Liberian flagged RUNNER and Gibraltar registered TRITON at Port of Ayr, Scotland

This image was taken at 1210 on 26 September 2022 at the Port of Ayr, Firth of Clyde, Scotland, U.K.

RUNNER is on the right hand side of the image and had arrived at Ayr at 0900 on 26 September 2022 with a cargo of Road Salt from Kilroot (Northern Ireland).  Three hours after this image was taken RUNNER left Ayr for Campbeltown (Scotland) to load a cargo of logs.

TRITON on the left hand side of the image and further back from RUNNER had arrived at Ayr at 1055 on 25 September with a cargo of large cylindrical wind turbine components from Golcuk (Turkey).

Liberian flagged RUNNER and Gibraltar registered TRITON at Port of Ayr, Scotland

This image was taken at 1210 on 26 September 2022 at the Port of Ayr, Firth of Clyde, Scotland, U.K.

RUNNER is on the right hand side of the image and had arrived at Ayr at 0900 on 26 September 2022 with a cargo of Road Salt from Kilroot (Northern Ireland).  Three hours after this image was taken RUNNER left Ayr for Campbeltown (Scotland) to load a cargo of logs.

TRITON on the left hand side of the image and further back from RUNNER had arrived at Ayr at 1055 on 25 September with a cargo of large cylindrical wind turbine components from Golcuk (Turkey).

Wind turbine blades which have been unloaded at Port of Ayr (Scotland)

RUNNER leaves Ayr (Firth of Clyde) for Campbeltown (Kintyre, Scotland, U.K.)

Pilot boat SCOTIA at Ayr following outbound RUNNER to land the Pilot

Ayr pilot vessel SCOTIA practices a man overboard / rescue exercise at Ayr dock entrance

   Ayr pilot vessel SCOTIA was returning to port after taking the pilot from the outbound cargo ship RUNNER.

   As SCOTIA was entering Griffin Dock the crew of the pilot vessel conducted a man overboard / rescue exercise by throwing an orange coloured lifebuoy from the boat into the water and the vessel quickly turned and retrieved the lifebuoy.

Caledonian MacBrayne's BUTE leaves Wemyss Bay Pier for Rothesay

   BUTE had left Wemyss Bay pier on her normal service to Rothesay (Isle of Bute) and had to turn to starboard (right) to give way and pass astern of the container ship MSC UMA which had left Greenock container terminal for Portbury in the Bristol Channel (England) and was outbound at full speed from the Clyde.

   MSC UMA was passing the town of Innellan on the other side of the Clyde and is a bit difficult to see clearly in the third image.

Western Ferries SOUND OF SOAY at McInroy's Point, Gourock loading for Hunter's Quay

ARKLOW BRAVE passing Greenock and heading up the River Clyde to load scrap metal at Glasgow

FRI LIEPAJA passing James Watt Dock entrance, Greenock on her way up the River Clyde to Glasgow

Caledonian MacBrayne's ISLE OF LEWIS leaves James Watt Dock, Greenock after maintenance

ISLE OF LEWIS had been undergoing drydocking and maintenance at Dales Marine Services facility at Greenock, and, after fuelling and storing, with a Clyde Pilot in attendance, was assisted from James Watt Dock by the tug CMS BOXER and left the Clyde to resume her duty roster on the Castlebay to Oban service.

Two metal wall plaques

Contributed by Engineer Joe , Merseyside, England

   After leaving the sea I joined the railways and have now retired.   Last week at a market saw these two plaques for sale.

   There were no mates like her in Lamport & Holt Line.

Some memories of my time at sea on British general cargo ships / freighters. Part 1

Some memories of my time at sea on British general cargo ships / freighters.

       Contributed by a reader.

   These recollections from the 1960s are in no particular order. They were on various ships and at various times. 

Part 1

STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR

   The Strait of Gibraltar is the 8-mile (15km) wide stretch of water which separates the southern coast of Spain at Tarifa and Morocco on the north coast of Africa.   Think of it like a small neck of a very large bottle.

   It’s always very busy with ships going into and out of the Mediterranean Sea.

But at night there was an added complication, and remember this was in the 1960’s.   Small but very very fast motor boats / launches would cross the Strait, without showing any lights, and would weave between the ships, sometimes passing close astern.   I asked a Gibraltar Pilot about the motor launches.   He said that the boats were smuggling hashish and guns / weapons and people into Spain from beaches in Morocco.

   And the weather.   In the early summer mornings there was often a dense fog on the Strait, stretching for miles.   Some called it fog, others called it “Sea Smoke” (= when the temperature of the water is warmer than the air, and the air becomes misty or foggy).   This fog / sea smoke extended upwards for miles from the surface of the water, and only the tops of the High Atlas mountains on the African side could be seen.

