by 210 Squadron of Sunderlands and Catalina Flying boats.

By 1941 4C OUT was fully established at Alness with the officers based at Dalmore House and the ’tech site’ and repair and maintenance area at Alness Point becoming a very busy strategic point for training and North Sea surveillance. Short Sunderlands had a crew of 13 and by 1942 the OUT was producing 22 trained crews a month.

Yankee Pier looking toward Nigg Energy Port.

BW Catcher - October 2017

In mid-October the brand new FPSO vessel BW Catcher entered Cromarty Firth to dock at Nigg Energy Port with the assistance of Global Group before deployment to the North Sea.

Upon arrival in the North Sea, BW Catcher will start a seven-year fixed term contract, with extension options of up to 18 years, with Premier Oil.

Based on a field life of 10 years, the contract value is USD 2.3 billion including FPSO charter rate and opex, the company said.

“The BW Catcher has been completed on time and within budget, and we are especially pleased with the good HSE performance during the construction project. We have worked over 11 million man hours without a lost time injury and in total around 19 million man hours. The FPSO is now underway to the North Sea for hook-up at the Catcher field, and with first oil scheduled later this year,” said Carl K. Arnet, the CEO of BW Offshore.

BW Catcher has an oil storage capacity of 650,000 barrels and a processing capacity of 60,000 barrels per day. The FPSO has a design life of 20 years of uninterrupted operations, and will be moored using a submerged turret production system.

Nigg Energy Port is owned and operated by the Global Energy Group.

CATCHER is 241m length overall and has a beam of 50m. Her gross tonnage is 91586 tons

Oil rigs of the Cromarty Firth - October 2017

Looking over the Cromarty Firth which has in the past had 17 rigs stacked.

These rigs need periodic surveys and they come in and get work done – major maintenance or to install client-specific equipment top-side – before going back out to drill.

There are six ‘hot-stacked’ which are on ‘warm standby’, ready to go with 60 onboard, and another six ‘cold-stacked’, empty.

According to the BBC in August 2017 two men boarded a cold stacked rig:

'The pair, who describe themselves as "urban explorers", took a dinghy to the Ocean Princess, one of several offshore structures in the Cromarty Firth.

Police Scotland said it was aware of the incident and has begun an investigation.

The platform's owner, Diamond Offshore, confirmed an incident took place.

The Cromarty Firth Port Authority has declined to comment.

The incident is understood to have happened at the weekend and the men were thought to have spent a night onboard.'

Ben Nevis - October 2017

Corpach is a large village north of Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands. The canal lock at Corpach Basin on Loch Linnhe, east of the narrows leading to Loch Eil, is the western sea entrance of the Caledonian Canal.

Dominating the scene is the highest mountain in Scotland, Ben Nevis at 4411 feet above sea level with Fort William to the right of the shot.

Cromarty - October 2017

Cromarty is a seaport on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, 5 miles seaward from Invergordon on the opposite coast. Until 1890 it was the county town of the former county of Cromartyshire.

The town grew around its port, formerly used by ferries, to export locally-grown hemp fibre, and by trawlers trawling for herrings. The port was a British naval base during the First World War and HMS Natal blew up close by on 30 December 1915 with heavy loss of life.

The port was home to Britain's smallest vehicle ferry, the Cromarty Rose, running across the Firth to Nigg. The entrance to the Cromarty Firth is guarded by the Souters, two large cliffs that can be seen for many miles away and were previously fortified.

Muirtown Basin, Inverness - October 2017

Muirtown Basin is a large port area on the Caledonian Canal just above the first (sea) Lock where the Caledonian Canal meets the Beauly Firth.

This area houses a small marina and is popular for waterspouts with local sea scouts being based nearby.

The Caledonian Canal begins at Clachnaharry, connecting to the Beauly Firth via a sea lock. The Far North Railway Line also passes through, crossing the canal on a swing bridge. Clachnaharry used to have a railway station. This station opened in 1869 on the Inverness and Ross-shire Railway, and was the first stop after leaving Inverness, but closed in 1913.

Muirton Locks - Inverness, September 2017

An expansion of the Caledonian Canal close to its northeastern termination, the Muirtown Basin lies between Clachnaharry and Muirtown a mile northwest of Inverness city centre.

Planned in the early 19th century as a second harbour for the city by the canal's engineer Thomas Telford, it could not cope with the size of ships which were soon in use and thus never fulfilled its potential. It now serves as a marina. Immediately to the south of the basin are the Muirtown Locks, a flight of four locks on the Caledonian Canal at Muirton. The Muirtown Swing Bridge crosses the canal immediately to the north.