Diving for scallops is not easy. On the day I visited Sconser and met father and son David and Ben Oakes as they dragged their boat up onto the shore just before the Raasay ferry came in, the effects of Hurricane Ophelia were still being felt all over Scotland. The churning water was grey and forbidding, and yet the two men had no choice but to put on their diving gear and venture out into the middle of Loch Sligachan. They had customers to please. David said it was difficult to see anything down there, and they had to find the perfect size of scallops by feel from the seabed. Working three to four days a week to fulfil orders from restaurants all over Skye, including The Three Chimneys, Loch Bay and Stein Inn, they also have online orders.
