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.

Votes wanted for advert of the year

Not for the squeamish.

Doritos

New ships and the same old enemy

Not taken today!

9 days into my trip on the Caledonian Isles, ferrying folk and their cars, bread, post and pretty much everything else between the mainland at Ardrossan and Brodick, the main town on Arran.  A similar service in many ways to my last ship though the crossing time is 55 minutes, 15 minutes longer and we have half an hour to load and discharge rather than 14 minutes as on the Isle of Mull.

Similar service and ships but in a lot of respects very different as the layout of the passenger and crew accommodation is nothing like the Mull and the vehicle deck is quite dissimilar.  For my comfort my cabin is considerably bigger, though that isn't saying much given the cupboard that I lived in on the Isle of Mull.  The cabin here hasn't got the galley dumb waiter, hot press and pantry sink right next to my bed, nor is the galley directly underneath to warm the carpet up, all bonuses.

The vehicle deck on here however appears to have been designed by a naval architect with a sense of humour.  To be fair the design of the ship seems to have been changed while it was being constructed as casings added later run down both sides of the ship and protrude in by about a metre making life much more complicated and confined.  There are also two mezzanine decks that can drop down to take 48 cars half way up the space and a central casing dividing the deck which has an overhang that can take cars and Ford Transits but not if they have anything protruding up like a roof rack, and the height tapers as you go forward.  When the mezzanine deck is in place the height is halved as well and the locals suddenly need to park near the lift, avoiding the dreaded mezz deck as it will be the last to discharge whereas lift cars are on the main deck.

I also need to get my head round the local terminology, "Wullie NAC" is the driver of the North Ayrshire Council garbage disposal wagon at 19m and 40 odd tons and "Sticks" are timber wagons about 11m and 44 tons.  The information from my colleagues sometimes comes in drip form, oh aye you always load them first, you have to leave space up to the O in No Smoking on the bulkhead if you want to get him in, that's the escape hatch and you cannae put anything there and so on.  I'm sure in a year or two it will all be clear, others have been here before me and survived. 

Some things are the same, the weather is just as windy.  My first full day on here we didn't go anywhere due to a screaming North West gale and last night we spent in Brodick sheltering from the viscous storm passing through this weekend.  We did one sailing across to Ardrossan late afternoon today and some say they have never seen the ship moving about quite so much even when alongside.  Well the waves were going over the top of the lighthouse which is about 30 feet high.  Here's a video someone posted on Youtube.

Home on Wednesday for Christmas and then back on the 1^st before the ship heads North to Greenock for the annual dry dock in Garvel.  

First full day, didn't go anywhere

I'm here on the Caledonian Isles the ferry that has for the past twenty odd years taken folk back and forwards to Arran.  We stayed overnight in Ardrossan on the Ayr shore and the wind got up during the night to over 80 knots with an impressive swell coming through the harbour entrance.  We clearly couldn't sail first thing, actually we couldn't even stand upright when I was on the quay trying to sort the gangway out.  The situation was reviewed at 14:00 and as it was still gusting up to Force 10 we called the rest of the day off.  The good folk of Arran will have to wait for their fresh bread, newspapers and milk until tomorrow.  

Gave me a chance to look around and do some maintenance work on board which was useful.  On my last boat, the Isle of Mull, I mentioned how much I missed not having an opening porthole in the cabin.  I have on here but I'd just as soon not today anyway, as it leaks, over my bed unfortunately.  

Going nowhere

It's been an unsettled few days peaking today with a NW F 8 or 9 blowing into the Bay. No sailing to Mull for a while today, fortunately it is blowing us onto the pier, feels like we are being shaken about. 

Change afoot.

I'm on my last trip on the Isle of Mull this fortnight, off South to the Clyde to join the Caledonian Isles for the next year or so from December the 4th.  Really looking forward to the change and on one of the busiest runs in the Company.

Weekend Activities

We covered a lot of miles over the weekend. John, Julie's youngest son who lives with his girlfriend Tracy in Newcastle, had a baby last Monday, Ethan James weighing in at 9 lbs.  We set off on Thursday evening and stayed overnight in a hotel near Carlisle, the Wallfoot so named I guess as the last part of Hadrian's Wall runs through the back garden.  Four poster bed and a great breakfast to set us up for the day for £50.

Then on to Newcastle and here is the proud granny, son and grandson.

Then it was four hours to Birmingham to stay with Julie's parents before driving into London on the Saturday to meet her brother on the completion of his 16 day, 1,400 mile cycle around the UK for charity and to prove that at a certain age he could still do it.  That's David spraying the contents of a bottle of Cava around.  Sam, his son is on the left with Jason and John the team coach and mechanic.  Well done guys.  We met them at the newly refurbished Kings Cross district of London, very trendy.  

Back to Birmingham that evening before returning to Glasgow on the Sunday.  I am always surprised by the amount of traffic down South, back here in Scotland on the M8 seems very ho hum.  Saying that, bowling along the inside lane of the M40 keeping up with the traffic doing 85 and watching all the fine items of German engineering flying past in the other lanes is no way as scary as driving a Fiat Panda in Italy.

