Ferry Delight
July 14th, 2010 Posted in DIARY, The Other Side Of Me
Ferry for Unst, Shetland 1977
Our ferry for Tiree arriving at Oban 2010
The old and the new 1977 Scalloway Shetland
I read an article about the delight of using ferries around the British coast as part of a holiday plan. It brought back wonderful memories because I’ve done this as part of several holidays. In Shetland to see the most northerly point in Britain we crossed from Yell to Unst – a small car ferry for a short crossing. We arrived for the crossing, after a few minutes the skipper came to the car and told us the ferry wasn’t scheduled to leave for 40 minutes, then he added, ‘Bring your car on, I’ll take you over now. Plenty of time to be back for the scheduled sailing.’ That’s kindness and service for you!
I recently took an ‘evening cruise’ out of Oban to Coll and Tiree. It was a scheduled ferry service to the islands. As round trip passengers we were not allowed ashore but that wasn’t the point of the trip - it was to relax in the sea air while sailing among magnificent scenery for seven hours. For this ‘evening cruise ’ there was no need to book so you could dertermine when to go by the state of the weather. The fare also included a main course meal and a coffee.
Years ago I took the ferry that sailed from Oban round Mull, calling at Iona, Staffa and Tobermory. That was a truly wonderful trip, allowing us to go ashore at Iona and Tobermory, Staffa too if the swell had not prevented a landing. Sadly this round Mull ferry no longer operates.
Ferries dot the long Scottish coastline and with planning a great holiday can be made by island hopping. And of course there ferry services in other places around Britain that can add much to make a holiday memeorable and get to places you would otherwise have missed.
Happy sailing.