SoC
Crew
- ROAD TRIP |
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ROAD TRIP - 5 Days, 11 Islands and 700 Miles (oh and 32 Pugs!) |
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Day 1 - Monday |
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The starting point for this trip was Lochaline, and following a 7 hour drive
from Cumbria in the Flea, I, SoC's Darkstar found myself perched on the old
steamer pier in the crisp, clear sunny morning, waiting for Loch Fyne to return
from Fishnish on its first sailing of the day. Observers would have laughed had
they been awake at that point, for during the drive up I had been keeping myself
awake by means of copious bottles of the ever reliable caffeine source that is
Pepsi, and there wasn't a toilet nearby! |
Loch Fyne in the Sound of Mull |
Loch Fyne duly came across the Sound of Mull and I took the first of what would
be 2000 or so photos over the course of the trip (I'd found a setting on the
camera that allows me to take continuous shots while holding the shutter
button). The conditions were great but that wind was FREEZING!
With the ferry heading into the loch, I got back into the Flea and raced round
to the slipway. I needn't have rushed as there were only half a dozen cars and a
wagon waiting to board; not exactly much of a risk of being left behind. |
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The 0745 sailing left at, er, 0750 and the road trip properly commenced. The
crossing was uneventful and 15 minutes later I was onto the first island of the
week, Mull. I had plenty of time to kill as I didn’t need to be at Gadget Towers
until around 0900 – so more photos of Loch Fyne duly followed. |
Loch Fyne leaving Fishnish |
Inspector Gadget and the Caledonia |
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I got to Gadget Towers, home of SoC Forum head honcho, Inspector Gadget (IG) at
0915 to find him brandishing a saw and a set of pliers…I didn’t dare ask! I
parked the Flea out of the way and we loaded everything into his Corsa, renamed
the Troop Carrier, before heading down to the water to inspect a potential
future mode of transport – the good ship Caledonia. First near miss of the trip
occurred down on the jetty as Gadget pulled on the mooring rope to bring the
boat ashore – I nearly went flying as my foot was caught in the rope… A good
start that would have been to the proceedings!! |
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We set off in the Troop Carrier bound for Craignure. It was at this point that
the relevance of the saw and the pliers was revealed, as we hit the first of
Mull’s copious pot-holes in the road… A rather unnerving clunk could be heard
beneath the car – this turned out to be the exhaust pipe rattling and bouncing
up and down a foot or so beneath where we were sitting! There was talk at one
point of carrying out repairs on the road involving the saw, pliers and some
tins of baked beans of all things! Nevertheless we pressed on and got to
Craignure ready for the 1055 sailing to Oban. It was a busy sailing and we were
among the last cars to board – still, we got on which was the most important
thing (at least as far as the prospect of breakfast was concerned). |
Breakfast is served! |
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We left Craignure pretty much on time and crossed to Oban, passing the little
Eigg in the Firth of Lorn as she crossed to Mull with a fuel tanker on her
weekly extra duties and arrived in Oban at lunchtime. Feeding the Troop Carrier
was the next priority and we made a beeline for Tesco’s before heading out to
Dunollie Castle. Once up there we had the ‘pleasure’ of listening to an American
tour group being given a lecture on Gaelic ruins as Isle of Mull headed out with
the 1155 to Mull. We hung around for a while to wait for the Eigg to come back
in and took up position on the castle’s first floor away from the tourists. It
was at this point IG proclaimed he thought he had left his debit card at the
petrol station and had left his vital supply of Irn-Bru in the shop of the Isle
of Mull, along with a CD. What we didn’t realise at this point was that this
would be the first of several ‘forgetful’ moments of the trip… |
Eigg carrying petrol to Mull... |
...and returning to Oban |
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Clansman and Eigg at Oban
Lord of the Isles passing by |
With Eigg into the bay, we went back down the hill to the car and back into
town. (The debit card turned out to be sitting under the receipt right under
IG’s nose, to my amusement) We parked up in the queue for Barra in the lanes by
the Lismore ferry slipway and as Isle of Mull came in, the forgetful one went to
reclaim his beloved Irn-Bru. I was abandoned with the Troop Carrier so that its
owner could make his first use of the new gangway at the new berth… It was
fortunate for me and the woman in the red Rav 4 a few inches in front (and
Gadget’s insurance premium for that matter) that I took the car out of 1st
gear before starting the engine at boarding time! Clansman came in from
Castlebay at 1410 and I drove the car on (very gingerly, bearing in mind the big
step onto the bow ramp and the possible effect on the exhaust pipe) just after
Eigg sailed for Lismore at 1445. Gadget joined me out on deck as the clouds
built upand Clansman fired up her main engines. Departure was bang on time and
the master came over the PA system to announce his expectations of a smooth
sailing once out beyond Ardnamurchan Point.