And finally some more news that I had an interview for a 2nd Mates position last week on our return from Sardinia, yesterday I had a phone call from HR to say that I was successful and in due course will be promoted.  Triples all round please.

Home to grandsons and blocked drains

We've been home for a few days and there are always things to catch up on. I have the man flu but not making a fuss, Julie is back at work.  The kitchen sink is blocked and we are off to see Julie's younger son's little boy Ethan James who was born on Monday afternoon.  Here's a link to some holiday photos  Then we are going to London to meet Julie's brother David who has been cycling around the country to raise cash, his journey ends on Saturday at Kings Cross so we are going to be there to celebrate. Red Cycle

And I bought a new car

All things must come to pass

Home again and a nice surprise to land at Glasgow with the sun shining
and 20 C in the shade. We had a wonderful two weeks in Sardinia and
would recommend it. I will organise my photos and put a link on line
in due course. Look forward to meeting up with everyone again and
boring them with my stories.

Local Tesco

Half way point

One of the main attractions here in Alghero is to make the trip out to
Grotta di Nettuno a local cave complex about 10 miles to the west of
the town. We opted for the full day tour and headed off on a wooden
launch along the coast to view the beaches and cliffs close up. The
last couple of days there has been a strong west wind which has died
away but unfortunately there was still a high swell running when we
got to the point and entering the caves would have been too dangerous.
Cal Mac style the skipper took us out there for a chance to see how
big the seas and swell were before turning back to anchor in a
sheltered bay for a few hours. While the cook knocked us up a mussels
and pasta dish we all went snorkelling in what turned out to be
jellyfish infested waters, luckily enough they seemed to prefer one of
our party a young man from the UK and left us alone. There was as
much of local vino to drink as we wished, and water, but being British
we opted for the alcohol and the evening was spent recovering.

Healthy eating

We are consciously trying to eat healthily. Pasta features quite a lot and there are loads of ugly looking vegetables that wouldn't get shelf space in Tesco. The two glasses contain the local recommended liqueur, Mirito. It tastes similar to Benolyin Expectorant, foul. 

Dull weather

This is the forecast for next week here in Sardinia. No variation from one day to the next, just sunshine with no cloud and gentle winds. 

It's all right for some.

Waking to the sun shining through the open doors onto the balcony and looking out onto a blue sky and a warm breeze does have its charms.  We are now here in Alghero in the North West corner of Sardinia for our two weeks of sunshine and pasta. 

We flew in on a busy Easyjet flight to Olbia on the other side of the island and then after a fraught hour or so waiting for the ladies to carry out their bureaucratic manoeuvres on my credit card, licence and passport we headed off west in our Fiat Panda.  I think I have declined to take out the many extra insurances, along with pet and breakdown cover but who knows, it was all in Italian? I did however have to sign a form 7 times to show my willing resistance to her offers, and we complain about paperwork in the UK.

Italian driving has a reputation but once you get the hang of the minimum speed required on the roads then you'll be fine.  Generally the other drivers help by getting close enough to signal with hand and eye gestures that 30 km/h over the speed indicated on the roadside signs is not sufficient for safe passage. The locals are quite loyal as Fiat and Alpha Romeo are the cars of choice everywhere, little evidence of German engineering and not a sign of a Skoda. 

Our flat is a little out of the town centre about 10 minutes walk from the old port buildings and the main thoroughfares.  On our first night we just went round the corner to a neighbourhood bar (café) and sat outside having a beer with chicken, chips and mozzarella balls watching the local ladies fuss and bother about their little dogs in between cigarette breaks.  They do keep thin here, I can only imagine that the meals we see the girls eating on an evening is the single food for that day.

I couldn't finish without mentioning that it is too warm to be out during the afternoon, fortunately we can have a little snooze in the shade of the flat before it cools again later in the day.  Thank goodness.

Amadea off Oban

Home tomorrow then off to Sardinia for two weeks on Saturday. 

Calm day on Mull

The weather has taken a turn to being cooler this morning, but
pleasant. Approaching Craignure I thought there was oil on the water
but then noticed it was actually a rainbow reflected on the surface.
Apologies for the windscreen wiper to the left of photo.

A quiet time

Apologies to my readers that I haven't been blogging for a while. No
excuse possible, other than idleness which is not an excuse but a
failing on my part. When I was home on leave we kept busy with a
visit to Edinburgh and a four day trip on the boat with my cousin
Judith, three visits to Helensburgh to visit my Mum, a day on
administration and it's time to re-join the ship.

Today we had an exotic visitor outside the Bay with its wavy hair, eye
and red lips logo on the bow, the Aidacara was visiting Scotland.
Pity that we didn't have the good weather being enjoyed elsewhere in
the country, but as they say it keeps the dust down. Should Calmac
adopt this kind of ship side painting? What would be an appropriate
logo?

Where am I today?

Famous for its pie eating cowboy and marmalade amongst other things. 

Our glamorous assistant.

Nearly a week now into our busy schedule delivering the good folk back
and forward to Mull. We have two newcomers here on deck, the Mate
Simon and Mariana the third mate. Seems to be a shortage of regular
people this fortnight, as we have 5 agency people on board and a few
like myself being temporarily promoted. We all seem to be getting on
though and the ship is running well IMHO.