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Diary - January 2006 |
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Tuesday 3rd January |
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The first SoC outing of the year started in the early hours of the morning
as I left Cumbria and made his way north on the M6. To say that today
did not go according to plan is something of an understatement - you'll see
what I mean in a little while. The journey up to the Clyde was uneventful as
ever. I reached the A78 at around 0500 and made my way up to Gourock in time
to catch Saturn's 0620 sailing - the first of the day - across to Dunoon.
Once upon a time of course there was such thing as catering on Saturn and
her sisters but alas there is no such thing as breakfast onboard the
Streakers anymore. It was a packed sailing - not! All of two cars and about
seven passengers including myself were aboard for the sailing and we left at
the allotted time of 0620. On the way down the Clyde we passed one of the
red 'tea-trays' which cut across in front of us on its way over from Hunters
Quay. The red Sound of Something was no more heavily loaded than Saturn this
particularly cold morning - another evidently highly profitable service!
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Following berthing at Dunoon the starboard side ramp was lowered and I
drove up and onto the wobbly pier. It was too dark to get any photos still
at this time, but the videocamera was able to film Saturn departing on her
way back to Gourock a short while after. It was still bitterly cold at
this point but somehow the footage didn't appear to show how much I was
shivering! The reason for having the videocamera with me was to get new
footage for the forthcoming new dvd which will be in the shop in the near
future. |
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With the Streaker on her way over to her home base I then set off along
the back road towards the Colintraive road. Normally this is a hellish
road; single track and full of sharp turns and steep gradients, however
with it still being dark I was able to see well in advance if there was
anything coming the other way. As a result I made it to the Colintraive
road faster than normal. From there I turned right then took a left onto
the Tighnabruaich road - my next destination being Portavadie and the
first sailing of the day over to Tarbert. |
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I got to the isolated slipway at around 0800, just as the Loch Riddon was
due to leave Tarbert. It was starting to get light by now and I could just
make her out as she made her way slowly across Loch Fyne. I was again
unable to film at this point due to the lack of light, however I got more
footage for the dvd (if I can work out how to do it I'll upload a sample
clip with link from this diary.)
After crawling across Loch Fyne at a whole 9 knots I drove up the
slipway at Tarbert and made my way down to Tayinloan, 20 miles to the
south. The weather was bright and sunny by this time and it looked like it
would be a perfect day for pictures. |
Loch Linnhe in the Sound of Gigha
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Loch Linnhe was on relief duties at Gigha today while the regular ferry,
Loch Ranza is away at Ardmaleish on Bute having her annual overhaul. As I
got to Tayinloan the Loch Linnhe was about half way across from the
island. There is a handy pier adjacent to the slipway at Tayinloan and I
ventured out onto there and set the camera up. The weather was flat calm
with not a breath of wind and as a result I could hear clearly the engine
tone from the ferry even though she was still half way across the water.
Just as the Loch Riddon had done not an hour before, the Loch Linnhe
crawled towards the pier and as the propulsion power was cut the ramp was
brought down and the skipper manoeuvred the ship onto the slipway. |
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Loch Linnhe lying at Tayinloan
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More film and pictures safely onto tape and memory card
respectively, I got back into the car and began my journey back up to
Tarbert and the Loch Riddon's 1115 sailing back over to Cowal. The plan
was originally to sail back to Portavadie and make my way round to Dunoon
where I was supposed to pick up Al and from there we were going to go down
to Ardyne and Toward Point... But when do plans ever go right?!
On the awful road that is the A83 which runs the length of
the Kintyre Peninsula, I was forced off the road by a large articulated
lorry that cut a corner. The only description I have for this selfish and
downright dangerous **** are unrepeatable on this site. This individual
paints a very poor picture of drivers in this area - in future I'll treat
them all with the contempt I have for him! |
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As a result of this ****'s actions and complete contempt for the safety of
any other road users, I was forced to veer left onto the gravel or
probably die in a hideous collision. Needless to say, as the one forced
off the road it was my car that came off worst. I hit a raised manhole
cover whilst on the gravel and bang went my front left tyre and
wheel! |
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With the selfish **** in his large yellow lorry well out of sight heading at
high (and dangerous) speed towards Campbletown I pulled over to change the
wheels over, whilst still painting the air blue. When this was eventually
done the time was 1110. I had a mere 5 minutes to get the remaining 10 miles
to Tarbert! With no hope of making it to the ferry before she sailed I
pulled into Kennacraig to try and source somewhere that could carry out
repairs to the damaged wheel. The lady in the Calmac office was very helpful
but unfortunately with it being a bank holiday of course there was nowhere
south of Oban that could help. (Damn, I had to go all the way to Oban where
Clansman and Isle of Mull would be putting in appearances!!)
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With the spare wheel fitted, and with a change of trousers (don't ask!) I
limped up to Oban and made for Kwik-Fit in the hope of them being able to
repair my wheel. While this was going on I went out to the esplanade to kill
some time with the camera (well Clansman was approaching - what more can I
say?)
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Clansman inbound from Tiree
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Isle of Mull leaving for Craignure
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I spent an enjoyable hour and a half sat near the lighthouse near Dunollie
Castle, obtaining more video film for the dvd. That damn family further
along the road couldn't have made more noise if they tried - I swear that
the owners of the brats were encouraging them to make more noise just to
annoy me! With all the ship movements completed I made my way back to Kwik-Fit
and the lad there gave me the wheel back repaired (although a few days
later I found that the tyre which they said was ok was in fact beyond
repair) and I left Oban for the Clyde - hey better late than never! |
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My route now took me round the head of Loch Fyne to Inverary and from there
down to Colintraive. I kept Al up to speed on the mishaps of the day (much
to his amusement) and told him what time I was going to be getting to his.
Having been up for over 19 hours I was starting to tire and that boring road
down Loch Fyne was eroding my attention span to the point where good old
Pro-Plus was the order of the day.
Fortunately with a combination of freezing air coming in through the
window and a couple of caffeine-rich tablets I made it to Colintraive where
the Loch Dunvegan was waiting for traffic. |
Loch Dunvegan in the evening light
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A quick sail over the Kyles of Bute and there was enough time for a quick
stop for photos at Rhubodach before making for Rothesay and the
second-to-last sailing of the day over to Wemyss Bay. It was once again dark
now and bitterly cold as I waited in the marshalling area for the Bute to
put in an appearance. The most recent addition to the fleet came in and took
an eternity to come alongside. By the time I was aboard it was already just
after departure time and the crew wasted no time in raising the side ramp
and letting the mooring ropes go. My last crossing of this eventful day was
underway. |
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We passed the Coruisk on the way over and after what seemed like only a few
brief minutes aboard I returned to a freezing car as the crew secured the
ferry at the linkspan. I was the last car off and I made my way to Al's
ready for tomorrow's day out. |
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