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DATE |
NEWS |
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31/07/09 |
Jupiter again
saw disruptions this morning and it was 1020 before she was able to start
her day. Prior to this the Ali Cat carried out the timetable on a
passenger only basis at 0920, after completing her own runs that is.
Saturn missed her last sailing of the day and Loch Tarbert was
unable to get in at Claonaig on her 1430 ex Lochranza. She then returned to
service at 1715. |
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29/07/09 |
Jupiter was off
service at Dunoon between 1350 and 1440 due to a technical problem, while
earlier in the morning Saturn commenced her sailings with the 0900 ex
Ardrossan. |
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27/07/09 |
More foul weather today
and Saturn was again off following her 0715 ex Brodick. She returned
to Arran with a 1730 sailing from Ardrossan.
Elsewhere Lochnevis was unable to get in at Muck on her second run of
the day. |
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26/07/09 |
Heavy weather made
Loch Tarbert fall foul this morning. She was only able to sail on the
1045 ex Lochranza and after returning to Arran it was 1430 before she was to
sail again. Saturn also suffered and she only managed to sail at
1615.
Loch Riddon's ramp was repaired and fully operational by 1000 this
morning and she was able to return to full drive-through working. |
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25/07/09 |
Isle of Cumbrae
was repaired and returned to service and Loch Riddon then came off
duty for ramp repairs this afternoon. She too returned to service from 1945
but was sailing single ended. |
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24/07/09 |
Well, after a week or
so of fun and games, life returned to normal with a few mere technical
related issues to report. Saturn missed her 1615 sailing, while
Isle of Cumbrae came off the Portavadie run at 1310. |
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23/07/09 |
Lord of the Isles
returned to service with the 1540 sailing to the Outer Isles this afternoon,
albeit with her carpets ripped up in the cafeteria. Hebridean Isles
left Oban to return south and then carried out the 1800 sailing to
Kennacraig, but from Port Askaig.
Over the next few days there will be some disruptions on the Sound of Harris
route due to low tides. See the Official CalMac website for full details. |
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22/07/09 |
Following the inward
sailing from Castlebay and Lochboisdale this morning, Hebridean Isles
carried out an extra sailing to Colonsay and Port Askaig (as used to happen
in the spring and autumn timetables of years gone by). She left Oban at 1530
and left Islay on the return sailing at 1915. |
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21/07/09 |
Isle of Mull
arrived back in Oban at 0400, having sailed through the night on the Coll -
Tiree run. Unfortunately she was too late back to avoid missing her morning
Mull runs, so Hebridean Isles stepped in and carried out the 0745 and
0950 round trips to Craignure. Isle of Mull resumed her roster with
the 1155 ex Oban which in turn allowed Hebridean Isles to venture
even further outwith her usual sphere of operations by taking the 1540
sailing to Lochboisdale and Castlebay. Lord of the Isles was able to
return to Oban this afternoon to allow repairs to continue.
Isle of Arran once again carried out an additional sailing back to
Kennacraig this evening, leaving Port Askaig at 2030. While the single ship
roster is in operation, the vessel is based at Kennacraig overnight in order
to carry out the main roster, with departures at 0700, 1300 and 1800. |
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20/07/09 |
What an eventful summer
this is turning out to be... With Lord of the Isles unserviceable in
Oban, thanks to her sprinkler system deciding to discharge its load all over
the cafeteria, more vessel switching has been taking place to cover all
routes. Her inward sailing from Coll and Tiree was carried out by
Clansman, on her way in from Lochboisdale and Barra, while traffic on
the morning sailing to Coll and Tiree was taken, somewhat late, by Isle
of Mull at 2025 after she had completed her own Mull sailings.
Islay again drew the short straw today following the return of Isle of
Arran yesterday. Hebridean Isles left this evening and made for
Colonsay with traffic diverted via Kennacraig and then carried the regular
inward sailing to Oban, albeit late. Lord of the Isles had to leave
Oban at 1710 in order to free up an overnight berth and made for Craignure
where she berthed on the south side of the pier. |
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19/07/09 |
Isle of Lewis
returned to Stornoway following her additional 0130 sailing from Ullapool
and then left again at 1430 to a rapturous send-off as she carried out the
first ever timetabled Sunday sailing out of Stornoway. As expected, there
were a number of protesters who wished to see the enforced prohibition of
travel to one and all, but the mood at the pier was one of relief as the
Isle of Lewis backed away with a blast on her horn.
Isle of Arran meanwhile finally got back to Stornoway at around 0300
this morning, unloaded traffic and then set sail light for Port Askaig,
arriving at 1640.
