Hi there,

I'm Elliott and I come from one of the islands served by CalMac; the Isle of Islay. I am actually still in school at the moment - I'm only 15!
I have always been interested in Caledonian MacBrayne ferries even when I was wee. As I live on Islay, the main ferry I see is the Hebridean Isles and in the summer time table I also see the Isle of Arran so get chance to take a lot of photos of these boats. The bottom picture on this page is of the Isle of Arran as she arrived at Port Ellen in summer 2006.

My Gran (Margaret Ayres) actually works in the Port Ellen terminal office so she tells me some of the history about the older boats that have come into Port Ellen over the years. From my house it is a 5-minute walk down to the pier to see the ferry coming in, and around the other side of the pier there is a good vantage point.

I also get over to Port Askaig whenever I get chance and the picture at the top on the right is of Hebridean Isles arriving there. The scenery is totally different to Port Ellen and the Paps of Jura in the background make for stunning photos.

I first got involved with the website last year when I found the Ships of CalMac website and I started putting pictures in to the albums (back when they were working). Then I started getting some fleet news on I was emailing Steve and Dave to get it put onto the news page. The guys then decided to make me the Islay Correspondent officially. (Thanks guys!)

Hebridean Isles arriving at Port Askaig

Isle of Arran approaching Port Ellen pier

Cheers,

Elliott