Autumn 2013 Aboard the Waverley
Words
by Martin Longhurst
Waverley’s voyage south started later than it could have owing to high
winds. Nevertheless she arrived at
Weymouth in good time for her inaugural cruise to Southampton via Bournemouth
on Friday 6 September 2013. Good
weather accompanied her first Round the Island sailing the following day and
her revised Sunday schedule from Southampton to Yarmouth, Bournemouth and
Swanage for a non-landing cruise to Lulworth
Cove. This was a new feature for a Sunday
as this year the timetable had been adjusted to take into account of the newly
restricted depth of water at Bournemouth.
Consequently only one Sunday cruise was due to reach Weymouth and some
of the timings on Tuesdays and Thursdays were retarded to get a better fit with
the tides.
Monday was an off-service day at Southampton before the weekly cycle
commenced on Tuesday at Swanage for a trip to Bournemouth, Yarmouth and Round
the Island. On her return to the Purbeck port, the paddler ran light to Weymouth ready for
her Wednesday schedule. This took her to
Swanage, Bournemouth and Ryde for a Portsmouth Harbour cruise. Weymouth passengers were returned there by
coach, while the steamer spent the night alongside at Swanage. An early light run took her to Portsmouth
for her Thursday trip to Yarmouth, Bournemouth and Swanage to view Lulworth Cove. On
this occasion firing was suspended on the return passage for passengers to
enjoy close views of the Jurassic Coast.
A short light run to Southampton, to position for the weekend’s
sailings, ended the day.
Friday was the normal cruise to Portsmouth and Yarmouth for a Needles
cruise, while the cycle started again for a Round the Island sail. However, there was concern about an
approaching depression and although the cruise ended in calm conditions, the
forecast high winds arrived overnight.
Unfortunately this meant the outright cancellation of three days’
schedules. It was planned to resume on
Wednesday and Waverley positioned to Weymouth on Tuesday afternoon in lively
conditions. However, the burner
gremlins struck, necessitating the fitting of some spare parts which took about
two hours. Reluctantly it was decided
to return to Southampton light once repairs had been completed.
The forecast for Thursday was poor but the steamer left Portsmouth with
high hopes. However, it quickly became
clear that conditions were deteriorating again and, following consulting a ship
out at sea, Captain O’Brian decided to turn back without calling at
Yarmouth. Speed was reduced as the
paddler headed back east. It was very
pleasant on deck with the following wind until the forecast rain came. Rounding Bembridge
Ledge it became apparent that open sea was quite rough as the steamer headed
for the shelter of Sandown Bay to turn.
She tied up at Portsmouth at 16.00 and the option of a one-way trip to
Southampton was offered.
The weather was fine again on Friday and a good load was taken to The
Needles. The weekend’s sailings went
ahead as planned, again with good numbers, although visibility was poor. While steaming eastward on Saturday between
St Catherine’s Point and Ventnor, Captain O’Brian spotted a surf boarder giving
the international distress signal (i.e. waving with both arms). While Waverley steamed in a circle, he
radioed the Coastguard to raise the alarm.
The immediate response was from a kayaker who started towing the surf
board towards a slipway. Waverley was
asked to stand by and after a few minutes a catamaran fishing vessel arrived on
the scene and took the exhausted surf boarder on board. Waverley was then released by the Coastguard
and continued with her cruise. The event
was reported on local media and the wind surfer made a donation to Waverley’s
funds.
Sunday’s sail to Lulworth was fogged in west
of St Alban’s Head, with no sign of the coast at all through the mist. Visibility was still poor on Tuesday as the
paddler steamed light to Swanage.
However, the mist gradually cleared throughout the sailing. The Weymouth cruise took place as planned
but tricky weather returned on Thursday with a strong easterly breeze building
up a swell. This led to the calls at
Bournemouth and Swanage being missed.
The decision to do this has to balance a number of factors, with safety
being the first concern. If the steamer
rolls when alongside, the gangways can range around with the potential to
injure less agile passengers. Then there
is the risk of damage to either ship or pier which can both be expensive to
rectify and disruptive to schedule. Finally,
there is the risk of not making the second call leading to expensive
alternative arrangements to get passengers home. This was a major concern on this occasion as
the wind was forecast to increase later, although the reality was that it died
away. So everyone on board was treated
to the run west to Lulworth. On the return leg, the coast was left behind
at Durleston Head as the steamer struck out for The
Needles, giving the chance for about 50 minutes ashore in Yarmouth before the
final voyage back to Portsmouth concluded the South Coast season.
Here, Captain Steve Colledge joined the
bridge crew before the ship steamed through the night to anchor off Whitstable
early on Friday morning. As Whitstable
Harbour is tidal, Waverley was not able to go alongside for bunkers and to load
passengers until late afternoon.
Nevertheless, she was able to carry a good crowd on a single trip to
Tower Pier at 18.00.