Following her trip to Port Askaig last night, Lord of the Isles got
back into Oban at 0200 this morning. She was then in service throughout the
course of the day, sailing to Coll and Tiree and then to Colonsay and back,
but this evening a fault in her sprinkler system led to the cafeteria being
flooded. She is consequently out of service. |
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18/07/09 |
Isle of Arran
reached Stornoway at 0815 and then carried out two return sailings to
Ullapool, leaving at 1130 and 2135, returning at 1530 and 0030. Isle of
Lewis was repaired and returned to service at 2200 with another
additional sailing, following her relief vessel across the Minch.
Hebrides also carried out an additional sailing between Uig and Tarbert
during the evening in order to clear traffic and eventually finished over 2
hours late.
With Isle of Arran away from home, Islay traffic was building up to
the point where Lord of the Isles was called upon to provide an
emergency sailing from Oban to Port Askaig at 1900. Hebridean Isles
diverted her 1800 sailing to Port Askaig in order to provide a return
sailing at 2110 (and also clear the linkspan to allow the Oban ferry to
offload her traffic). |
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17/07/09 |
It turns out that the
ramp related technical problems seen in the last couple of days were just
the tip of the iceberg (forgive the rather unfortunate cliche). While on her
1025 sailing from Ullapool to Stornoway this morning, Isle of Lewis
suffered a major breakdown in one of her engines. She completed the crossing
at a reduced speed, arriving a mere 5 minute before her scheduled second
departure time, at 1345. Traffic was unloaded and the ferry remained in port
for the rest of the day.
Given the recent announcement of the long-overdue start of Sunday sailings,
the breakdown prompted the traditionalists of Lewis to claim divine
intervention... Sweeping that aside, vessels were redeployed and provided
additional sailings to ensure that all the traffic got to its destination.
Hebrides provided additional sailings from Uig to Tarbert through the
night and further south, Isle of Arran was taken off the Islay run at
2025 in order to go north.
Elsewhere, Jupiter's starboard ramp was fixed while on Bute, the
Rothesay gangway broke down and led to delays for Argyle and Bute. |
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16/07/09 |
More ramp trouble beset
another vessel today. This time the victim was Hebridean Isles and
she finally finished just over an hour late. |
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15/07/09 |
Following the yacht
rescue yesterday off Tiree, it was Saturn's turn to act Thunderbird 1
today, responding to another yacht in trouble. This one took place during
her 1615 sailing to Brodick.
Further up the Clyde, a rare sight was noted at Dunoon today; a failure on
Jupiter's starboard side ramp saw the oldest vessel in the fleet
berthing at Dunoon the wrong way round in order to land her seldom-used port
side ramp. |
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14/07/09 |
Clansman was
called to assist a yacht in distress today. As a result she was 35 minutes
late leaving Tiree. |
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13/07/09 |
Hebrides was
delayed on her 0940 sailing from Uig by a rope around one of her propellers.
She eventually got away at about 1100 and then proceeded to run late for the
rest of the day. |
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12/07/09 |
It may be July,
supposedly the middle of summer for crying out loud, but heavy weather
returned to the north today. Saturn was the only casualty of the day
with her morning Arran runs being cancelled. Her traffic was able to be
accommodated on the Caledonian Isles which suffered no such
disruptions. |
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04/07/09 |
Following the
replacement of her liferaft, Loch Riddon was back up to her full
passenger complement today. |
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03/07/09 |
Heavy traffic was the
order of the day today, with many of the larger vessels running over an hour
late by this evening. Isle of Mull, Clansman, Hebrides
and Isle of Lewis were noted examples! |
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02/07/09 |
Loch Riddon was
back in service today, albeit with a reduced passenger capacity. It turns
out the problem was with a liferaft in the end. A few miles north, technical
problems also saw the Ali Cat miss her 0750 sailing to Dunoon and
back.
Loch Striven was again off for a while this morning, but the service
to Raasay was back on later in the day. |
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01/07/09 |
A new month and
things got off to a great start, with Loch Striven suffering ramp
problems on her 0755 sailing which was forced to return to Raasay until she
was able to resume the service at 0955.
Elsewhere, Loch Riddon was forced off service on completion of her
1545 sailing from Cumbrae Slip, leaving her larger consort to run the
service to Cumbrae by herself. As luck (or rather misfortune) would have it,
Loch Shira was also off between 1615 and 1715 so Cumbrae was not with
a ferry service between those hours.
Further north however, heavy traffic was the cause of delays, with the
Isle of Lewis completing the third of her sailings over an hour late. |
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