Cumbrae 31 July

 Alan McQ, Allan, Davie C, Dougie, Graham, Gus, Hugh, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenny R, Robert

It was a beautiful summer’s morning as we assembled at Largs for our ferry to Cumbrae and we welcomed back Alan to the fold after his health issues. Largs was very busy with a long trail of traffic awaiting the ferries and many more people than usual liming up to board. Two ferries were operating, both ancient and much smaller than the usual one that is still not repaired. The water was like a millpond and, as we left Largs, we had a good view of the Waverley which was moored close by.

As planned, we took the anti-clockwise route in ideal walking conditions, no wind, and not baking-hot, making progress easy and after an hour we were at Fintry Bay where we stopped at the benches for a coffee. It has to be noted that the public toilets here were not fit for purpose, a shame really. Anyway, after a quarter of an hour we were on our way again taking in the slightly hazy views of Arran and Bute. On reaching an extremely busy Millport, most took lunch in the gardens at the Garrison whilst a few dined in the café.

Allan, Davie, Johnny and Robert elected to return via Ferry Road and reached the slip at twenty to two, whilst the majority returned via the Glaid Stone. It was amazing to note that the buses that passed us were jam-packed with passengers, in fact we have never seen the island and the ferries so busy.

The foursome waited for the two o’clock ferry and saw the rest of the guys arrive, but were held back for the next ferry. In fact, the first ferry did a U-turn and re-positioned itself at towards the edge of the slip to allow the next one to berth beside it, a tactic not seen before. It looked as though the ferries were doing a shuttle service and not sticking strictly to timetable.

It is as well that the first four got to the Drouthy Neebors ten minutes before the rest as they were able to claim an area in the very busy beer garden before all the tables were taken. A well-deserved refreshment was enjoyed before we set off for home and joined the long queue of traffic trying to negotiate the roadworks at Seamill.