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The Mantis

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On 12/27/2019 at 9:06 PM, TheMantis said:

Anyway, the Suilven. She was a terrible sea boat as she was bought off the peg from Norway. She was a twin and was intended for the fjords. Kind of flat-bottomed I think. Wonder who Brian Wilson can blame for that. She had berths, which I used only once, from Stornoway. They roused you at 6am or whatever to put your car aboard which kind of defeated the purpose.  She was fitted later with stabilisers which didn't half bang in a swell. She went to the Cook Strait and later was sold to Suva in Fiji where she sank in 2015, thankfully with no casualties. I only seem to have one photo, for all the times I travelled, and it's not a very good one. 

When I was going through old photos recently, I came across these two photos of the Suilven.  Taken by my father in 1975 or 1976, at Stornoway, I think.

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This one below is a couple of frames later on the film.  Even on the full-size version, I can't read the name.  The weather looks different, and maybe it's not Stornoway?  My father worked for the Highland Health Board and used to visit the hospital in Stornoway, but also one further south which was run by nuns.  Maybe more - I can't remember.

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1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

When I was going through old photos recently, I came across these two photos of the Suilven.  Taken by my father in 1975 or 1976, at Stornoway, I think.

 

 

 

This one below is a couple of frames later on the film.  Even on the full-size version, I can't read the name.  The weather looks different, and maybe it's not Stornoway?  My father worked for the Highland Health Board and used to visit the hospital in Stornoway, but also one further south which was run by nuns.  Maybe more - I can't remember.

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The first two are pretty obviously Stornoway, the old No 1 Pier. And the ferry always berths stern-in at SY and bow-in at Ullapool.

The 3rd one was a puzzle until I flipped it over. Hey presto, we're looking East along the shore, and the building with the 3 chimneys is Battery Point Power Station 😎 
...and most of the buildings match present day, especially the two on the far left.
No idea about the boat though. But somebody on the Stornoway FB page will know.

 

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The Suilven is in Stornoway at the old pier which is now used for freight.  The smaller ferry is in Stornoway you can see the 3 chimneys on the power station but no idea what the boat is, Mantis might know.  

Slightly off topic.  The hospital run by Nuns would be the Sacred Heart Hospital in Daliburgh, South Uist which is now a care home where I used to visit a cousin when I was on my travels.  They kept the main part of the building built in 1894 demolished the rest and built the home.

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13 hours ago, TheMantis said:

The 3rd one was a puzzle until I flipped it over. Hey presto, we're looking East along the shore, and the building with the 3 chimneys is Battery Point Power Station 😎 
...and most of the buildings match present day, especially the two on the far left.
No idea about the boat though. But somebody on the Stornoway FB page will know.

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Thanks, guys!  It was clearly slides that I was scanning, and sometimes there weren't obvious markings on the mounts to show which way round they should be.

Flipping the original, I can easily read it, and it is the "Kyleakin" out of Glasgow.

Was introduced in 1970, and, not surprisingly, used on the old Skye crossing.   "Kyleakin" and her sister "Lochalsh" were normally overhauled at Fleming's yard in Stornoway.

Much more info at http://www.shipsofcalmac.co.uk/h_kyleakin.asp

Edited by snorbens_caleyman
Additional info.
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2 hours ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

Thanks, guys!  It was clearly slides that I was scanning, and sometimes there weren't obvious markings on the mounts to show which way round they should be.

Flipping the original, I can easily read it, and it is the "Kyleakin" out of Glasgow.

Was introduced in 1970, and, not surprisingly, used on the old Skye crossing.   "Kyleakin" and her sister "Lochalsh" were normally overhauled at Fleming's yard in Stornoway.

Much more info at http://www.shipsofcalmac.co.uk/h_kyleakin.asp

I was just about to say it was probably the Kyleakin as the Lochalsh had large gantries front and back.
We had a discussion on the Stornoway Facebook page where a couple of people were helpful. Some real nonsense spouted there though. Amazing how many people don't read the post or the replies before jumping in.

Both of these boats are in Ireland now.

Below is the Kyleakin from the Lochalsh which I took in 1990, and a postcard of the Lochalsh as I don't seem to have any of my own 🤷‍♂️

IBM can do the cars even if there's only wing mirrors showing. I think the light blue one is a Vauxhall Victor?

 

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8 hours ago, TheMantis said:

I was just about to say it was probably the Kyleakin as the Lochalsh had large gantries front and back.
We had a discussion on the Stornoway Facebook page where a couple of people were helpful. Some real nonsense spouted there though. Amazing how many people don't read the post or the replies before jumping in.

Both of these boats are in Ireland now.

Below is the Kyleakin from the Lochalsh which I took in 1990, and a postcard of the Lochalsh as I don't seem to have any of my own 🤷‍♂️

IBM can do the cars even if there's only wing mirrors showing. I think the light blue one is a Vauxhall Victor?

 

 

 

The blue and red cars are both Vauxhall Viva Mk2 & the yellow one is a Ford Capri.  In Stornoway there is an Austin Maxi and green Bedford CF van :wink:

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Not a ferry but I will sneak it in.  At anchor in the inner Moray Firth on a hazy evening 'Le Grand Bleu' is a superyacht. She is 36th longest private yacht in the world, at 113-metre in length is longer than all the Calmac fleet except the Loch Seaforth which is 5m longer!   

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21 hours ago, IBM said:

Not a ferry but I will sneak it in.  At anchor in the inner Moray Firth on a hazy evening 'Le Grand Bleu' is a superyacht. She is 36th longest private yacht in the world, at 113-metre in length is longer than all the Calmac fleet except the Loch Seaforth which is 5m longer!   

IMG_7637.JPG

Must be huge, looks deceptively small in the photo. Saw a huge yacht in Ullapool a few years ago, think it was American.  Need to see if I can find the photo.

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googled it - and in other pictures it does look massive ... the two platforms between the "small" boat in the middle (and the similar sized yacht on the other side) are both heliports ! https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-23126/le-grand-bleu.htm

(Man, there are some seriously expensive dreams to wish for on that site - $3.8m per week for one of them !)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just discovered that the Cromarty boat since 2016 used to be the Renfrew Ferry, called Renfew Rose. The thing crossing the Clyde now is a wee passenger thing like a pram. I got a photo in March 2010 before it was taken away to Ireland for 6 years but  can't remember if I went there on purpose or if I was just jammy.

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Here is a monster ferry that passed through the Pentland firth last week heading for Denmark from the USA.  It would have been great to see, I didn't get a photo just seen it on Marine Traffic website.

 

BOHEME.jpg

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On 9/26/2020 at 9:45 PM, IBM said:

Here is a monster ferry that passed through the Pentland firth last week heading for Denmark from the USA.  It would have been great to see, I didn't get a photo just seen it on Marine Traffic website.

 

BOHEME.jpg

Wow 😱

Looked it up. Built in Korea 1999. Can carry 7200 cars...

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On 9/26/2020 at 9:45 PM, IBM said:

Here is a monster ferry that passed through the Pentland firth last week heading for Denmark from the USA.  It would have been great to see, I didn't get a photo just seen it on Marine Traffic website.

 

BOHEME.jpg

That’s a big brute. The cars are like matchboxes. 

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