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| November 2009 news 28/11/09.
Mr John Newth was the speaker at the Club meeting on Friday 27th. His presentation was entitled “My Career in Shipping”.
John was brought up in the village of Innellan where he became acquainted with the steamers, which plied their trade among the piers of the Clyde.
John trained as a marine engineer having decided that a career at sea was his choice of employment. He worked on many vessels around the world before joining Western Ferries and now works on the Hunter’s Quay to McInroy’s Point route.
John’s presentation opened with the early days of Caledonian MacBrayne before moving on to his career on deep-sea ships.
He then returned to CalMac and ended his presentation with a selection of slides portraying the vessels of Western Ferries.
Iain Quinn gave the vote of thanks.
The next meeting is on Friday 18th December when Iain will give a presentation on BALMORAL. This year is BALMORAL’s Diamond Jubilee year.
This meeting will be the annual joint meeting with the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society.
All meetings are held in the Kirk Lounge, Renfield St Stephen’s Church Centre, Bath Street, Glasgow commencing at 19.30.
Duncan Wilson.
The West Highland Steamer Club 2010 Calendar is available for sale, either at Club meetings or by post.
The front cover portrays CLANSMAN (1998) sailing through the Sound of Gunna, while the back cover features the Club outing to Bute using the preserved MacBrayne’s AEC Reliance coach, which is owned by Past President Lawrence Macduff.
The following vessels are included in the calendar:
January. HEBRIDEAN ISLES and ISLE OF ARRAN at Kennacraig.
February. ARRAN at Port Ellen.
March.LOCHMOR and LOCHEARN at Lochboisdale.
April.LOCHNEVIS (2000) at Sconser.
May.LOCH ARKAIG at Canna.
June.MOUNTAINEER at Crinan.
July.ISLE OF LEWIS and ISLE OF ARRAN at Stornoway.
August.IONA (1970) in West Loch Tarbert.
September.LOCH CARRON approaching Scarinish.
October.CORUISK (2003) departing from Armadale.
November.CLAYMORE (1955) on the Firth of Clyde while on builder’s trials.
December.HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS passing through the Corran Narrows.
The calendar is priced at £6.50 if purchased at Club meetings or £7.50 if ordered by post. The calendar is available in a twelve-page format in limited numbers at a price of £9.00 including postage on a first-come-first-served basis.
Those of you who would like to buy a calendar should write to Mr Robin Love, Treasurer WHSC, 29 Cyprus Avenue, ELDERSLIE, PA5 9NB.
Please make cheques payable to the West Highland Steamer Club.
Alternatively please click on the link below.
Duncan Wilson.
26/11/09.
Due to adverse weather the Outer Isles vessel sailed at 16.30 from Oban to Castlebay returned to Oban.
The next direct sailing from Oban to Lochboisdale will be tomorrow at 08.30.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
25/11/09.
Once again the weather took its toll on Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services today.
The freight service between Ullapool and Stornoway is cancelled .
The Uig to Tarbert and Lochmaddy route will operate an amended timetable tomorrow.
Weather permitting the following timetable will apply: Tarbert to Uig 07.30, Uig to Lochmaddy 09.40, Lochmaddy to Uig 11.50, Uig to Lochmaddy 15.00, Lochmaddy to Uig 17.00, Uig to Tarbert 19.00. All times are approximate.
Due to cancellations on the Berneray-Leverburgh route there will be additional sailings operating tomorrow. There will be a departure from Berneray at 10.35 with a return departure from Leverburgh at 11.45. These are additional to the timetabled sailings.
The 12.30 & 17.10 from Barra and the 14.40 & 18.15 sailings from Eriskay are cancelled for today Weather permittting timetable as normal tomorrow.
The 18.00 sailing from Kennacraig tonight will be diverting to Port Askaig. This will mean that the 07.00 sailing from Islay tomorrow will now leave from Port Askaig not Port Ellen as timetabled.
The company is warning that services between Mallaig and Armadale and also between Oban, Coll, Tiree, Castlebay and Lochboisdale may be subject to disruptions due to the weather.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
24/11/09.
A number of services across the Caledonian MacBrayne network have been disrupted or cancelled today due to the stormy weather conditions.
Today’s sailing to Castlebay and Lochboisdale was cancelled. As a result the 07.30 from Lochboisdale and 09.15 from Castlebay tomorrow is also cancelled. The next sailing will be on Thursday 26th from Oban at 15.40 as per timetable.
The last two sailings of the day on the Gigha route have been cancelled i.e. the 17.05 from Gigha and 17.35 from Tayinloan
The 18.00 sailing from Kennacraig this evening will be diverting to Port Askaig. This means the 07.00 sailing tomorrow will now be departing from Port Askaig not Port Ellen as timetabled.
The Stornoway/Ullapool freight service, which leaves at 23.30 and returns from Ullapool at 05.00 is cancelled.
The 17.15 from Oban and the 18.15 return from Lismore are cancelled. The next sailing will depart from Oban at 06.50 tomorrow as per timetable.
CalMac have been warning their customers that the Fionnphort - Iona service may be disrupted or delayed due to the weathertoday.
