Not a great day to be travelling.

We hid away over in Arran overnight to shelter from the Westerly gales overnight.  It isn't that sheltered from the wind in Brodick but there isn't any swell or seas to contend with so a much happier berth than Ardrossan.  The first two sailings of the day were cancelled then we did the one crossing at 13:50, flew over with the wind behind us and got in safely, wind gusting over 40 knots at times.  On departure a squall came through just as we pulled away, great timing, so we lay alongside Winton Pier for 10 minutes or so in the lashing rain, the Carpenter on the focstle head was particularly amused.  Then shot out through the entrance to once again tie up here in Brodick for the night.  Ardrossan is scary enough in the daylight without doing in the dark too.

Tomorrow looks more promising before Sunday's blow comes in.  Not great timing on the run up to Christmas but what can one do??

Strangely photographs never seem to convey bad weather as horrible as it actually is, but the spray coming over the harbour wall must convey some of the strength of the breeze.

This photo was on the BBC web site. 

Roofing repairs

The residents at 16 & 17 would like to thank you for leaving the area in front of their flats clear of vehicles.  Here's a photo of work in progress. 

Broken away

The bulk of the repairs to our turbo chargers were completed overnight so we headed out on trials this morning, nice day for it too.  Initially we headed for Ardrossan to drop off the Troon pilot and then we headed south past Ailsa Craig and back. So far so good, we are back in Troon tonight as the weather forecast, again, is looking pretty grim overnight which makes Ardrossan difficult.  More trials tomorrow and then all being well into service on Thursday.  Bit scary as we haven't loaded vehicles for weeks.

On the passage to nowhere

I joined my ferry last week in Troon, which is a first.  We were tied up on the rather grandly named Portland Wharf but those of you who have sailed in here will probably know it better as the timber berth right beside the marina.  

I left the ship in dry dock back in mid January and a week or so later she went back into service with her new turbo blowers in place.  Unfortunately, after a couple of days cracks in the piping taking the exhaust to the blowers appeared and the ship was taken out of service to Troon to be repaired by MAN, who fitted the blowers, with able assistance from Garvel dry dock personnel.

Repairs complete we headed off out on trials on Thursday, lovely day sunny and a gentle breeze.  We headed south towards Ayr to drop off the Troon pilot when the fire alarm went off and this was the same problem with exhaust fumes leaking into the engine room.  We turned round, fortunately the pilot was still on board and returned to Troon.  A German engineer was flown over and our original one returned and along with Garvel and others they have been working 24/7 to find a solution.

Meantime as you'll be aware the wind and the rain have been going at it, but this is a wonderfully sheltered berth and I doubt that we would have been running anyway.  

It's a grand life here in Greenock

Dear readers, apologies for not writing more this year. I joined the
ship on the 2nd of January, it should have been the 1st but due to the
winds and stormy seas the ship stayed over in the sheltered waters of
Brodick on Hogmanay and didn't fancy coming back to pick up the
relieving officers.
We had a very busy day on the 2nd taking all the good folk and
holidaymakers back to the mainland, indeed the biggest loads I have
ever taken on in Calmac with 108 cars one time. We ran an hour late as
the high spring tides prevented the use of the gangways at both ports
so the foot passengers had to come on board through the vehicle deck
which delays everything.
We then headed up the river to James Watt dock tying up about midnight.
The weather intervened and we lost a day before we could safely go
into the dry dock next door in the Garvel. And we have been here ever
since, this is one photo of the port engine which appears to have been
taken down to its constituent bits as it appears to just be the shell.
I'll take a few more photos about the place to let you see what
appears to be chaos, we are scheduled to be floated out next Wednesday
the 15th to be towed round dead ship to James Watt dock where they
will carry on with the work. I know from experience that it appears
unbelievable that everything will come together and it usually does
but my goodness there is a lot to do.