Splendid isolation or is it? Family reveal there’s no escaping pandemic even when locking down on deserted island

If you could choose where to live during a global pandemic, being the only residents on a picturesque island would surely be near the top of the list.

For Ian McWhinney and his family, that scenario is a reality. But even they haven’t escaped the far-reaching clutches of Covid, with their sources of income taking a hammering even before the UK went into lockdown.

Ian, wife Jess and their three children, 14-year-old Iona, Isla, 11, and five-year-old Finlay, live on Dry Island, a serene four-acre stretch of land accessible by footbridge and boat off Gairloch on the north-west coast. The tiny but beautiful island has been in Ian’s family for hundreds of years, and the 53-year-old continues to fish there, just like generations of his ancestors. But with most of his sales coming from the European market, that part of his business has dried up.

“Much of my fish goes to France, Italy and Spain, and they all closed down long before we did, so I was affected from February,” he explained. “The overseas market might pick up around Christmas, which is traditionally a good time for fishing, but shellfish is relatively expensive and people are watching their pennies just now, so I can’t be sure.

“Because the Highlands weren’t badly affected by the pandemic, it all took on a surreal feeling. The children were happy being outside in the beautiful weather, going swimming and out in the canoes or going for walks. We’re lucky we have room to roam here and they also knuckled down to home schooling. They had a good time of it, but I was stressed about money.”

Unlike his forefathers, Ian doesn’t rely entirely on fishing to make a living. The family has three holiday homes on the island which they rent out. And he also operates shellfish safari boat trips, where he takes small groups out to catch a supper of langoustines, crabs and lobsters.

“With declining stocks of fish, I decided to diversify,” Ian said. “I’ve been doing the shellfish safaris for about 15 years now and I believe it’s a unique trip in Scotland. People like to know where their food comes from nowadays, and in our case it’s not food miles, it’s food metres. I’ll take them out for 90 minutes and explain to them what we do, and they’ll also get the chance to take a shelfie with the catch!

“Jess also has a little shop at Gairloch selling our fish, which cuts out the middle man. And she does local markets as well.”

The lifting of lockdown measures during the summer saw a rush of interest in the family’s holiday homes, and Ian hopes the pandemic will make people appreciate what is on their doorstep more than they might have done before coronavirus. “I think coming to an island after everything that’s gone on becomes even more attractive,” Ian said. “Historically, islands were used as quarantines and maybe there’s an element of getting away from it now.

“Back in July and August, we were getting 30 or 40 messages per day from people inquiring about bookings. It’s a glib thing to say, but Scotland is a fantastic little country with a lot going for it, so I hope after all of this people will learn to reconnect with the country we have here. We have world-class produce, yet we’re best known for haggis and deep-fried Mars bars.

“I think we have the right level of remoteness here for people. We’re just a five-minute walk over the bridge from the car park. It’s about getting away and reconnecting with the wilderness, but it’s relatively easy to get here.”

While life remains comparatively simple on Dry Island, it has changed from its early days. “It was originally built to be a fish-curing station,” Ian explained. “Once cured, the ships took the fish all over Europe. As a ballast, the ships took back soil, so all the soil on the island comes from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Russia.”

Ian’s two brothers relocated to Portree and Switzerland but, apart from a four-year fishing course at college on Stornoway, he has spent his life on Dry Island, and would like that opportunity to be there for his three children when they grow up, if they want it.

“Our biggest export here is young people,” said Ian, who met Jess on a blind date 17 years ago. Originally from Oxford, she was working as a nurse in Broadford, where he would fish. “All I can offer them is roots here and if they want to go and do something else, I’ll support them. What I’d like them to have at the very least is the opportunity to stay here if they want to stay here. My middle daughter, Isla, says she wants to carry on fishing and she has a natural talent for doing it.

“Most jobs here are seasonal and pretty poorly paid. For six months a year you have to work very hard, but the trade-off is living in a beautiful part of the world with lots of different things going for it.”

Publicity is also key to the island’s success and survival. Ian made headlines 10 years ago when he renamed the island Islonia and, with tongue firmly in cheek, declared independence from the UK. In the years since, the family has featured on TV documentaries and appear tonight on Channel 5’s City Life To Country Life.

“I suppose it’s an interesting package for people,” Ian added. “We have the heritage, the culture, Gaelic, the tourist aspect and the shellfish safari. Plus, there aren’t many fishermen left these days either. There used to be tens of thousands in Scotland and now there are maybe 3,000 to 4,000 of us. We live in a beautiful part of the world, just across the Bridge Over The Atlantic footbridge. Now, more than ever, people are interested in a different way of life.”

City Life To Country Life, Channel 5, tonight, 7pm