The company is already issuing warnings that the Berneray - Leverburgh (Sound of Harris),
Mallaig to Armadale and also Mallaig to Eigg and Muck sailings may be liable to disruptions tomorrow.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
22/11/09.
Caledonian MacBrayne were advising their customers that the Oban-Craignure service might have been disrupted by the weather today.
Sailings across the Sound of Barra, from Ardmhor to Eriskay, were cancelled today. Normal service will resume tomorrow, weather permitting.
The Iona service was cancelled, for the rest of the day, at 14.51.
The 18.00 sailing from Kennacraig was cancelled tonight. The 07.00 sailing from Islay tomorrow morning will depart from Port Askaig.
Despite the weather conditions the crew on the Sound of Harris service, from Berneray to Leverburgh, managed to achieve a few sailings.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
21/11/09.
Caledonian MacBrayne were advising their customers that services on certain routes might have been disrupted by the weather today.
Among the routes affected are: Iona-Fionnphort, Mallaig-Small Isles and Berneray-Leverburgh with particular attention to the 14.00 ex Berneray and the 15.06 ex Leverburgh.
As things turned out sailings to Iona were cancelled for the rest of the day at 14.49.
The 09.25,12.30 and 17.10 sailings from Ardmhor were cancelled as were the 10.30,14.40 and 18.15 return sailings from Eriskay. A normal timetable will operate tomorrow, weather permitting.
Due to the difficult weather conditions tonight’s 18.00 sailing from Kennacraig diverted to Port Askaig. The 09.45 sailing from Islay tomorrow will now depart from Port Askaig ,not Port Ellen as timetabled.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
17/11/09.
Caledonian MacBrayne were advising their customers that the Fionnphort-Iona service may have been disrupted by the weather today.
Source: Caledonian MacBrayne. www.calmac.co.uk
16/11/09.
A giant wind turbine headed through Oban last Friday before taking a special Caledonian MacBrayne sailing aboard CLANSMAN to Tiree.
The turbine moved through the town on wide-load trailers in four parts; three units that will eventually connect together to make the stem of the turbine and then another trailer with the propellers and control unit aboard.
The wide loads made their way through the town, slightly earlier than expected, but with little disruption.
Source: The Oban Times, Thursday 12th November
A petition to name Islay’s new ferry after the island has been launched following public opposition to all four names proposed by the ship’s owners.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) put forward four names associated with the island and its ferry routes: FINLAGGAN, LOCHEIL, GLENDALE and PIONEER. A ballot, which closes on Monday, will determine the name of the ferry from the four options. But Islay-based Councillor Robin Currie and Argyll and Bute MP Alan Reid have joined the call from some islanders to name the ferry Isle of Islay, with Councillor Currie launching a petition to that effect. The island’s community newspaper, The Ileach, has submitted a fee of £124 to register the name Isle of Islay with the UK Ship Register. If successful, the paper will donate the name to CMAL to be included in the ballot.
Councillor Currie said he was angry that islanders had been made to choose from only four names and said CMAL was dictating the naming process. He said: ‘This new ferry is specifically built for the Islay service and therefore the people of Islay and indeed Jura should decide the name. ‘Why should we be constrained to some names put in front of us and most of which have no relevance to Islay? ‘If some people would like some other name, then they should make that known to CMAL but the important thing is that it should be the islanders that decide by a free choice rather than the ridiculous situation we have just now.’ However, a spokesman for CMAL said there was no intention of discontinuing with the public vote and added that the company looked forward to announcing the most popular name on St Andrew’s Day (November 30). The new vessel is being built in Poland and will be operational in spring 2011. Two winners who vote for the most popular name will be chosen to be special guests at the ferry’s launch in Poland next year. A CMAL spokesman said last week: ‘The naming of the vessel has generated a great deal of interest with more than 400 votes to date, and on the main has been welcomed by those on Islay. ‘In recent years it has also been the custom to try and move away from directly naming a ship after islands as potentially they could serve on other routes at some point during their service.’ Councillor Currie’s petition is in most village shops on Islay while the CMAL ballot is available in the Port Ellen, Port Askaig or Kennacraig ferry terminals or via CMAL’s website. Source: The Oban Times, Thursday 12th.
An Islay community councillor has said that running the new Islay ferry exclusively between Port Askaig and Oban can save £38 million.
At present there is one sailing per week between Islay and Oban.
Councillor Douglas Tott has made his submission to the Scottish Government Ferries Review.In his submission he said: “If the new ferry only sails between Oban and Port Askaig then CMAL would not be required to upgrade Port Ellen and Kennacraig therefore saving £38 million”.
He added that it would help Colonsay school pupils who wanted to travel home at the weekends.
A spokesman for CMAL said: “ a ferry from Port Askaig to Oban would be a matter for CalMac Ferries Ltd and for the Scottish Government to agree. CMAL only provide the use of the ferry”.
£38 million is the cost of developing both ferry terminals, but this money is neither committed nor spent.
Source: The Oban Times, Thursday 12th.
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Contact WHSC: info@westhighlandsteamerclub.co.uk