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Diary - May 2006 |
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May Trip Round the Isles - Day 1 |
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My
little car didn’t know what had hit it this morning. Shortly after 3.00am
I managed to single handedly fill the boot with a holdall, laptop, backpack
and spare trainers (don’t ask!) – well it is just a Ford Ka after all
(or as some people refer to it as; the Rollerskate!).
Setting
off a little after 3.00am it took me no more than 5 hours to get to Gourock
this morning. And as it was a Sunday morning there was very little traffic
on the M6 and M74 – bliss! It seemed to take forever to get from
Kilmarnock to Gourock this time but I turned up at CalMac’s HQ just before
8.00am. As I passed Ardrossan I noticed that the Caledonian Isles was
stern-in for some reason. I passed this to SoC News but they didn't know why
she wasn't bow-in as normal.
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Caledonian Isles stern-in at Ardrossan
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My
route over the next week and a bit is taking me all over the west coast
and I’m using one of those very handy 8 Day Rover tickets for me and the
car – although I nearly wasn’t! Having booked all my ferries a couple
of weeks ago I was told to turn up to any port this morning and simply buy
the tickets from the office. Fine, you might well think…er, no - not at
Gourock anyway. The young lad behind the counter seemed to take great
delight in advising me that as some new system was being installed, no
tickets could be printed off today! |
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The
lad outside at the car lanes was a total contrast and couldn’t have been
more helpful – he explained that it was only bookings that couldn’t be
made – tickets were fine, especially as foot passengers were having to
buy before boarding anyway! Seemed like the left hand was unable to
communicate with the right this morning! A couple of minutes later the guy
came back and told me to get the tickets from Dunoon and to enjoy the
crossing as a freebie as an apology for being given duff info in the
office – nice! |
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I
boarded Saturn and sailed at 0820 for Dunoon. It was gradually getting
brighter and the cloud appeared to be lifting a bit. The crossing to Cowal
was quiet as usual but seemed to be taking forever. I have to admit that I
find the Clyde routes (with the exceptions of the Portavadie and Lochranza
routes) less interesting and scenic than those in the Western Isles. Apart
from going to the loo, I spent the whole trip from Gourock in the car.
Dunoon was reached after what seemed like an eternity and I found
somewhere to park before wandering over to the ticket office in search of
these elusive Rover Tickets. Fortunately for me the guys in the office had
their heads screwed on and were able to deal with me in just a couple of
minutes. As one of them remarked at the cost: “hell, you could buy an
island for that!” I
didn’t let on that this was the cheapest option by far for what I have
got planned…
I
left Dunoon in a bit of light drizzle and made for Colintraive and the
Loch Dunvegan. As with most times I attempt to cross the Kyles of Bute, I
got there just after the ferry had pulled away! No problem, as she was
back a few minutes later and I was soon going over to Bute. The ferry I
planned to catch over to the mainland didn't leave Rothesay until 1145, so
I had plenty of time to kill at Craigmore with the camera! |
Saturn leaving Dunoon for Gourock
Bute approaching her namesake isle
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In the time I was at Craigmore the Bute came in and went out again and the
Juno approached once more. This time I had to go over to the pier and be
ready to board. I didn't particularly want to miss this sailing as there
wasn't another for an hour and a half!
The
crossing to Wemyss Bay was totally uneventful. By now it was very warm and
sunny although to the south it was getting hazy. During the crossing I was
tipped off by the boss (aka Steve) that Raasay had been sighted heading
into the Clyde area from Rathlin. Between us we worked out that around the
time I’d be passing through Largs, she should be passing Cumbrae. Nice
one Steve, the timing was perfect. I went down to the far side of Fairle
first of all and spied her from a distance, before racing back up to the
seafront car park at Largs where there were huge crowds out and about. |
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Raasay passing Fairlie, bound for Largs
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Raasay unloading crew cars at Largs
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The
air sea rescue helicopter was running an exercise in tandem with the
inshore lifeboat out in the bay and this drew large numbers of onlookers
(myself included) but my main reason for stopping in Largs soon appeared.
Raasay came sweeping round the end of the pier and aligned herself with
the slipway. With the ramp down, three crew vehicles were offloaded and
parked nearby. I was down on the shore at this point snapping away at both
the exercise and the Raasay. With Loch Alainn heading in, the 30yr old
Island Class ship took off, bound for Rosneath and temporary lay-up. The
live element of SoC was evident at this point. I was keeping Steve updated
with the goings-on and he was adding to fleet news in real time. Within 30
seconds of me taking a picture on my phone and sending it, it was online! |
Coastguard helicopter and Raasay
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Helicopter buzzing Loch Alainn off Largs
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With
Loch Alainn coming across from Cumbrae Slip, I went out as far as I could
get along the pier. This was where the next piece of luck kicked in and a
member of the CalMac shore crew invited me out onto the restricted area of
the pier so as to get clear pictures from as close as possible to the
exercise (to the disappointment of a few others who were stuck on the
other side of the barrier!) I felt for the poor winchman aboard the
helicopter – he must have been dunked into the sea no fewer than seven
times by this point! |
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With
Loch Alainn in and unloading I thanked the CalMac guy and made my way back
to the seafront and the car. It was now gone 2.00pm and I made my way
south again, leaving the RAF and RNLI guys to their exercise. My next
destination was Ardrossan, for the ferry to Arran and I got to the
terminal in plenty of time for check-in. There were a lot of cars already
there so I just plonked myself into what seemed the shortest queue and
hoped for the best as there wasn’t anyone who actually appeared to be
arranging the traffic for shipment. |
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The exercise continues...
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The
Breeze-Block (as Caledonian Isles has been dubbed) appeared right on time
and towered over the berth as she nudged her way in to the linkspan. She
was sitting quite low in the water, indicating a full load coming over
from the island and sure enough over 100 cars came off her. By this point
I was beginning to remember that I hadn’t actually eaten by this point
today, so as soon as I was parked near the stern ramp I made a bee-line
for the cafeteria and ordered some scampi. |
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We
actually left Ardrossan whilst I was still stuffing my face. It was only
when I went out on deck around half way across to Arran that I remembered
why it was that I don’t come this way very often… Once you leave the
mainland there is not a lot to see until you enter Brodick Bay. I found
myself aimlessly wandering round the ship desperately looking for
something to do. The shop seemed to be very poorly stocked and the
observation lounge could only be described as a contradiction in terms!
(By this I refer to the seating which is rather low compared to the height
of the very small ‘viewing’ windows. You can only see out if you are
standing up!)
Berthing
in Brodick was achieved quickly and I was soon driving off the
Breeze-Block. I didn’t have time to explore Arran properly on this
occasion as my next connecting sailing was from Lochranza in the north of
the island. The sun bid a hasty retreat as I passed through the mountains
and dropped down into Lochranza. By the time the Loch Tarbert arrived from
Claonaig (having done a 180 degree turn mid-crossing for no apparent
reason) it was dull and grey once again. |
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I
left Arran little more than an hour after arriving on the island and
having seen only a quarter of the coastline. Kintyre was next and indeed
it is where I am spending tonight (in the Springside B&B, overlooking
the inner harbour entrance on East Loch Tarbert. By the time I got to
Claonaig it was throwing it down, but right now I don’t care – I’ve
got an early start so I’m off to sleep. |
Loch Tarbert approaching Lochranza
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