A Great Day Out!

,Good Friday saw Waverley embark on her annual programme of sailings amidst the scenery of the Western Isles of Scotland.
After a delayed start at Glasgow the ship made calls at Greenock & Campbeltown before heading round the Mull of Kintyre after which she altered course for Colonsay via The Sound of Islay. 
Shortly after a call was put out for a doctor as someone had taken ill. Scottish Branch assistant secretary Shelagh Holt attended with another gent
A little while later,  having taken advantage of the 5 knot tide (the ship was achieving 19 knots over the ground) a Royal Navy Sea King appeared overhead and deposited a paramedic onto Waverley's after deck. At this point the sea king then left the scene to refuel while Waverley continued to Colonsay. On arrival at the pier the patient and paramedic disembarked to await the return of the sea king.
Waverley set sail almost immediately for Oban.  So what time do you think she arrived at Oban's North Pier?
2115 - only 45mins later than timetabled! A great effort given the challenging day. Hats off to Captain O'Brian and his crew.

Gavin Stewart

Waverley in the Western Isles 2010

I saw Waverley off from Glasgow on the Friday morning and then joined her at Oban for the Sunday evening run up to Fort William and the sailing to Tiree on the Monday.  Two days of glorious weather, great passenger numbers, good company and great sailing.

Its always good to see an orderly queue wending its way towards the gangway

At 06:50 in the morning it looks even better

After all the winter work, drydock overhaul, trials and careful planning by all involved, 

the official start of the 2010 season at 07:00 on Friday 28th May was delayed............

because the Sandwich man was late!!

Finally on the move at the start of her 2010 season.

Canting into Prince's dock entrance

Off she goes down the Clyde - or so we thought!

 A good 250/300 metres into her stride and still she won't let go of her winter berth!

The cant rope got stuck on the wooden rubbing piles on the face of the quay 

and can be seen stretching out behind Waverley. 

 Waverley finally detached from the rope and heading downriver

with the new Glasgow Transport Museum taking shape in the background.

This shot gives some impression of the potential future difficulties for Waverley,

when the Tall Ship Glenlee gets moved to her Transport Museum berth, 

where she will be lying in the river above, but to the left of,

where Waverley's port paddle box is in this photo.

Waverley arriving into a very sunny Oban bay on Sunday evening 

with the small cruise ship Quest heading out of the bay, having just

vacated the North Pier berth (and holding up Waverley with her delayed departure)

 Arriving into North pier Oban

Seeing the crowds on board I was a bit worried about there being something left to eat for my tea 
However not only was there plenty of food, but the highlight of my weekend was getting 
one of the really excellent  "Sunday lunches" for my tea - good food and travel must go together!
Well done to Craig and his team! 
 

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny with the promise of a great day.

 Waverley arriving into Oban bay after her run down from Fort William

Heading across the bay to North pier

The repainted funnels looking resplendent in the sunshine alongside Tiree pier

Waverley going astern from Tiree pier on her short cruise

Heading out from Tiree

Paddles biting in as she starts to move ahead

Returning to Tiree after her short cruise

Waverley alongside at Tiree with the David MacBrayne house flag 

(kindly supplied by her supporters from Arran) shown off to good effect above the bridge.

For many, the first weekend on Waverley is just another (or a first) day trip away somewhere.

However, for a significant number of her passengers over the whole weekend it is a chance to meet up again
with good friends and acquaintances that you said cheerio to on the last sailing day, the previous October,
or maybe even haven’t seen since the last West Highland weekend.

There is plenty of time to chat, laugh, eat and drink in good company while catching up 
on the events of the past six months and reminiscing about days and years gone bye. 

However I did think it was a bit much when I was sitting having my breakfast 
in the B&B on the Monday morning and suddenly found myself surrounded by Arranites – 
or maybe it was the scary stories I was being told about vicious Teddy Bears that put me off my “full Scottish”!! 


A larger selection of photos of Waverley and other sights and shipping seen over the weekend can be found at 

Recent Shipping Photographs

Charles McCrossan

Chairman's Blog No 11 - New Chairman, New Season, Same Challenge!

New Chairman

After two years as Chairman of the Scottish Branch, Stuart Mears decided to stand down at the recent branch AGM held on Friday 16th April in Glasgow. Having been Stuart's Vice Chairman for the same period the "baton" was handed to me for the next two years. For those of you who dont know me my name is Gavin Stewart, I live in Greenock though originally hail from West Kilbride on the Ayrshire coast.