Saturday 28 September 2013 saw an early start at 09.15 for a return
trip to Clacton from Tower Pier – the longest of the Thames sails. There were calls at Gravesend and Southend
en route and a round trip was also offered on the return run from Clacton. As part of a trend, the weather forecast had
been unpromising but it had turned out quite a nice day with reasonable
numbers. Sunday saw the paddler’s first
visit to the River Medway for 2013 – indeed it was the first by any paddler
this year. Again there were calls at
Gravesend and Southend. The absence of
suitable tugs meant that the steamer was only able to proceed just upstream of
Thames Port before turning. Unusually
there was not a single ship at any of the Medway berths! A ‘Twinkling Thames’ round
trip was given from Gravesend to Tower and back in the evening.
Monday was spent off service at Gravesend, whence Waverley sailed to
Southend and Clacton for a River Blackwater cruise
and coach return. So she was now
positioned for her Wednesday sail upriver from Harwich and Clacton to London,
again with coach return. Back to
Gravesend for a day off on Thursday before positioning eastward to Margate to
offer an upriver sail on Friday.
Unfortunately a strong southerly breeze blew up during the day which
precluded the calls at Whitstable and Southend, although several large coach
parties from Southend and Whitstable were redirected to join the steamer at
Gravesend. On arrival at Tower Pier,
the passengers were taken home by coaches (either their own or WEL’s) before the participants in the London Branch’s
annual charter boarded the paddler.
Against expectation, the result from this cruise was positive, much to
the relief of its organiser, Roddy McKee.
Saturday was the unusual one-and-a-half round trips between London and
Southend. The first leg mainly took
one-way passengers on a non-stop trip from Tower Pier to Southend. Having disembarked these passengers, nearly
a full load of return passengers boarded at the end of the longest pier in
Britain. Leaving the intermediate call
at Gravesend there were only 12 places left unfilled. In glorious sunny weather, the paddler
steamed upstream through Tower Bridge, stemmed the tide for half an hour, and
then returned eastward. Following her
arrival back at Southend, Waverley steamed through the night without passengers
to Harwich to be ready for the following days trip to London, arriving not long
after midnight.
Sunday was the occasion of a rare full tide test of the Thames
Barrier. This prevented the usual
weekend offerings of two return trips from Tower Pier on the Saturday and the
Sunday. The solution was to offer an
upriver sail not due to pass the Barrier until after its scheduled re-opening
at 18.15. This was due to depart from
Harwich at 10.30 and Clacton at 12.15.
However, a delayed coach connection meant the second port was left about
30minutes late. An hour alongside was
scheduled at Gravesend. This was
intended to allow refuelling and the gas oil barge pulled in alongside a few
minutes after Waverley at tied up at Gravesend Town Pier. On the way to Tower Pier, preparations were
under way for a private charter by Timothy West and Prunella
Scales to celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary.
Bright and early on Monday 7 October, Waverley departed Tower Pier for
her return trip to Whitstable, calling at Southend. This trip was well supported for a Monday
and allowed the full scheduled time ashore at the Kent port. The steamer then returned light to Gravesend
for a day off service. Strong winds then
blew up leading to the cancellation of the sailings planned for Wednesday and
Thursday. The schedule was resumed on
the Friday but accompanied by heavy rain throughout the sailings between
Southend and Tower Pier. Clear weather
returned for the Saturday sail to view the Thames Forts from Tower Pier,
Gravesend and Southend. Heavy rain
returned on Sunday morning rather spoiling the early part of the trip from
Tower Pier. The rain stopped over the
steamer about half an hour past Gravesend although it continued unabated
ashore. The sailing was destined for
Southend and the River Medway, which was packed with shipping on this
visit. The Medway cruise also gives an
opportunity to view the masts of the wrecked Liberty ship Richard Montgomery
and a sail to the extremity of the Medway Approach Channel, at the Medway
Buoy. An evening return cruise was
offered from Gravesend, the return at just after 23.00 marking the end of
Waverley’s Thames season.
The paddler remained at Gravesend until she could take bunkers early on
Monday morning. She sailed away at about
09.00 making landfall at Weymouth on Monday evening. Further refuelling took place on Tuesday
morning and the steamer was then underway for Glasgow direct, arriving around
19.30 on Thursday.
There was a private charter on Friday evening 18 October before three
public sailings were given over the following weekend. Saturday saw a sail from
Glasgow to Greenock, Helensburgh, Kilcreggan
and Blairmore for a cruise on Loch Long and Loch Goil. Heavy
showers persisted through the weekend but a good time was has by all. A booze cruise was given on Saturday evening
and on Sunday, the ship steamed to Greenock, Largs, Rothesay
and Tighnabruaich.
She made her final arrival at Pacific Quay at 20.00 and the season was
over. Within 24 hours her stewards and
deck crew had returned home, leaving the engineers and volunteers to start
preparing the steamer for her winter refit.
You can find some pictures on my Flikr site.