With the prospect of nearly 5 hours sailing time I found a sheltered spot on
the open deck out of the wind. We passed Isle of Mull in the Firth of Lorn and
then Lord of the Isles off Craignure. I was amazed to find that after only 90
minutes, we were passing Tobermory and heading out of the Sound of Mull – the
mighty Clansman certainly wasn’t hanging around. |
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Even the sun came out at this point and we proceeded out towards Coll. It was at
this point that Inspector Gadget’s stomach took control of him and he went for
food, while I hit the reclining lounge on the starboard side – I awoke an hour
and a half later (well bear in mind that I had been up and about for 18
hours already by this time, as I reminded IG when he took the p*** out of me -
and for the record I wasn't snoring!). I gave up on the idea of trying to sleep
when some bloke brought some whining dog into the lounge – seriously dear
reader, the thing just would not shut up. As the Inspector points out, dogs
aren’t even supposed to be in that part of the vessel (no, it wasn’t a guide
dog, though it would have done well as a dog for the deaf!!) |
Darkstar out on deck after waking up! |
Passing Ardnamurchan Point |
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It was so clear as we passed out into the Minch and at one point we could see 10
islands from the ferry; Mull, Coll, Tiree, Barra, South Uist, Canna, Rum, Eigg,
Muck and even the Paps of Jura. The lonely white tower of the lighthouse at Oigh
Sgeir was shining in the evening light as we passed by and all too soon we were
on the final approaches to Barra, with Vatersay off to port and Barra and
Eriskay to starboard. The decks were crowded by this point as people lined up
with their cameras as we passed between the channel markers and into Castlebay
(in fact, certain individuals had their cameras trained on said channel
markers...naming no names!) |
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As unloading commenced I have to admit that I was wondering if the vibrations of
the ferry would affect the car, though mercifully it started first time and we
were able to go ashore. Naturally I wanted a few pictures of the ferry in port
so the chauffeur obliged and pulled up to let me get some shots, partially
sticking out into the road and getting in the way of much of the traffic that
had followed us off the ferry…ah well! From there it was out of Castlebay (over
speed bumps!) and onto the road to Vatersay and what has to be one of the best
viewpoints in the Western Isles, overlooking Castlebay and Vatersay. |
The approach to Barra |
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Accommodation for the night was in a B&B at the bottom of the hill below the
viewpoint where we had just been. The room had a hell of a view too, out over
the bay and an almost unobstructed view of Clansman lying at the pier and
putting her crew through their drills. The only downside of the B&B was the fact
that the bloke from Clansman with that dog was also staying there, though
thankfully the creature was to be outside in the car. It was again at this point
that Gadget's brain also went to hell as he had left his binoculars, prized copy
of Railway Magazine and another bottle of the beloved Irn-Bru on board the
Clansman, so a jaunt back round the bay to the Clansman and second time lucky he
got them back! For those of us who had been on the go for the best part of 21
hours, sleep was beckoning, while those who’d had a leisurely start from Mull at
0930 went for another wander round the village, this time on foot (probably in
search of a mobile phone signal). |
Turning to berth at the linkspan |
Clansman as seen from the Troop Carrier |
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Well that was day 1 - read on for what we got up to on day 2
HERE or scroll down further for more of the
pictures from day 1. |
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The Garvellachs seen from Clansman |
The seaplane approaching Oban |
The Inspector with his Gadget! |
Loch Fyne at Lochaline |
Passing Rubh Na Gall lighthouse |
Clansman in Castlebay |
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