Waverley in the South 2017
Words and pictures by Martin
Longhurst (except where stated)
To set the scene for this report, I am quoting from Paul Semple’s PSPS
National Newsletter:
“On Thursday 24th August 2017
Waverley made her final call at the old pier at Brodick on the Isle of Arran.
It had been expected that she would have been using the new pier this season
but owing to a delay in completing the facilities, the new berth is not yet
commissioned. It will now be 2018 before Waverley uses the new pier although
she did make a trial berthing at it in June. A report on her final call at the
old pier is available on the PSPS website (paddlesteamers.org).
As it happened Thursday 24th
August turned out to be the steamer’s final full day sailing for this summer’s
Clyde season. The following day, while leaving Rothesay pier, Waverley’s bow made contact with the promenade. Unfortunately, this caused
some minor damage and the weekend’s sailings had to be cancelled. This meant
that the lucrative Cowal Games Saturday and the final
sailing to Lochranza for the 2017 season were lost.
Waverley then entered the Garvel
dry dock in Greenock on the afternoon of Saturday 26th August for repairs. It
was fortunate that Garvel were able to accommodate the
ship at short notice. Repairs were completed quickly and the vessel was back
alongside Greenock’s Custom House Quay on the afternoon of Monday 4th
September. Unfortunately, Waverley’s sailings from Liverpool, Llandudno and on
the Bristol Channel had to be cancelled. Two of the sailings cancelled were
sold out but all customers were offered a full refund. The office staff in
Glasgow have worked exceptionally hard during this period to inform customers,
handle enquiries and process refunds. They deserve our thanks for their
commitment during a difficult few weeks.
At 4pm on Tuesday 5th September
Waverley departed Greenock’s Custom House Quay bound for Weymouth. By the small
hours of Thursday 7th September, she had rounded Land’s End and by late morning
she was safely tied up at Weymouth.”
No sooner had the steamer arrived in Weymouth then the weather closed
in and the first sailing due to take place on Friday 8 September 2017 had to be
cancelled. Fortunately, the wind
moderated just in time for the paddler to position to Southampton during the
evening ready for Saturday’s cruise to Portsmouth, Yarmouth and round the
Island. This had to be curtailed as, on
clearing The Needles, a strong swell was encountered and Captain Cochrane
decided to return to the sheltered waters of The Solent.
Stormy weather then intervened precluding any more sailings until
Friday 15 September. This took Waverley
from Southampton to Portsmouth and Yarmouth for a cruise Round the
Needles. There was a significant delay
at Portsmouth awaiting an ambulance to evacuate an injured passenger, resulting
a shortened cruise from Yarmouth but still late returns to Portsmouth and
Southampton.
Fortunately, the weather took a break and both the weekend’s sailings were able to go ahead as planned. Saturday saw the circumnavigation of the Isle
of Wight completed and Sunday took the steamer to Swanage and Weymouth.
Returning towards The Needles on
17 September
Tuesday took the paddler light to Swanage for another trip round the
Isle of Wight, concluding with a positioning run to Weymouth, ready for
Wednesday’s cruise. Unfortunately,
Waverley was delayed by 2 hours awaiting the fuel tanker. This ruined the day’s itinerary as there
would now be insufficient day light for the steamer to return to Swanage. Therefore, few passengers travelled from
these two ports, as they would be returned home by coach from Southampton very
much later than planned. The trip round
Portsmouth Harbour was cancelled at the last moment as the tug needed to turn
Waverley had to deal with an urgent task instead. Bad weather returned on the final Thursday,
21 September, with the planned Lulworth sailing being confined to The Solent,
including a visit to Portsmouth Dockyard.
