A Day Trip to Orkney on 8th April 2009.
From the starboard lounge window on board the Pentalina – the new cataraman providing the RoRo ferry service from Gills Bay on the Mainland to Orkney - her passengers were all looking at seals and seabirds among the waves as they crashed against the west coast of Stroma past which the ferry was heading for Orkney. Out of the corner of my eye as we passed the lighthouse I caught sight of a really impressive stretch of overfalls.
I was at that moment putting a telephone call through to a friend on Islay.
I was connected just as we entered the overfalls. I anticipated some serious motion and braced myself as I squeaked “ Wish you were here!”
John asked “ Where are you?”
As the Pentalina had by this time skipped through the overfalls without my coffee spilling a drop, I had left the paper cup on the shelf to grab the self same shelf to steady myself for the expected bounce which never came, my composure returned immediately and I said, trying to suppress my excitement “ On board the Pentalina. Weve just cut through overfalls off Stroma and are heading for Orkney ”
John exploded, “You lucky devil !” He promptly followed this with a series of questions which I tried to answer as best I could, and I am now trying to put these answers down on paper to reflect my experiences of the my daytrip to Orkney.
We both had been following the fortunes of the Pentalina on the internet almost from its conception and had grown more excited by the potential of this innovative ground breaking vessel
for the people of Orkney and also by implication for Islay and other west coast island communities
I am coming up to my seventieth summer and one thing I do know about is ferries. I’ve being doing the Islay run for at least 68 years. I’ve been on the biggest ferry across the Atlantic – the Q.E.2 and the smallest ferry across the Clyde – the Govan Ferry, each carrying out its service in its own particular way and each eventually reaching obsolesence.
I have also travelled on the high speed Cats from Folkstone to Boulogne in all weathers. In rough weather they have a peculiar and sometimes disconcerting motion. I was really interested therefore to experience the trip on the Pentalina. Because her design speed is much slower, she has a maximum (published speed ) of 19.7 knots and is designed to carry 350 passengers and up to 58 cars or 9 articulated lorries.
The day was misty with continuous light rain. A 2 to 3 metre swell was coming in from the west with a north west wind of about 14 knots yet there was no appreciable motion as we crossed the Pentland Firth. The only shelter outside was on the top deck in the lee of the bridge so there were not many passengers on this outward trip braving the elements, preferring the comfort of the lounges.
About half way to St Margaret’s Hope I fell into conversation with a local. He’d been off for a short holiday and he was thrilled by the new ferry experience. He told me that the whole enterprise was run by a Mr Andrew Banks and that although the Pentalina got no support such as North Link enjoys from the Scottish government, the Pentland Ferries fares were much cheaper and the route was much more convenient. He hoped that Mr Banks would get help and he quoted Mr Banks as saying that if he got his proportional share of the support the other company was getting he could let Orcadians travel for nothing. I replied that when Western Ferries were running to Islay , Sir William Lithgow had said something similar only he proposed in addition to the free trip, a dinner and theatre tickets as well. This made the Orcadian laugh.
Rain or no rain, I was really enjoying myself and popped down to pay my single passenger ticket, which cost £13, to Catherine Banks a pretty 21 year old and the owner’s daughter at her ticket office, then proceeded to buy a another cup of coffee – no strong drink – and a bacon roll at the refreshment bar where everything seemed to cost £1. The soup of the day was Leek and Potato and the bar is manned by a cook and a steward. The food was certainly up to Macbraynes standard fare but without the range and, as I have indicated at nothing like the cost.
By the time I swallowed my purchases we were running in with North Ronaldsay on the starboard side. I was really impressed by the neat, well laid out, beautifully kept small farms and as we turned into St.Margaret’s Hope Bay there was the “Claymore” uncommonly like the old “Pioneer”, lying on the other side of slip where we quickly berthed. The journey had taken less than an hour because we left Gill’s Bay on the dot at 1345 hours and there I was, walking along the road to the village by 1445 hours.
I had something to eat in the village and before I knew it I was back at the pier. By now the skies had cleared, the sun was out and the Pentilina was there loading up to complete the round trip to the mainland leaving again at 1700 hours precisely.
We were soon at sea spanking along. I was in great form because the Cat seemed so well designed for the elements she was operating in. To the inexperienced eye she sliced through the sea making little disturbance though her propulsion units made up for this at the stern. My day, already packed with stimuli, was about to take on another interesting turn in that I got into conversation with a young couple who had joined the Pentilina for the trip to the mainland. They had been camping but because of the recent incessant rain were heading home early to Edinburgh. They both were excited and pleased with the Cat. In our conversation I mentioned that I had seen her sister ship the “Iona” last Saturday at Kennacraig where she was helping out on the Islay run. The young man immediately told me that his granny had once lived on Islay. It turned out that he was the late Tom Jarret’s grandson. Most islanders will remember Mr. Jarret well as the resident vet on whose skills the Islay farming community relied for many years.
One thing that brought me down to earth as we quickly passed between the Pentland skerries and the east coast of Stroma was the onslaught of some heavy squalls coming in on a rising wind as we neared the terminal at Gills bay. The strength of the wind would make for a difficult landfall given the Pentalina’s high profile. I anticipated therefore that she would give the breakwater two or three good thumps before she slotted into her berth. I could not have been more wrong. The officer conned her as if she was an “artic” and in no time we were disembarking again on time.
What a day! As a ferry crossing it was in a class of its own partly due to the exciting route but the major part was due to the “Orkney” cat and its support systems. Two things really impressed me on the trip. Firstly the way the tea stayed put as the Pentalina handled the overfalls and secondly the ease with which the ship was docked in a difficult wind on her return to Gills Bay. It may be coincidence it seemed to point to the Pentalina having the capacity to demonstrate SWATH technology i.e. the ability to remain stable in rough weather – thereby avoiding seasickness - the other outstanding feature of this technology was the ability to turn in her own length and by use of bow thrusters to park literally on a sixpence. If the design of the boat therefore helps prevent seasickness, that coupled with the short crossing given the Pentland Firth’s savage reputation will mean a significant operational advantage on the route as the public grasps this fact. Hopefully this will be the outcome.
I felt the whole enterprise mirrored the Western Ferries startup in the late sixties with the “Sound of Islay” only with a new concept of vessel. Unfortunately then Western Ferries had to face the combined might of the establishment who did not take to the concept of low cost ferries with their no frills approach. In view of the unfair and unjust treatment meted out to the company they eventually withdrew. They have had the last laugh in a way because of the years of success they have enjoyed on the Clyde.
That was then, but this is now and we as a country are in a very different situation. The source of taxation is drying up and the only way out of our mess is, we are told again and again, to reward entrepreneurship and to cut public expenditure.
I came north to see the new technology and have been mightily impressed, but what really impressed me most was to find a blaze of free enterprise and industry driven by a young Orcadian. This should be a beacon to the country as a whole. In the state this country is in where the Government can hand billions of our taxes to support the failed Banks of Scotland, they better make sure that the Banks of Orkney at least get a share of the taxes which support North Link. The local people and their representatives must see to it that this is done, principally for their island’s future.
Finally as I reluctantly headed south again, I was encouraged by the feeling that I had glimpsed the future and I hope that the islands of the West which I love will follow where Orkney leads.
By the way I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Andrew Banks himself – in his oil stained company boilersuit, just as he stepped off the “Claymore” which he had been preparing for sea.
Fair winds to Orkney, Pentland Ferries and the Pentalina.
Archie Mactaggart
