Looking immaculate after her lengthy hiatus, Caledonian Isles at Ardrossan prior to loading
Inspired by Mark Nicolson’s passion for all things CalMac, and his enthusiastic and much appreciated presentation of his beloved MV Isle of Lewis at the first CRSC meeting of the winter season, long-standing CRSC member Robert Cleary decided to take advantage of the reasonable weather forecast for Thursday 9 October and go for a sail. Where did he go?
I was keen to see how Caledonian Isles was faring following her recent return to service on the Ardrossan-Brodick run, after a gap in service of more than a year and a half. To this end I set off from home on the train to Ardrossan.
At Ardrossan before departure
“… the green outer decks in particular look very smart…”
She was fairly lightly loaded on the sailing, despite the absence of Glen Sannox, which was awaiting repairs at Inchgreen. This was likely because some of the Arran traffic could travel via Troon aboard the chartered Alfred.
A wide variety of treats is available in the Coffee Cabin
I chatted to one or two of the crew. One stewardess was delighted be back on board her regular ship, rather than moving from ferry to ferry on relief duties. An older deck hand was observing younger crew at work at the stern mooring area; he had served on many members of the fleet, most recently on Glen Sannox. He considered the Sannox an excellent ship but with crew accommodation not as well insulated as Loch Seaforth, which was built with night-working in mind with a need to provide quiet accommodation for those sleeping aboard.
It was great to be aboard Caley Isles again. With her splendid and spacious accommodation there is plenty of room to roam about, and her forward view is always a favourite with travellers. Fortified with a plate of lentil soup I had a good look round and came to the conclusion that she is wearing well considering her age.
Caledonian Isles swinging into the berth at Brodick
All too soon we had arrived at Brodick where I was allowed to stay aboard as I was returning on the 1355 sailing. There were 32 foot passengers, approximately 15 light vans, a fuel tanker and around 40 cars for the return trip.
Alongside at Brodick pier
When I bought my travel ticket at Ardrossan, I had asked what would happen once the summer timetable finished but the ticket seller said that no official word had been issued yet regarding winter sailings ex-Ardrossan. It occurred to me that Caley Isles might prove useful to CalMac on the Oban/Craignure route for at least some of the winter to avoid being in a position to leave Loch Frisa there on her own while Isle of Mull relieved on other routes. That said, many further possibilities may be available to the CalMac management for the disposition of the fleet once Isle of Islay enters service.
Just by chance news came through while I was aboard Caley Isles that CMAL and Peel Ports were moving towards the completion of the sale of Ardrossan Harbour before the end of 2025, though no figure for the cost of this transaction was revealed. However it was estimated that a reconfiguration of Ardrossan Harbour would cost around £170 million and would take up to three years during which time there were would be no service from Ardrossan. Considering the massive scale of the project would be it worth CalMac moving their headquarters from Gourock to Ardrossan and also providing some berthage there for ferries to be laid up, thus saving some money in the long term for berthing charges at other locations such as Troon, the James Watt Dock or Sandbank?
Leaving Brodick astern
With virtually no wind on the return sailing from Brodick I was able to sit out at the stern and take in the wonderful vista of the peaks of Arran and catch a glimpse of Alfred as she headed for Brodick on her 1345 sailing ex Troon.
An excellent day was completed by a sprint to catch the 1448 train home rather than have an hour’s wait for the official connecting service.
Thanks to Neil Guthrie for supplying images to accompany this article.
Robert Cleary is a long-standing member of CRSC, and has served twice as President of the Club. CRSC is an association of friendly enthusiasts united by the quest to ‘meet together, sail together and talk together’, mainly on the west of Scotland — but many members hail from further afield. If you join us, you’ll receive copies of our much-prized west coast shipping Review and annual magazine, as well as access to a large library of archive photos in the ‘Members Only’ section of this website. We gather for meetings and cruises throughout the year. To join us, click here.
Published on 1 November 2025