Something For The Weekend - The Oban Times

A quartet of hardy seafarers paid a visit to region recently to test the choppy West Coast waters ahead of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Rowing Challenge. In December the Atlantic Nomads will be leaving the safety of La Gomera in the Canary Islands in their 28ft ocean rowing boat 'Doris' and rowing unsupported 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to Antigua in the Caribbean. Known as 'The Worlds Toughest Row', the challenge will strip the team of all the comforts of modern life and test every part of their mental and physical resilience. Fiona caught up with the team at Dunstaffnage Marina following their recent training camp and here's what crew member Euan Fraser had to say about the epic adventure.

Fiona caught up with Barcaldine-based psychologist Marion Elkin-Greener to find out how the pandemic had affected our mental health and what can be done to help. Marion is best known for her Oban FM slot Mental Health Musings by Mer which began in December 2019. Following a break during lockdown Marion is back on our airwaves with a new day and some new ideas. As well as the radio show the mother of three talks about plans for podcasts, reaching out through social media, setting up her own business and getting rid of the stigma surrounding mental health issues in both adults and children once and for all.

The Something For The Weekend Team will soon be back recording their regular podcasts – its always busy here at the Oban times at this time of year and is difficult to get the team together for a recording session. As we approach the end of our Summer Specials we thought we would bring you something that was done earlier this year but we never managed to broadcast in full. Fiona caught up with Lorn Healthy Options fitness advisor Rob Graham to find out a wee bit more about the Oban-based community run charity and what they had been doing to help people with long and short term health issues during lockdown and beyond. During the interview Rob talks about the charity itself, his inspirational Messages from Mull, the importance of looking after both our physical and mental health, and how the community can put something back into the service. Lets have a listen.

- The something for the Weekend Team get even busier than usual during the summer – It not that there is nothing to podcast about  far from it – but it’s  its difficult to get the whole gang together even from their remote locations to record the weekly show.  However we don’t stand idle and have managed to record a few podcasts in advance.  This week –  A new project is being launched by Oban Men's Shed to restore a little piece of maritime history. Kathie has been  chatting to the project's John McAllister and Colin Turtle to find out how they plan, with the help of willing hands and council funding, to restore clinker boat the Mary Jane and get her back on the water. Built about 90 years ago on Easdale, and registered as a small craft in World War Two, this special lady is badly in need of some tender loving care - to become seaworthy once again.

The something for the Weekend Team have decided to take a wee break over the summer  to enjoy the rain/midges/sun/downpours please delete as appropriate – It not that there is nothing to podcast about  far from it – but it’s a busy time with people off on holiday and its difficult to get the whole gang together even from their remote locations to record the weekly show.    That’s not to say they havn’t been busy and recorded a few things in advance –    This week's podcast takes you on a Calmac ferry then a Basking Shark Scotland rib boat as Kathie and fellow open water swimmers Jeanette Sheldrick and Catriona Petit chat with Lorna Evans, one of the founders of a new charity called Seaful whose mission is to encourage more people to get out on the ocean, fall in love with it and keep it safe. Also on the journey was Seaful's other founder Cal Major, a world-record stand-up paddleboarder currently working her way around the wild Scottish coast while her partner James Appleton captures it all on camera for a documentary.

A Summer Special  Here at the Something for the weekend studios we do like to have lots of different inserts bringing you audio of things that normally you would only get to read about.    The something for the Weekend Team have decided to take a wee break over the summer – it’s a busy time with people off on holiday and its difficult to get the whole gang together  but Kathie has been down to the Bridge over the Atlantic to catch up with Seil crofter DJ MacDougall who is picking up his pipes to raise £1,000 for charity.  On August 28 he will be marching five miles, while playing the pipes, all the way from the Oban side of the Bridge Over The Atlantic down to the seafront at Ellenabeich.  Funds raised are for Royal British Legion Scotland's Easdale Branch. Kathie caught up with him.

The something for the Weekend Team have decided to take a wee break over the summer – It not that there is nothing to podcast about  far from it – but it’s a busy time with people off on holiday and covering lots of different things and its difficult to get the whole gang together even from their remote locations to record the weekly show. That’s not to say the havn’t been busy and recorded a few things in advance – This week after months of being starved of entertainment and live music, Kathie could hardly contain herself when The Camans frontman Craig McIntyre got in touch to invite her along to the band's first official post-lockdown gig at Inverrary George Hotel. Here's a taste of how the night went and also some of the music. https://youtu.be/pyyE1m5uEZs

This week the team totally blindside Ellis by sending him a fake running order which includes a nightmare of an intro full of made up Scottish words for him to fall over.   Yes it's the Butcher boy's final podcast before he escapes to take up a new role in the Lake District and Steevie, Fiona and Kathie have been working away in the background to make it a memorable one. T  here's contribution from some of Ellis's other colleagues, a guest appearance by the legendary Speedo Mick and a real Scottish Word of the Week tester from Lesley Duncan.   There's also Ellis's Best Bits. Ellis you are.......... simply the best. Goodbye, good luck adios and auf auf wiedersehen from all your pals at the Oban Times.

Ellis is running late for this week's podcast while Oban 'Gym Guy' Innes Hughes is just running. South Yorkshire's Jim Morton is taking things at a slightly easier pace and takes a break from his round-the-coast odyssey to tell us all about it and songstress Dot Allison provides this week's music, taking inspiration from the wildlife around her Hebridean Cottage. Fiona, Kathie and Steevie are all present and correct and Lesley Duncan has another mind boggling Scottish Word of the Week.

With Kathie away to Yorkshire, it's up to Steevie, Fiona and Ellis to hold the fort at The Oban Times' Something For The Weekend podcast. Up first is David Glennie of the Scottish Slate Islands Heritage Trust about the reopening of the Tardis-like museum at Ellenabeich and why it needs both visitors and volunteers. Plus in this week's music segment, there's some relaxing tinkling of the ivories by talented local pianist Marek Kochmanski who usually does his stuff at the Bridge Cafe on every last Saturday in the month. There's also an exclusive interview with the lost walkers on Jura who recount their epic rescue which saw them set off on a Thursday but not make it back until Saturday night! The show ends with this week's Scottish Word of the Week from Lesley Duncan, but can you guess what it means...because we couldn't!