I became involved with Waverley / PSPS in 2004 when myself and my partner Shelagh began attending Work Parties on the ship during the winter. I was asked to join the branch committee in 2005 and took over the role of Exhibitions Manager in 2006 - the same year as Shelagh came onto committee. 2008 saw me join the Council of Management of the Society and become Vice Chairman of the branch. My background is in Electrical Engineering and I currently work at Howden Process Compressors in Renfrew - originally James Howden & Co who are a long established Scottish engineering company.

So there you have it - a potted history of your new Chairman! Can I take this opportunity to thank Stuart for all his efforts during the last two years and thank him for agreeing to stay on as a member of the branch commitee. I also have the pleasure of welcoming Paul Semple on board. Paul is well known in Waverley circles and will be a great asset to the branch. Stuart Cameron also rejoins us after an absence of a year as does Michael Hughan who will continue to keep us abreast of happenings with Scotland's other paddler Maid of the Loch.

So who is the Vice Chairman I hear you ask?? Well none other than "Uncle" Peter Reid - one of the original group who set the whole thing going back in 1974. No pressure there then!!

Anyway - back to the present day and our ship!

New Season


You will have seen from the previous post that our paddler is now safely docked down in Garvel Drydock, Greenock for her annual overhaul. She is expected to emerge on Monday 10th May when she will head out to the Tail O the Bank for compass adjustment before proceeding back up river to her Glasgow Science Centre berth where work will continue to ready her for the forthcoming season which starts at 7am on Friday 28th May with the annual trip to Oban for the weekend.


This season will present the same set of challenges as before - fuel continues to be a major issue and the recent steady increase in cost at the pumps equates to a similar increase for Waverley even though she doesn't (thankfully!!) run on pump fuel!! Couple this with the unpredictable climate (at least she won't be affected by volcanic ash issues) and you can see why operating the World's Only Seagoing Paddle Steamer is no walk in the park.


We can all play a part in facing this challenge - by sailing on our ships and also encouraging others to come along and share the pleasures of a relaxing day out on the river watching the world paddle past. Leave your cares ashore and collect them on your return.............


So on that note I'll sign off - below are some more excellent shots of Waverley's trip to Greenock on Wednesday taken by Gerry Deegan.


Heres to season 2010 - see you aboard!!


Gavin Stewart

Waverley as a Music Venue

On Sunday 31st May, the Oban Gaelic Choir with the Sileas Sinclair Band, provided an evening Ceilidh Cruise from Oban to Fort William and back in what can only be described as idyllic sailing conditions. The cruise was a joint fund-raising effort between The Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival Committee and Waverley Excursions Ltd.

The evening proved a great success and although the Choir members and Band had to work throughout the eveing, they all seemed to enjoy performing on the unique platform of Waverley's deck - just between the funnels!

A few photos from the evening are below

The music and singing was so good that even the
Engineers were tempted onto deck to take the air!

Waverley is filmed as she passes through the Corran Narrows by PSPS Scottish Branch Chairman Stuart Mears and branch member John MacFarlane. They reported that the music from the decks could be clearly heard above the sound of the paddles and it is hoped that a short video clip will be posted on here in the near future.

Piper entertains on deck

Passenger transfer at Fort William - a few "sunny patches"

evidence of the great overall day enjoyed by many

Passenger transfer continues at Fort William - a very big load from the town on this occasion

Waverly swings away from Fort William Pier and
Ben Nevis appears ahead with snow still visible at the top,
despite the very hot conditions at sea level.

The crowd continues to enjoy the music on board.

A well kent "Waverley face" appears to have given up selling raffle tickets
and joined the choir instead

The sun was setting as Waverley made her way back down
Loch Linnhe towards Oban on this glorious evening

A collection of photos from the Ceilidh evening can be found here


On Monday 1st June, during Waverley's trip to Tiree, the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival treated Waverley's passengers to what was effectively the world premiere of an arrangement by Jonathan Cohen (a Waverley regular) of the ‘The Hebrides’ overture, performed by strings alone, on the leg from Oban to Tobermory.

The musicians entertain in the forward bar.
(Photo kindly supplied by Tom Carreyette)
By the time I got downstairs it was standing room only
outside the bar for what proved to be a very popular event.

Waverley and Music seem to combine together very well!

