Clyde Turbine Steamer Foundation

Caledonian-MacBrayne Ltd (from 1973)
"Cal-Mac" inherited the fleets of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company (Clyde) and David MacBrayne Ltd (Western Isles) and quickly set about restructuring services to concentrate fully on car-ferries with drive-on-drive-off capability. A massive investment programme in new piers and, later, new ships has led to vastly improved ferry services, but the abandonment of cruising. Cal-Mac ran PS Waverley for one season before withdrawing her as uneconomic and concentrating cruising on TS Queen Mary, with support from local authority grants.
After 1977, with Queen Mary also removed from the fleet, cruises were offered most years, initially by the then spare car ferry "Glen Sannox", for some years by the small motor vessel "Keppel", then by using another "spare" car ferry, until 2000, when Cal-Mac officially announced the end of inter-resort services.
STEAMERS UNDER CALEDONIAN-MACBRAYNE OWNERSHIP

PS Waverley - withdrawn after 1973 season
Seen at Millport after leaving Cal-Mac ownership

TS Queen Mary - withdrawn after 1977 season
Photograph at Brodick courtesy of Martin Roberts

CALEDONIAN-MACBRAYNE : CLYDE CRUISING 1977 - 2000
The high cost of operating and maintaining TS Queen Mary, the competition from the revitalised PS Waverley and the loss of local government subsidies were some of the reasons for Cal-Mac bringing to an end the era of the "Clyde Steamers" after the 1977 season. The company did not want to abandon cruising completely and although the decision was taken to retire the 1933 built steamer, MV Glen Sannox, the former Arran ferry was re-engined and refurbished for cruising. She was not an ideal vessel for this, although she had reasonable covered accommodation and the large open car deck rear which in fine weather provided an unusual feature when decked out with tables, chairs and parasols. Glen Sannox could be used as a reserve car ferry at weekends in the main summer season, one of the main reasons for her being retained in the cruising role. The "Sannox" was withdrawn from cruising after the 1981 season and, for three years, Cal-Mac did not offer anything other than the regular ferry services. In 1985, the Dunoon car ferry MV Jupiter undertook mid-week afternoon cruises in July and early August.
The last purely passenger vessel to be used for Clyde cruising was MV Keppel, which had been relieved from its Largs-Millport station before the start of the 1986 season. Keppel's limited size and slow speed meant that she could not undertake the ambitious programmes of old, but offered a series of "inter-resort" links in the upper Firth and remained in this role for seven seasons. In 1993 MV Jupiter returned to offer a programme similar to that of 1985. From 1994, cruises were offered by one of the car ferries Jupiter, Juno or Saturn, with rosters fitted into their normal car-ferry schedules.
Cal-Mac announced that cruising would stop after the 2000 season, during which MV Jupiter was rostered for the cruises. The season ran from May 7th to September 24th, with cruises from the mainland railheads of Gourock and Largs to Tarbert (Thursdays and Sundays), Kyles of Bute (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), and Dunoon (Tuesdays).
CALEDONIAN-MACBRAYNE - CLYDE FERRY SERVICES TODAY
Cal-Mac's car ferry services link the Scottish mainland with the islands of Arran, Bute and Cumbrae. Whilst the Cowal peninsula is on the mainland, the short sea link from Gourock replaces a long and circuitous journey by land. Links to outlying parts of the mainland (Kintyre and Argyll) can be made from Arran and Bute respectively
For more information, go to the Caledonian-MacBrayne Website : Website Fleet list and Vessel profiles : Islands/Destinations : Timetables and Fares
Bibliography
Speed Bonny Boat : The Story of Caledonian MacBrayne Ltd under Scottish Transport Group 1969-1990
 John Whittle
Published in 1990 by Saltire Communications , 47 Queen Charlotte St, Edinburgh EH6 7EY on behalf of the STG
ISBN 0-946265-13-5
Definitive illustrated history by the former Executive Director and Deputy Chairman of Cal-Mac
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