The sun was intensely bright again this morning and this was a very good sign for the rest of the day. As we crossed the Upper Firth the Saturn came into view further down. At first she appeared not to be moving, but as we approached Dunoon pier she came up and followed us in from behind, lying off until the linkspan was vacated.

Another bright morning on the Clyde

Dave took the car off and parked up in the nearby car park while Alan went down the passenger gangway and went onto the nearby new linkspan (installed in spring and still not used or a regular service) to watch the changeover from end-on. From this viewpoint he was able to get pictures of the two streakers together at Dunoon - Juno preparing to leave for Rothesay and Saturn dressed overall to take up Dunoon service for the next week.

No sooner was the older ship off the berth and the Saturn was right in there, taking her place on the Gourock roster. Al made his way off the new structure and tried to find where Dave had parked the car - unsuccessfully! One phone call later and the two met up, ready to go to Portavadie and the Isle of Cumbrae.

The journey over to Portavadie normally takes an hour or so but, despite it being relatively early for most people on a Sunday morning, the world and his wife seemed to be out and about in slow cars. As a result we were delayed considerably on the single track road round the head of Loch Striven to the Colintraive road. We eventually got to Portavadie as the Isle of Cumbrae was making her way across Loch Fyne to Tarbert, at about 1000. With three quarters of an hour to kill Al took the opportunity to clear his memory card and download its contents onto the laptop.

As the Isle of Cumbrae approached from Tarbert at 1040 we assumed our positions, Dave on the slipway and Al on the beach (almost getting wet feet at the same time)

The half dozen or so cars came off the Tarbert ferry and the crew called Dave forwards and he made his way down the slipway and onto the car deck. As the other traffic followed suit Al made his way rather rapidly down and onto the ramp, seconds before it was raised and we set sail for Kintyre. 

As we left the slipway and crossed to the entrance of the bay we left the shelter of the headland and passed out into Loch Fyne, exposed to a cool breeze - actually it was a b****y cold breeze when the wind speed picked up!

Tarbert gradually got closer and closer and shortly after 1110 this morning we disembarked in the village that only a few days ago left Al with that empty feeling in the stomach - needless to say we didn't give that slow cafe a second chance. Instead we split up once more, with Al staying around the slipway for photos and Dave heading off down towards the main pier in the mouth of East Loch Tarbert.

The Isle of Cumbrae was on Kintyre for only three or four minutes before setting off back to the eastern side of Loch Fyne once more. As she headed off out, we made our way down to Tayinloan, as we did last Monday.

This morning's drive down Kintyre to Tayinloan was far quicker than that of the other day - no roadworks this time and certainly no sheep blocking the road! We made it to Tayinloan as Loch Ranza arrived on the mainland and were allowed to board with no delay. We took the 1200 sailing over to Gigha in the baking sun with not a cloud to be seen. About half way across one of the hatches was opened and a crew member disappeared down into the engine room below the car deck. Seconds later we were deafened by the sounds of a generator and pump starting up. A steady trickle of water appeared from an outlet and discharged into the crystal clear Sound of Gigha. Some passengers joked amongst themselves that the ferry was taking on water and this was an attempt to pump it out...

1220 saw us driving off the Loch Ranza on Gigha again. We went round to the other side of the bay and made use of the jetty that stuck out from a nearby cafe. The ship set off shortly afterwards, passing a yacht which must surely be a contender for the 'daftest name' award - the Flapjack.

Our reason for returning to this sleepy little island was the Hebridean Isles and the Isle of Arran, both of which were due to pass the northern end of the isle near the old pier in the next couple of hours. We had missed them passing a few days ago and decided that since the weather was, to say the least nice, we decided to come back for a second attempt. As we left the ferry to make its way slowly back over to the mainland there was still half an hour before the Hebridean Isles was due to leave Kennacraig - so there was plenty of time to allow for a bit of through-the-stomach thinking and we pulled in at this little burger van thing. From the looks of it when we got there it was seldom used except by locals, and the kids of the bloke who runs it. Al had what he claimed was a very tasty burger and chips while Dave chanced a chicken burger, which tasted like anything but chicken, and gave up on food after one bite having realised that hunger would be preferable.