Two cross channel ferries (Mont
St Michel and Etretat on the right) and alongside at Portsmouth Continental Ferry
Port at the northern end of the commercial harbour
The vast bulk of HMS Queen
Elizabeth undergoing commissioning
A Dutch amphibious support ship
Wight Ryder II passes HMS Dragon
at anchor in the background
Fortunately, the weather relented sufficiently for Waverley to make her
overnight passage to the North Kent Coast, where she dropped anchor in the
early morning. She was
able to give her first Thames trip later, leaving Whitstable at 2.30 for
Southend, Gravesend and Tower Pier. The
weekend’s cruises were given successfully, to Whitstable on the Saturday …
On Saturday 23 September we
shared our bridge lift with the Thames sailing barge Hydrogen
The Brazilian naval training ship
Brasil was moored alongside HMS Belfast
After passing through Tower
Bridge
The sail training ship for the
disabled Lord Nelson moored at HMS President
Two Cobelfret
ferries at Purfleet, Clementine (right) and Wilhelmine
Waverley alongside at Whitstable
Harbour
… and to Red Sands Fort on the Sunday.
The timetable has been modified
now only allowing a visit to the nearer fort
Three container ships alongside
at Thames Gateway
Hapag-Lloyd’s Europa moored at Greenwich
Monday was a planned off-service day while Tuesday’s scheduled trip was
cancelled in favour of a private charter.
Wednesday’s sailing took the steamer from Clacton and Southend through
Tower Bridge to Tower Pier. High winds
returned and Friday’s was restricted to upriver from Gravesend with Southend
passengers being coached there. However,
the steamer was able reach Harwich ready for her sailing on Saturday back to
Clacton and Tower Pier.
The wind returned on the Sunday with activities restricted to upriver
from Gravesend. Monday was again a
planned off-service day so was unaffected by the weather but Tuesday’s sailing
was limited to the upper reaches, with Whitstable and Southend travellers
brought to Gravesend by coach.
Wednesday’s cruise was cancelled completely and Thursday’s programme was
cut back to a single positioning sailing from Gravesend to Tower Pier, again
due to adverse winds.
Conditions improved on Friday and the whole cruise from Tower Pier to
Gravesend and Southend for the Thames Forts was given as scheduled. Similarly, the cruise from Tower Pier,
Gravesend and Southend to the River Medway went ahead, with the paddler again
meeting the preserved tug Touchstone for a rendezvous near Sheerness.
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Preserved
tug Touchstone carrying a party of Waverley supporters |
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Waverley
as seen from Touchstone (Jean Spells) |
On the return journey we passed two Chinese warships leaving after a
successful goodwill visit to London’s West India Dock.
This is the frigate Huanggang. Note the
pilot cutter as the upriver pilot is relieved by his down river colleague.
The final day of the Thames programme started bright and sunny, with
over 400 on board from Tower Pier to Southend direct.
Looking back at Woolwich, with
the three master Earl of Pembroke and Hurricane Clipper at Woolwich Pier and
the Free Ferry to the right of the picture
Unfortunately, there were boiler problems while we were alongside
Southend Pier and our departure for Whitstable was delayed by 45 minutes. In turn this meant there was insufficient
time for time ashore at the Kentish port, as 300 more had to come on board
during our brief stay.
Waverley approaching the harbour
mouth at Whitstable (Jean Spells)
The steamer was able to start her return
voyage on time but the boiler gremlins returned at Southend but they were dealt
with in 25 minutes on this occasion.
Waverley then proceeded upriver in fine style, knocking back the deficit
to arrive on time for her bridge lift at 8.30 p.m. The paddler then set out on her return
voyage to her Glasgow base. The forecast
for the coming week predicted spells of strong winds with a few windows when
the wind speed was expected to reduce.
After a few hours at Gravesend, she set out for Weymouth, just beating
the first spell of adverse weather.
After over a day at the Dorset port, conditions were propitious for the
next leg which took the steamer round Lands End to
the Welsh port of Fishguard, where she again took
shelter waiting for the next gap. This came
after a day and allowed her to steam north in the lee of the Irish coast to a sheltered
anchorage off Bangor, Northern Ireland.
The westerly wind was too strong at that point to allow passage across
the open water to the Firth of Clyde.
Another day passed before Waverley could undertake the final leg,
arriving back at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, shortly before midnight on Sunday 15
October 2017. Unfortunately, this meant
the final weekend sailings on the Clyde could not be given but at least the
steamer was back in Glasgow in time for her lay up to start on time.