Isle of Arran (almost) and irritating berthing

Departing Troon, the more normal grey gloomy stuff had returned. The port had an interesting bridge that was sitting on a barge connecting fresh air to fresh air:

We hope that no-one tries to drive that piece of construction plant across it - they could have a nasty surprise.

One amusing thing about Troon harbour is how it tries to help people who are not that confident in their navigation. This is at the entrance, something we haven't seen on a harbour before:

It welcomes the odd timber carrying ship, the local fishing boats and a few pleasure boats visiting the marina but helps confirm that the GPS has been working properly. Troon entrance also had a most imperious looking cormorant fisherman who gave the local seagull a cold shoulder:

We nipped out before the fast cat ferry departed. She has a very chequered history, including holding the speed record for an Eastbound Atlantic crossing for a short time. Have a look at Wikipedia entry. We remember the Caterpillar service man from Poole telling us about the many repairs they had to make to the engines on board following poor operating procedures and servicing in the Mediterranean:

4 x 9,655HP engines probably use a little more fuel per mile than we do and require a little more service work. You could probably buy our main engine for the cost of an oil and filter change on the ferry.

We toddled over to the Isle of Arran and into the anchorage at Lamlash, behind Holy Isle. The wind meant that we had a reasonably sheltered spot and in a reasonable depth too. (The bottom shelves quite quickly so if the wind is offshore and the anchor drags, you end up in deeper water with little chance for the anchor to dig in again. If it blows onshore and the anchor breaks free, there is a good chance it will take hold again as it pulls into shallower water. You just have to hope that it does so before you go aground!) Here is Lamlash from the anchorage. The anchor ball you can see was put in position to make the crew happy - we bought it ages ago and never seem to bother to use it (of course, we show a light at night!)

For the real boat spotters, you can also see the snubber line and see that the anchor chain is loose - all the boat's weight is held by the snubber which runs through a D ring close to the waterline to give a quieter and better time at anchor.

After lunch we built the "rubber flubber" dinghy, exhumed the little egg whisk outboard from the lazarette and got it all going. Naturally this coincided perfectly with a wind direction shift and significant increase in speed. Hum. The initial plan of leaving the boat at anchor and going ashore became diluted to "dropping off the crew and the captain returning just in case". This became further diluted to "retrieve the dinghy and head off" as the wavelets got bigger and the thought of a trip in the dinghy became less and less appealing.

So much for Lamlash and the weather forecast.

Instead, we headed back across to the mainland - to Ardrossan as the completion of the heater service / repair was due shortly anyway. That resulted in this strange course:

Clyde Marina  in Ardrossan really frustrated us though. Having booked the berth (we are a bit big and fat and heavy for their finger berths so they needed to plan a spot for us) we were told that "maybe the hammerhead on D would be free". Maybe? Do they run the place or what? Of course, it wasn't free and the slightly brusque lady on the radio (not the nice one who looked after us last time) said "all I can offer you is a berth on F pontoon". So much for pre-booking and making sure they knew all about us. We backed onto a short finger berth and spent ages building a cats cradle of mooring lines trying to hold the bow in place on the short finger. Luckily the overnight wind was forecast to be gentle. Of course, the entire pontoon had no power so we had to call the helpful night watchman guy who fixed that. Mrs Brusque had already gone home (luckily for her).

The following morning when we asked the nice lady for a proper berth was a wonderful example in how not to manage customers by the marina manager and a great example in how to do it properly from a staff member, whilst Mrs Brusque sat feebly defending herself. It was most amusing watching the manger dig himself a big hole in true Basil Fawlty style and went something like:

Manager: we always put 15m boats on those 12m fingers - you are fine there

Captain: Don't think so, we cannot secure the bow properly if the wind picks up

Manager: but those berths are fine, never had a problem before, I can come and look at your mooring lines if you'd like to prove it to you?

Captain: Feel free, I don't think you will find a solution though.

Staff member, who had figured out which boat we were: Er, how long are you staying?

Captain: As this conversation goes on, less and less time...

Staff member: There is an alongside berth free until Sunday just here (pointing). I think that you will fit in OK

Manager (daylight dawning slowly): Which boat are you from then?

Captain: The Nordhavn trawler yacht over there. We are a good 40 tons and hanging on that little finger

Manager: Oh. I am so sorry, I didn't realise what the boat was, would you like a hand with the lines when you move etc etc.

He turned into a Basil Fawltyesque apologetic heap instantly. Most amusing. Shame how he forgot the "what boat" question right up front before he started lecturing a customer.....

For foreign readers (and anyone who likes a good piece of old TV), look at Basil handling a complaint video for an idea of the behaviour and a laugh too.