Skye ferry fiasco....

[AndyT]

Well I'm not long back after a wee jaunt round a few of the west coast Islands. I've never used the ferrys before and its fairly obvious that they are not big enough for the number of passengers that use them.(more of that later).

As I had broken my tooth and had an emergency dental appointment Friday morning I had to meet up with my 2 mates near Crieff before we headed onwards to Adrossan for the first of our 4 ferries this trip. We were aiming for the 1515 sailing to Arran a place I had never been before. First tip of the trip is to book your ferries in advance as they are nearly always full This meant a 2 hour wait until the next ferry and they would try and get us on. There were about 20 cars and 5 bikes that didn't get on this ferry and of those only around 7 or 8 got on the next one - happens everyday I was assured so why don't they put on a bigger ferry BAsed on this we bought all the tickets for the following days and booked sailings at the same time (which proved a fruitless excercise due to the ferry operator being a pain in the ass

On arrival at Arran we were now late and headed for our digs but found the road closed so had to take the coast road round the island which was very slow going however the scenery was very nice. We stayed in a B&B next to the Kinloch Hotel in Blackwaterfoot on the west side of Arran. The food in the Kinloch Hotel is just superb and I can't recomend it highly enough.

An early night followed and a marvelous fry up was had. Our next Ferry was from Arran to Claonaig at the mouth of Loch Fyne. The coastal route round the North side of Arran reminded me of the Antrim Coastal route and has some superb views with lovely beaches and crystal clear waters. We had a few hours so decided to do the cultural thing and went to a stone circle at Machrie woods. There are 6 circles together here and loads of discreet standing stones. It was a nice walk and a pleasnt day so went down as a result. Waiting for the ferry I had to taste the local Arran Ice cream which is as good as everyone told me, again highly recomended. We headed north towards Oban where we were meeting another pal. There should have been 2 of them but due to going over his handlebars and breaking his ribs in an enduro one of them was having a quiet weekend. The road up from Claonaig is fantastic with numerous sweeping bends on a superb surface. I didn't think life could get much better than this when I came round the corner and there qwas the harbour of Tarbet right in front of me. What a super little place this is so it was a quick u-turn and a coffee stop to take it all in.

 

[AndyT]

Pt 2

Coffee and toastie consumed we fired up the bikes and headed to Oban. That superb road leading into Tarbet just got better leaving it and we had a blast all the way to Oban where we met Doug who had ridden over from Turriff that morning. We had a short wait on then boarded the ferry to Mull from Oban and headed over to Tobermorry which was the stop for Saturday night. Tobermorry is another lovely little port and has a great pub/resteraunt on the harbour fron called the MishNish, very nice food in there although a bit pricey. It was 2300 hrs when we stopped eating and after another beer I realised I could fit nothing more in my stomach so off to bed. It seemed like 2 minutes since I had eating when the landlady called me for my "Big Boys portion of porridge"... I had a flashback to yesterday when I remember ordering a large porridge and a mega cooked breakfast How I managed to finish it I'll never know. The B&B was really great and the couple couldn't have been more helpful. The landlady was telling us of many jobs she has had over the yers one was as a Scallop diver... now thats a first for me.

Anyway, a quick ride back to FishNish for the ferrry to Lochaline and onwards to Mallaig for the ferry to Skye. There was a group of about 8 bikers on the ferry all heading back to Newcastle after a night in Tobermorry too. Quite a few GS's in the pack was it anyone here??? A very nice KTM was there to one of the SMT's. Doug had to head back to Turriff so we bade him farewell at Lochailort on the A830 Ft William to Mallaig road where he headed east and we went west to Mallaig. We had made good time as there had been no point stopping this morning as it was lashing it down and to be honest not very enjoyable. We arrived at Mallaig at 1300 hrs which was 3 hours before our booked time and asked if we could get on the earlier ferry - sorry guys its full. A group of about 8 german bikers were turned away as they had no tickets and had to ride the 140 extra miles to their digs. Our ferry was at 1600 so we were told to come back for 1545 when they would start boarding. We duly went for a cuppa then another cupa in a cafe in Mallaig with round windows like portholes and returned at 1545 to be told "The ferries full your'e too late - should have been here 30 mins before". Despite confirming we had been there 3 hours before they wouldn't let us on. The bitch (and I can only describe her as that) at the ferry terminal couldn't have been more unhelpful and smarmey... We would have to wait another 2 hours and take a chance of getting on at which point I said to myself F*ck this for a lark and informed the guys I as heading back to Aberdeen... I was livid but helpless to do anything, they wouldn't even give us a refund on the tickets. I will be sending a very strong letter of complaint to the ferry operator. Whilst we were arguing with them yet even more German bikers were turned away or told to comeback tomorrow... the ferry system is one to not rely on and make sure you are booked up front and get there early and oif possible run the staff over

Anyway, the run back from Mallaig to Fort Willaim and onwards to NewtonMore was like MotoGP as the rain had stopped We had't eaten all day so stopped for a curry in Grantown on Spey which put me back in better spirits, great value too. As I pulled into Banchory the heavens opened again so I was glad to put the bike in the garage and put the kettle on. Next run for me is GOTC in Ullapool and I can't wait

Anyway, that was my weekend which was very enjoyable to say the least.

Back offshore for a spell now and back to reality

AndyT

 

[(RIP) Nakambale]

Sounds like a good trip Andy, apart from the ferry bit that is. Not been to Arran yet, that looks like another destination for a little weekend trip

 

[doyle]

I was across on Arran a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it.A great ride round the island and the roads bi-secting it.We used the clanaig ferry also .Then got the ferry from Tarbet across to the cowal pennisula which was an area new to me,but one which i'll definately go back to.
No wonder you were pissed off at the mallaig ferry,kinda spoils the trip a bit does'nt it.

 

[Stujw70]

Lovely part of the world and a real shame about your hassles with the ferries. It obviously ruined what should have been a grand trip.

I have travelled around the outer isles many times over the years and never had any snags with the ferries, just been lucky i guess.

I'm off to Mull next month, so fingers crossed for a easy trip.

 

[AndyT]

Thanks guys.

The Ferry fiasco didn't ruin the holiday but it did put a dampner on it. Whilst I was there it was a great time and prices far better than we could ever get in Europe with beautiful Scottish scenery and most importantly midgie free

Doyle - the road that bisects the island on Arran is known as the "Stringer" and its only open from 1930-2000 in the evening and a similar duration in teh morning but not sure when. Its closed for resurfacing. Take your time and go tound the coastal route its excellent

 

[garfield]

sounds like a lovely bit of the world, ferries aside....