Waverley Slides — 1992

As far as I remember, the shutter had jammed (for the third time) on my 12 year old Ricoh XR1 and I was advised that a further repair would be uneconomical owing to the difficulty in obtaining parts, if they could be obtained at all. As I had not yet obtained a replacement, for the early part of the year I was reduced to taking photos with my Minolta Weathermatic, on 110 film which is not easy to scan! They are not slides but I have included them here for completeness of the record.

This was the second year that I purchased a Scottish Commodore ticket allowing unlimited sails on Waverley and Balmoral in all Scottish waters for the small price of �315. Therefore, to get value for money I enjoyed as many sailings as I could manage (44) over the year, saving �407.75 in unpaid fares. We won't mention the approximately �1100 I spent onboard and getting to and from all those sailings.

I took no photos but it appears that I sailed on the Clyde River Steamer Club Diamond Jubilee Cruise on Saturday, April 25 at a cost of �15.95 (since, being a charter sailing, it was not covered by my Commodore ticket). I caught a train at 06:46 from Shettleston to Helensburgh arriving at 07:46. The published timetable was from Helensburgh at 08:50 to Gourock (09:30), Dunoon (09:55)and Largs (10:45) to Campbeltown (13:50 - 15:30) and Millport (18:10 - 18:40) returning to Largs (19:10), Dunoon (20:00), Gourock (20:20) and Helensburgh (20:50). Since I have no record of going ashore anywhere, I assume that we didn't reach Campbeltown, possibly due to the weather.

In any case, we arrived back at Helensburgh at 21:10 in time for the 21:24 train to Shettleston arriving there at 22:20.

Waverley in the Western Isles 1992

Day 0 - Thursday, April 30 — It didn't appear in the timetable but Waverley sailed from Glasgow at 17:15 with a select complement of passengers (including Dave and myself), arriving at Ayr at 21:40. We stayed overnight at the Ayrshire & Galloway Hotel (�17.50 B&B).

Day 1 - Friday, May 1 — Waverley sailed at 10:00 for Port Ellen and Oban. The day was sunny but there was a strong wind and a fair swell. There was some speculation as to whether we could round the Mull, or would we be deposited at Campbeltown. Hopes rose when it was clear that we were not heading for Campbeltown but after we passed the Sanda Islands and approached the Mull, the swell increased and Captain Neill decided that to continue would be too uncomfortable both for the passengers and for the ship. So we had a few exciting minutes as we turned back but then a fairly smooth passage to Campbeltown where we arrived at 16:00. We had to wait until the school buses returned before we could continue by coach at 16:40 and after a brief stop at the public toilets in Lochgilphead (17:55 - 18:05), we arrived at Oban at 19:00 where some of us booked in to the Rowan Tree Hotel for 4 nights (�104).

Day 2 - Saturday, May 2 — There was no sign of Waverley in the morning, there would be no cruise to Tobermory and Mallaig so the most acceptable alternative to pass the time was a non-landing cruise on CalMac's Isle of Mull at 10:00 to Craignure (10:40 - 11:05) returning at 11:50 (�4.25). By which time the word was out that Waverley had sailed from Campbeltown in the early hours, had rounded the Mull and was well on her way. In due course she appeared and we enjoyed a shortened cruise leaving Oban at 14:10 for Tobermory, Ardnamurchan and Loch Sunart, returning to Oban at 21:30.

Isle of Mull passing the end of Kerrera	Sail Training Ship Malcolm Millar leaving the North Pier	Malcolm Millar passing the Isle of Mull

A small Waverley arriving from the Sound of Kerrera	Northern Lighthouses tender Fingal	Eigg at the North Pier and Isle of Mull at the ferry berth, Oban

Waverley and the Malcolm Millar	Waverley approaching the North Pier	Eigg heading for the slip for a run to Lismore

Fingal at the lighthouse berth	Malcolm Millar at anchor in Oban Bay	Malcolm Millar at anchor

Lord of the Isles in the Sound of Mull on her return from Coll and Tiree, heading for Oban		Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse

Day 4 - Sunday, May 3 — Waverley's day started from Fort William at 10:00 so those of us in Oban repeated yesterday's cuise to Craignure to pass the time until Waverley sailed from Oban at 12:25 (10 minutes late) for the standard cruise round the Four Lochs and Corryvreckan Whirlpool, returning to Oban at 17:30 then continuing to Fort William (19:35) and back to Oban at 22:15 (15 minutes late). It was a wet day so no photos.

Day 5 - Monday, May 4 — We sailed at 10:30 for a cruise round Mull and Staffa for time ashore at Iona (15:00 - 17:00) where it was so wet that I stayed aboard, before returning to Oban at 20:15 (15 minutes early). The "ship to shore" shuttle at Iona was provided by yet another CalMac vessel "Kilbrannan" similar to Eigg, Coll etc. Again, the inclement weather discouraged photography.

Day 6 - Tuesday, May 5 — We left Oban at 09:30 with calls at Crinan (11:00), Port Ellen (14:20 - 15:00) and Campbeltown (18:30) before arriving at Ayr at 21:15 whence a coach conveyed us to Glasgow arriving at 22:30.

mv Isle of Mull arriving in Oban Bay with the 0900 sailing from Craignure	The Paps of Jura	Waverley at the mail-boat berth at Port Ellen

Waverley at the pier at Port Ellen	Port Ellen bay with Waverley at the pier	War Memorial and Port Ellen from near the pier

Carraig Fhada lighthouse near Port Ellen	Sail Training ship Malcolm Millar off the south end of The Oa, Islay

Waverley at Millport

Sunday, June 21 — Waverley sailed at 10:30 for Dunoon (12:40), Rothesay (13:30), Largs (14:10) and Millport (14:40) for a cruise round Bute returning to Rothesay (16:45), Millport (17:45), Largs (18:15), Dunoon (19:00) and arriving back at Glasgow at 21:15 (15 minutes late). I stayed aboard all day.

Yachts and islands in Millport Bay, looking towards Hunterston	The crowd on Millport Pier as Waverley departs	Millport astern of the Waverley

Belfast to Campbeltown — Wednesday, 8 July 1992

An amazing feat of stupidity! Someone noticed that Balmoral was sailing from Belfast to Campbeltown on a Wednesday, the same day as Waverley's standard sail from Ayr to Campbeltown. So, after a standard Tuesday sail from Ayr to Loch Fyne, some of us did not go home. We left Ayr by train at 23:13 to Stranraer, arriving there at 00:30 for the 03:00 sailing on Stena Caledonia to Larne (05:25 - 06:25) thence by train into Belfast at 07:14 where we made our way down to the docks to find Balmoral. and confirmed the crew's opinion that some regular passengers were indeed “nutters”.

Balmoral sailed at 09:00 and we met Waverley off Kintyre where most of these photos were taken. We got off Balmoral at Campbeltown at 15:05 and had time for a small refreshment before sailing out on Waverley at 17:25. We reached Ayr at 20:55 in good time for the 21:45 train to Glasgow arriving there at 22:34, 38h34m after setting out.

Bangor, Co Down, with yacht haven

A small Waverley approaches Balmoral ...	... and waits for Balmoral to catch up

		PS Waverley peels off after pacing Balmoral

South side of Davaar Island	Campbeltown across the loch with Balmoral at the pier

	Balmoral at the pier at Campbeltown	Balmoral departs for the return to Belfast