Having 'fed' himself and then downed a whole chilled bottle of Pepsi, Dave started the car and, with Alan still munching we made our way north to the old pier. The Hebridean Isles was visible in the distance. She was nearing the mouth of West Loch Tarbert on her way down to Port Ellen. We dumped the car just at the end of the road and wandered off up to the remains of the old steamer pier, taking up position on the rocks over to the left. 

Hebridean Isles did not take long to reach us where we were. She passed very close to Gigha as her course would take her on a south-westerley course in the general direction of Port Ellen. With her passing so close to us, we got some very clear pictures, first with the northern Kintyre hills, then with an islet in the foreground and finally with the famous Paps of Jura in the distance.

Once Hebridean Isles was out of sight one of us (who shall remain nameless) suggested it might be a good idea to wander up over to those rocks on the next headland in time to see the Isle of Arran come round on her way in towards Kennacraig.

About half way along to the headland, scrambling over rough and loose rocks and somehow managing to avoid spraining any ankles, we realised the tide was actually coming in and so Dave followed Al up onto the rock higher up and we continued scrambling towards our target. The climbing up wasn't so bad but Dave was getting concerned that descending might cause problems and was looking rather dangerous. He made the decision to turn back for where we were before, but as he did so, Al spotted the Isle of Arran now a hell of a lot closer than she was when we last saw her (whilst driving up from the main ferry pier). Oh what the hell... Dave scrambled up onto the top of the rocks and took out the camera. 

Isle of Arran ploughed her way across the horizon and into the mouth of the West Loch. Al and Dave then made the perilous scramble back down to the shoreline and along back to the car. Dave by this time was boiling hot and in dire need of liquid refreshment - and so was his car's windscreen washer bottle (not to mention the paintwork)

We returned south down to the ferry terminal and stopped off via the post office to get more drinks. The Loch Ranza crawled her way across from Tayinloan once more and we decided to have a bit of fun at poor Steve's expense, with the aid of a couple of much-needed ice creams.  A phone picture of an ice cream and the words 'mmmm ice cream on Gigha, wish you were here?' in a multimedia message was soon being sent over the airwaves to the boss's phone where we believe he was sunning himself on he roof of his bus depot in Newcastle...say no more!

Another 20 minutes on the Loch Ranza and we were back on the mainland. Our journey back to Al's place began at this point and followed the exact route we took to get to Tayinloan this morning but with one additional stop at Kennacraig where the Isle of Arran lay idle, waiting for her evening run to Port Ellen. Ten minutes there and we returned to Tarbert where there was nearly an hour to wait for the Isle of Cumbrae's 1715 crossing.

While we waited in the oven (the car) for the ferry to return it became clear that on a Sunday there is nothing for the local kids and teens to do... Two specimens of said local inhabitants were occupying the shelter just opposite the slipway. Whether they were just high on life and the summer sun, or whether it was something more sinister and somewhat less than legal was unclear but the fact that one seemed to be the punchbag for the other suggested the latter was more likely. At times they turned their attentions to the traffic queue and took it in turns to hurl obnoxious comments at the intending passengers. 

This time crossing Loch Fyne the cool wind of this morning was none existent. We returned to Dunoon via the road we came along earlier; that around the head of Loch Striven and on towards Sandbank and Hunters Quay. Dave would have gone via the Colintraive ferry to Rothesay and across to Wemyss Bay, but Al had been dropping heavy hints about catching Saturn from Dunoon instead. Sadly for him, as we came round the esplanade and into the marshalling area, an old woman in a Calmac hi-viz came over and attempted to take our rover tickets off us, despite them being valid for another day yet - clearly this rude individual didn't know how to do her job. (She even tried to call traffic forward for boarding while the ferry was still discharging and the red traffic light was showing!)

Alan at this point did his usual trick, and went on as a passenger via the gangway while Dave played the part of the captured subject for the camera which was peering down from the top deck. Again, Dave parked up and went off upstairs to take in the breeze generated as the ferry moved off on the 20 minute crossing to Calmac HQ. The crossing was uneventful and after we disembarked in Gourock, we made for the car park on the seafront and pulled up to wait for the ferry to depart once more on her next sailing. Following her passing by and heading off to Dunoon once again, we returned to Al's house as the base for tonight and ready for tomorrow.