GIBRALTAR

   What a beautiful place.  It’s just like being back in England.   Same shops, pubs, language, food, newspapers, police, telephones ……

   The ship was berthed at one of the moles in the harbour, discharging cargo for the British Army Base.  It was quite breathtaking to have The Rock towering over the town.   I always enjoyed my visits to Gibraltar.

   Which reminds me of something which only obliquely relates to Gibraltar.

  A good few years ago my wife and I had a summer holiday (= vacation) in the town of Torremolinos on the Costa del Sol in the south of Spain.

   I remember it was a Saturday and we went on a day coach trip to Gibraltar and did the touristy things, shopping, climbed the Rock to see the apes, had a British steak pie lunch and a boat trip to see the dolphins in the Bay.

   Then back to Torremolinos.

   Our rather classy hotel had entertainment shows every evening, and this week had performances by absolutely fabulous first-class Flamenco dancers. The men were tall, slim and very powerful and the ladies were astonishly beautiful and were so slender and amazingly gifted to produce such dancing.  No wonder they were the top group in Spain.

   So my wife and I hurridly changed clothes and went to the open-air theatre and got a good table near the stage, eagerly awaiting the Flamenco show.

   Showtime.   The curtains lifted and the compere appeared.   Apparently that evening was a special performance by an Irish Boy Band.  Rapturous applause from the audience.

   The Boy Band came on and sang their songs.   Now I honestly do not know the name of the band, wife thinks it was Boyzone or Westlife or a Tribute crowd, but they blasted out their stuff with Irish accents.

   The interval came, and one of the Band circulated around the audience with a microphone.   “Where are you from?”   The people at the table would say London or Liverpool or Manchester, and the audience cheered loudly.

   The Band Boy was getting near to our table and my wife whispered to me not to say anything. If he asks.

   Of course, you guessed, he did stop at our table and held the microphone in front of me.   He asked where were we from. “Glasgow”, I replied.   Big cheer from the audience.   “And what do you think of the show?”   I felt my wife kicking me under the table.  “Well” I said, “I only came here tonight because I thought it was the Flamenco that was on.”   The audience was silent for a moment then burst out laughing.

   The Boy seemed rather astonished, but recovering, asked if I had enjoyed the show.    “Not really” I answered, “your singing isn’t my cup of tea, you are all singing in tune but you sound like a bunch of wee girls singing.”

   My wife elbowed me in the side and that ended my appreciation of the musical talents of the Boy Band.

   But for the rest of the holiday other guests in the hotel kept stopping me and saying how much they laughed at my remarks.

PORT SAID  (Egypt)

   The ship anchored in the anchorage off the fairway channel to Port Said, and passenger liners heading southbound were given precedence through the port to the Suez Canal.

   Our ship was discharging some cargo here, and this was the only place where we did a Mediterranean Moor for unloading.   A Mediterranean Moor is essentially when a vessel backs her stern onto the berth and her head is held outwards with both anchors out ahead.  Essentially the ship is positioned 90 degrees off the berth.

   Wooden floating rafts joined loosely together in a line stretched haphazardly from the wharf to the ship’s gangway for the dockworkers.   It crossed my mind to try walking along these rafts, but seeing the amount they rocked, I wisely decided not to try.   Bum boat men in their tiny canoes came alongside offering fruit and goods and trinkets and postcards for sale.

   The Suez Canal searchlight was brought out of storage, installed and tested.

What is the Suez Canal Searchlight ?

   Remember this is in 1960s.   Every day, by day and night, ships pass through the canal.   They travel one following another in a convoy procession, with passenger liners at the front, and the ships leave a certain distance between themselves and the one in front.

   A Suez Canal searchlight is an essential requirement for vessels using the Canal, and is a large light, fixed at the bow of the ship and is capable of projecting a large and powerful beam ahead of the ship.   After transiting the Canal the searchlight can be removed from the bow and stored until needed again.

   Also at each end of the Canal one or two small mooring boats and their crews were hoisted onto ships before they entered the canal, and they were carried for emergency use if the ship had to stop or moor in the canal and the boat(s) would be quickly lowered and take mooring ropes to mooring posts / pawls / bollards situated on the sides of the Canal.

To be continued

Caledonian MacBrayne's CORUISK arrives at Wemyss Bay from Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Firth of Clyde

CORUISK was relieving on the Wemyss Bay to Rothesay route while the usual vessel BUTE was undergoing maintenance at Garvel Drydock, Greenock.

Apologies for the poor quality of the images.   The weather was not exactly suited for taking good photographs.   Very  heavy overcast, dull and poor light and light showers, occasionally heavy, poor visibility and strong blustery southerly wind.