Charles McCrossan

The New Season Gets Off to a Great Start - Glasgow to Oban

First thing Friday morning and a queue of over 200 wait to board PS Waverley
on a rather grey and overcast morning - but the forecast for the weekend was good!

By now with well over 400 on board, following her calls at Greenock and

Campbeltown, Waverley rocks and rolls her way around the Mull of Kintyre.
This far it has remained grey and overcast during the voyage, despite reports from home of
loads of blue sky and sunshine back in Glasgow since we left. With a stiff (cold) breeze,
passengers remain wrapped up but Waverley is heading for that spot of blue in the distance.

A few miles can make all the difference!
Soon all the coats were coming off, the bottles of suncream were being dug out
of the bottom of rucksacks, and the cream was being liberally applied as we
enjoyed the last five or so hours of the voyage in the most idylic sailing conditions.
If only we could "bottle" such a Waverley experience!

Looking back down the sound of Kerrera as we approached Oban Bay

A sun drenched Oban Bay with Calmac's Isle of Mull and Clansman at their linkspans.

Despite all the suncream, it was a very colourful, but very satisfied, load of passengers who streamed up the gangway onto Oban North Pier, just after 20:00 hrs. It was quite amusing to hear the conversations on the pier along the lines of "Does anyone know where such and such hotel or B&B is?". However, the vast majority are seasoned travellers who stay in the same places year on year, and for these ones you had to be careful not to be trampled in the rush as they made their bee lines with trolleys and bags.

For approximately 200 of Waverley's passengers, the journey still had a fair bit to go

with return coach travel to Glasgow. The "Dodds of Troon" convoy was soon assembled
and set off back to Glasgow where we arrived just about on the dot of timetable time at 23:00
One of Dodds buses is seen here heading along the shore of Loch Etive

An advantage of the later than originally planned visit to Oban, is more hours of
daylight with the return trip to Glasgow being almost all in daylight, and through some
really lovely scenery - which compensates greatly for the necessary coach journey -
as seen above and below.

Many of the passengers returning to Glasgow on Friday night still have plans to go
back sometime over the weekend to sail again on Waverley in the Western Isles.

The Sunday evening sailing from Oban to Fort William and back has been arranged
as a Ceilidh Cruise with entertainment being provided by Oban Gaelic Choir
The cruise is intended to raise funds for both PS Waverley and
the annual Highlands and Islands Music and Dance Festival.

Details are below - the weather looks really promising and it
should be a great night of traditional Scottish entertainment.
Please come along and support the evening cruise
if you can be in Oban on Sunday night

Charles McCrossan

Waverley's Second Move of 2009 - Out of Drydock!!

(Words by Gavin Stewart, Pictures by Gerry Deegan)

Early in the afternoon of Tuesday 26th May our little paddler came out of her temporary home in Garvel Dry Dock, Greenock.

Gerry Deegan - a native of Inverclyde and a former shipyard engineer - was on hand to record the event on camera. Many thanks to Gerry for allowing the branch to use his excellent photos.

Clyde Marine tugs Boojum Bay and Beaver Bay assemble on the dock wall ready to assist.


The dry dock gates open and the tugs take up position.

Waverley's deck crew get a line out to the tug as the paddler's bow edges clear of the dry dock entrance.
Waverley looking a million dollars - glistening in the afternoon sun - complete with new Edward Waverley on her starboard paddle box. The previous one was washed away during her particularly stormy passage down the Irish Sea en route to the Solent last year. The new one was cast from a special resin by volunteer Jim the Joiner and attached last Saturday. More on this in a later article.

The tugs begin to turn Waverley and head towards Custom House Quay - a regular calling point for the ship during her Clyde season.


Coming alongside - note the bow rope already ashore. Once safely tied up works would proceed to ready her for passengers on Friday 29th May.

Whilst all the attention was on Waverley the vessel with which she had shared the dry dock with for the past 8 days - Irish roro ferry Foyle Rambler emerged and headed down river eventually out to sea to return to Ireland. Must have been interesting when she got to open sea!!

So there you have it - the plan is for her to sail on trials with an MCA surveyor on today before heading back up river to her berth at Glasgow Science Centre where she will welcome her first passengers of 2009 on board on Friday - sailing at 0700 to Oban.

Heres hoping for good weather!!!

Gavin Stewart
Vice Chairman - Scottish Branch