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 Main
Crossings
Tayinloan - Gigha
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Gigha |
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Crossing Time:
20 Minutes |
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Regular Ship:
Loch
Ranza |
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ROUTE TIMELINE: |
Ships to Serve:
Pre 1979: Islay ferry - on passage
to Port Ellen
1979 - 1991:
Bruernish
1992 - Present:
Loch
Ranza
Additional Ships:
Various members of
the Island Class
and Loch Class
ferries on relief duties |
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Terminal Facilities: |
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Gigha: Simple concrete slipway located
close to the island's main village. The ferry berths close by when not in
service.
Tayinloan:
Slipway and pier accessed by a short lane from the car park and queuing
area. Traffic is directed forward by red/green lights operated from the
ferry slip.
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Route History: |
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Prior to 1979 the tiny island of Gigha was served by the Islay ferry which
called in while crossing to and from Port Ellen. From 1974 the Pioneer was
in charge of the route and cargo bound for Gigha was offloaded by means
of her cranes located just aft of the funnels. She was only to remain on
this duty until 1979 though, when she was replaced by the vessel built 4
years before her and intended for the same route. When the Iona took
over from the smaller and shallower-draughted Pioneer in 1979 this
call at Gigha was no longer possible. A temporary solution had to be found
in order to get provisions and goods to the islanders. At that time,
Gigha was one of the few islands not to have a dedicated car ferry
service, and CalMac were in the position to be able to offer this
service. |
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A temporary solution saw the Island Class vessel Bruernish commence
sailings to a newly constructed slipway on the island. Her mainland base
was initially the main Islay ferry terminal at Kennacraig, an hour's
sail away in West Loch Tarbert. This did not last long however, and a
new permanent terminal was built at Tayinloan on the western side of
Kintyre. This meant the passage time was reduced to just 20 minutes and
an hourly service could be operated, with up to 6 cars being conveyed on
each sailing.
After several years leading a somewhat nomadic lifestyle involving
relief stints on a variety of routes, covering for her sisters, the
Bruernish finally became assigned to a permanent role and she settled
into her new routine very well. |
Pioneer returning from Islay and Gigha
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For over a decade the Bruernish coped valiantly during her time serving
Gigha. The only problem associated with her was the fact that vehicles
were required to reverse aboard. On many other routes in the network
this requirement was mostly eradicated by the end of the 1980s.
Islanders were naturally lobbying for their own drive-through ferry,
however it was to be 1992 before the company granted the island its
wish. |
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Bruernish, regular ferry 1979 - 1992 |
In 1991 it was announced that two new Loch Class ferries were under
construction. One was bound for Iona, which at that time was still crying
out for a larger vessel than the Morvern, while the second one was destined
to take over the Claonaig - Lochranza service. It was this action that
allowed the Loch Ranza to be transferred a short distance west (well, as the
crow flies anyway...) The double-ended vessel arrived in September 1992,
while Bruernish was away having her overhaul, so it was the Rhum that
actually handed over to the Loch Ranza. No longer were islanders required to
demonstrate their skills in reversing down the slipway and up onto the car
deck of the ferry. Under normal operating circumstances the Loch Ranza would
use her stern ramp at Tayinloan and allow vehicles to drive off via the bow
ramp at Gigha. |
Loch Ranza sitting at Tayinloan |
Loch Ranza in the sound of Gigha |
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Gigha has been served reliably by the Loch Ranza since September 1992 when
she arrived from her previous duties in the Kilbrannan Sound. She has a
relatively lifestyle, running an hourly timetable between Kintyre and
the island, however the weather can cause considerable disruption to her
daily routine. For example during the winter of 2006/07 storms dredged
up lots of sand, seaweed and other debris in the Sound of Gigha and
promptly deposited it on Tayinloan slipway. Consequently, and rather
predictably, the Loch Ranza with her Voith units was unable to get in
and unload traffic for a good portion of December 2006 and January 2007.
On such occasions an emergency timetable was cobbled together and once
again the Gigha service returned to the state it started in; with the
vessel heading off up West Loch Tarbert to Kennacraig. Even then
however, vehicles were not necessarily able to be landed as the linkspan
was not always at a suitable height, thanks to the tide. |
Loch Ranza leaving Tayinloan with Jura behind
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Loch Ranza hitting the swell in the Sound of
Gigha |
Loch Ranza at the linkspan at Kennacraig |
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Under MCA passenger certificate conditions, while running to and from
Kennacraig the Loch Ranza was restricted to carrying just 12 passengers on
each sailing. The situation required a second vessel and the Loch Linnhe was
called in to provide additional sailings so that there were simultaneous
departures from each terminal. The situation was remedied in January and
there seemed to be no further problems.
Things seem to have settled down on the Gigha run since the winter
months. There was a further spell of disruption which required the
deployment of Raasay on the route as she had a shallow enough draught to get
in to Tayinloan. The Loch Tarbert was also called in to provide relief
capacity while the regular ship was away on overhaul, but the Loch Ranza has
once again been in charge. The route itself is one that has always been
fairly lightly loaded as it is not really on the tourist track. With the odd
exception in the height of the summer, Loch Ranza is rarely stretched in
terms of capacity. |
 Images from Ships of CalMac
Collection |
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SoC
Links |
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To see a more detailed description of the islands and photos, visit
Undiscovered Scotland and click on a place. |
Webmaster: shipsofcalmac @ hotmail.co.uk