Angus Ross, Graeme Hogg, Gavin Stewart, Jim Stirling and Billy Tomlinson at Tarbert with Isle of Cumbrae and Waverley
As Isle of Cumbrae is currently on the Tarbert to Portavadie service, she is not the most accessible of ships, and so an excursion was devised whereby members could sail to Tarbert on Waverley, go ashore to join Isle of Cumbrae for a round trip to Portavadie and then rejoin Waverley to return to Tighnabruaich, Rothesay, Largs or Ayr.
There was some concern last month when Isle of Cumbrae was withdrawn from the run and was laid up in Sandbank, having been replaced by Loch Linnhe. However, Loch Striven had to return to the Clyde for attention from her Lismore duties and Loch Linnhe was sent to replace her, leading to the return of Isle of Cumbrae to Tarbert, which meant the excursion could proceed as planned.
Or so we thought. A very small group of members joined Waverley for the trip. However, owing to an issue with the new onboard sprinkler system, she was delayed in leaving Largs. She was unable to make up time and by the time she was in the Kyles heading for Tighnabruaich, it seemed unlikely there would be time to make the connection with Isle of Cumbrae at Tarbert. After a few phone calls and messages with the author, ‘Plan B’ was hatched. Four of the party, who will be recognisable from the accompanying photograph, came ashore at Tighnabruaich and joined the ICM, who had himself planned to board at Tighnabruaich. Instead, he drove a car load across to Portavadie to join Isle of Cumbrae on her 14.30 sailing.
Waverley continues to maintain her regular visits to Tarbert from the Ayrshire coast, which allowed CRSC members to sail aboard Isle of Cumbrae on Tuesday 7th July… or at least that was the plan!
The simple design of Isle of Cumbrae has stood the test of time
Just as Isle of Cumbrae was due to leave at 15.00, Walter Bowie appeared and went aboard, thus becoming the only Club member to complete the planned Isle of Cumbrae leg of the excursion. There had been no time to explain to Walter what had happened and he only made it because he had arrived by car instead of Waverley.
The rest of us walked into Tarbert and enjoyed refreshments in the Café Ca’dora, before heading back towards the pier, apart from the ICM who rejoined Isle of Cumbrae’s 16.00 sailing to Portavadie to be reunited with his car. The others rejoined Waverley and completed the trip uneventfully, but enjoyably.
Heading towards her 50th anniversary, Isle of Cumbrae sets out from Tarbert on another run across Loch Fyne
After her cruise from Ayr, Largs, Rothesay and the Kyles, Waverley is seen alongside at Tarbert on 7th July
Graeme Hogg is, as mentioned, CRSC’s Interim Cruising Manager. A past president of the Club, he served in that role in 2005-6 and again in 2024-5. Resident in Tighnabruaich, Graeme is a leading member of the local Pier Association.