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A boat which broke its mooring in West Loch Tarbert and began drifting out to sea was rescued by the quick-thinking crew of Caledonian MacBrayne’s Islay ferry.

The yacht BREEZE broke free during stormy weather on Saturday night and was found on Sunday morning.

But as the boat’s owners, Jane and Angus Stewart, began hunting for their 14ft yacht, the crew of ISLE OF ARRAN were towing it safely back to Kennacraig.

The ferry was on route to Islay at 9.00 when the Coastguard issued an alert.

Skipper Roddy MacLeod and his crew then deployed the Fast Rescue Craft to bring the boat to safety.

Susan Robb, port assistant at Kennacraig, said: ‘The crew of ISLE OF ARRAN really went above the call of duty. They were heading to Islay at the time so it put the ferry back by around an hour. But we were happy to play a part in the rescue of the boat.

‘I got a couple of phone calls on Sunday morning from bewildered folk asking why the ferry was going in and out but at least it all turned out fine.’

The yacht’s owner, Jane, said: ‘My husband had checked the boat late on Saturday night and although it was pretty stormy it seemed fine.’

Jane added: ‘We would like to thank Skipper Roddy MacLeod, Vineet Muley, the second mate, as well as Ian MacGilvary, Duncan McSporran, Susan Robb and Colin Duncan for the parts they played in the rescue.’

The Berneray-Leverburgh service (LOCH PORTAIN) will be disrupted due to tidal conditions from Thursday 20^th until Monday 24^th.

On Sunday 23^rd the 13.00 ex Berneray and 14.10 ex Leverburgh are cancelled. There will be extra sailings on Sunday at 10.30 ex Berneray and 11.40 ex Leverburgh.

Making ferry fares the same price, as it would cost to go the same distance by road is having the desired effect.

The Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) pilot introduced in October last year has led to an increase in cars and passengers on all routes in the scheme.

Almost a quarter more cars have travelled on the routes to the Western Isles and 14% more passengers than in the same period in 2007-08.

First Minister Alex Salmond announced the figures while en route from Uig to Tarbert ahead of the Scottish Government’s first Cabinet Meeting in Stornoway.

The biggest increase comes on the Oban-Castlebay-Lochboisdale route, which has seen car numbers go up by 26% and passengers by 19%.

Uig-Tarbert-Lochmaddy is up 25% and 16% respectively, Ullapool-Stornoway 24% and 13% and Oban-Coll-Tiree 13% and 8%.

The subsidised fares experiment on ferries to the Western Isles is proving a success with both vehicles and passenger numbers up claimed First Minister Alex Salmond.

The Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) pilot scheme was launched to consider the most effective and sustainable way to improve the affordability of service of ferries to the islands. Since the launch of the pilot last year there has been a significant increase in the number of visitors, family and friends visiting the Western Isles.

The experiment of subsidising ferry crossings to cost the equivalent of the same distance by road could be extended in the light of this pilot, which will run until spring 2011, when a Scottish Ferries review, drawing on other transport and economic research, will be completed.

Other routes in the north of Scotland claim the delay in spreading RET to them is proving costly.

A much-vaunted scheme to reduce ferry fares to the islands is resulting in significant environmental damage on Tiree, according to the factor of the biggest landowner on the island.

Argyll Estates factor, Andrew Montgomery, said that an unprecedented number of large camper vans are arriving on the island and driving across fragile areas of machair causing massive environmental damage.

Mr Montgomery added that the problem had been triggered by the large numbers of people attracted to an island holiday by the low ferry fares offered under the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) scheme.

There is only one campsite and the vans can’t park up in lay-bys because they are too large. They have to go off-road on to the croft and agriculture lands, which are mainly unfenced machair.

The RET scheme, introduced in October 2008 to deliver low ferry fares for Scotland’s island communities, runs on routes to Outer Hebridean islands including North and South Uist, Barra, Coll and Tiree and will continue until 2011.