Low tide stops Waverley visit

Fiona Howard • Published 23 Jul 2010 09:30 Comments 1 Comment

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The Waverley

GLASGOW Fair Saturday was always synonymous with a visit to Helensburgh by the Waverley ... but not this year.

The scheduled visit by the world's last sea-going paddle steamer was cancelled because a very low tide made it impossible for her to berth at Helensburgh Pier.

And on the Thursday night previously, the visitors who embarked at Helensburgh for an evening cruise were disembarked at Greenock on the return journey and bused back to Helensburgh because of another very low tide.

A spokesman for Waverley Excursions said: "There has been an issue around the dredging of Helensburgh but a very low tide added to the problem last Thursday and Saturday.

"We are aware that dredging has been carried out and the next time the Waverley calls she will take soundings to establish how much material has been removed from the seabed.

"When Saturday's trip was cancelled we told the tourist information office and they put posters up but it was unfortunate the piper wasn't informed."

She added: "We are not anticipating any further problems with Helensburgh Pier for the rest of the season."

Meanwhile, visitors to the pier in the past week may have seen the dredger Ben Crom at work.

She has been "plough dredging" to ensure the Waverley will to be able to call according to her schedule in future.

Argyll and Bute Council chartered the Ben Crom from its owners, Coastal Works.

A council spokesman said: "The dredging is part of our maintenance regime for ensuring the berth remains open for the ferry and pleasure vessels such as the Waverley.

"We have consulted with the Queen's Harbour Master and the operation should not take longer than a week."

Work was due to be completed on Thursday and then, depending upon results, the boat may come back for a couple more days.

Howard Smallwood of Coastal Works said: "We did this on a bigger scale four or five years ago and this is just a kind of 'short back and sides' operation to keep the channels clear for the ferry and the Waverley to access the pier.

"What we are doing is sea bed levelling which means that we are scraping silt from where it is deepest and using it to fill holes elsewhere so that there is a more even depth all round."

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AndyMc
7 posts
Aug 22, 09:32
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Who is funding the dredging? Is it the council or is it the ferry company and Waverley operator who need the deep channel to operate?

I am pretty certain that if it is the council then the income generated for Helensburgh by the ferry service and Waverley visits does not cover even a small percentage of the costs.

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