Lochranza

[Viscount]

I recently posted with good news about the local hotel; I visited again yesterday and must regrettably report that my previous visit must just have caught them on a good day. The garden is again full of dog [--word removed--] to the point the waiter actually stood in it at one point; the food took over 30 minutes to appear and was perhaps the worst I've ever tasted - e.g. chips fried in same oil as fish. One of our party wanted to travel by road to Brodick; the hotel had no telephone directory for taxi numbers instead offering the local paper and local directory neither of which could produce a number that was answered bar one which advised a 90 minute wait.

We used the new pontoon which is excellent; however, on berthing a grumpy old man in shorts approached and visually inspected the boat, harrumped and walked away; when we climbed the gangway, a woman who had been watching us from her window rushed out to ask how long we were staying because the rule is 3 hours maximum - we advised we'd be much less than that (not at that point knowing about the service in the hotel and the lack of ground transportation). I gather that the new pontoon hit some local opposition citing amongst other things "light pollution" from yachts. The only good thing about the visit was that our children got to see a couple of deer at close hand; I suppose they like it there because they don't have to eat at the hotel or deal with the locals.

I'm not aware of where the funding came from for the new pontoon but it's going to be wasted with "hospitality" like that.

I've been to some places on the Clyde that struggle a bit (Arrochar, Millport) but this is now the worst despite the beautiful location.

 

[Alrob]

thats a shame as it is somewhere I would like to go for an overnight
/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Sgeir]

That pontoon, according to the press, cost £158,000, including consultants' fees.

Is there any piped water there, and are the pontoon cleats really gold-plated?

 

[Searush]

[ QUOTE ]
That pontoon, according to the press, cost £158,000, including consultants' fees.

Is there any piped water there, and are the pontoon cleats really gold-plated?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think they forgot to pay off the local old-age Mafia. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Innit sad when the only thing left to enjoy is pissing on someone else's Barbie? I trust their miserable lives will expire shortly so they can go & annoy some saints or sinners.

 

[Viscount]

I didn't notice any water; the quality of the pontoon is very high though.

 

[Viscount]

Overnighting would need to be on the Council moorings as the maximum stay is 3 hours on the pontoon for boats > 3m (i.e. you can leave the tender there overnight).

 

[oldsalt]

I also went there recently, it has not improved over the years. Like you, I had sloooow service; awful food straight from the deep freezer, via the microwave and deep fryer; and yes, dog shh it all over the lawn where children were playing. Next time go to Brodick.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Has anyone considered drawing their attention to the dog poo problem?

Forwarding a link to this thread should do the job(by).

 

[Clyder]

Sorry to read this. Like Al Rob this was a somewhere (Lochranza, not the hotel) that I was hoping to overnight this year. Why is there a shortage of good pontoons on the Clyde?

 

[starboard]

Lochranza Hotel is the pits....if you are looking for service and a friendly publican forget it!!!...only a god fire will cure the problem, a big shame as Lochranza is a gem of a place to visit, ask the midges they seem to love it too!!!

Paul.

 

[LCSS]

As a Director of Lochranza and Catacol Sea Society, the company which owns and operates the pontoon, I have been reading all your comments with great interest.
I thought you might find it helpful to have a bit of background information eg who owns it , who paid for it, what it is for etc.
The idea of having a pontoon in Lochranza has been around for many years, and two years ago a group of us locals formed a Community Interest Company to build a pontoon as a landing stage for boat users visiting the Loch.
It is a local initiative which, with only a couple of minor exceptions ( more of that in a moment!) has the full support of the community in and around Lochranza. Our objective in providing the pontoon is to give boat users a safer and more convenient landing place than the beach or existing slipway- which incidentally the same group of locals maintain for everyone's convenience. One of the most important things we wanted to do was to provide facilities for people with mobility restrictions and this I am delighted to say has been achieved - a great success.
About a year into the project we contacted our Local Authority, North Ayrshire Council to see if they could help in any way.
They were most interested partly because as you probably know there is a lot of work going on in the Clyde area to improve the economy by encouraging boating tourism, and Lochranza apart from being a spectacular location is strategically placed right in the centre of the Firth of Clyde.
Involvement from North Ayrshire Council made a huge difference to what was being proposed. Proper professional engineering resources were made available, weather and wave studies carried out. a feasibility study into potential usage and benefits was undertaken etc etc. In short what started as an initiative by a group of us doing our best with limited resources turned into a proper engineering development project. Some of the comments about the likely survival of the pontoon you might have heard are just pub talk nothing more, from people who enjoy a good gossip, and why not, but are not qualified marine engineers. The pontoon has been properly professionally designed, built and installed taking into account weather conditions usage etc. It meets and exceeds all health and safety requirements and we have in place a plan for its upkeep- for which incidentally we would be most grateful for donations in the box at the head of the ramp. As you will have noticed we do not charge for its use and some contribution would help us pay for the various rents,insurance and maintenance costs we have to meet.
As to initial cost the correspondent who said £158000 was not far out. Of this NAC contributed as did Highlands and Islands Enterprise to the amount £130000. The rest we locals have contributed, as well as a great deal of time and effort all of course unpaid ( I hope you now don't still think we are all quite so horrible!). It is the hope of (almost) everyone here that all users of the pontoon will enjoy the experience and this beautiful place. Everyone is warmly welcomed.
Please make allowance for the only two or three folk who cannot cope with change, I know they can be a bit irritating, but they don't really mean any harm. You do get them everywhere! My suggestion is just to ignore them and enjoy the place and the company of everyone else who I am sure you will find welcoming. If I can answer any more questions for you about the pontoon or other mooring matters in the Loch I will be happy to do so via this forum.
Hope to see you in Lochranza, Best wishes.LCSS

 

[stewart20749]

I think I would like to add a word of support here! We used the pontoon on Saturday past arriving in the late morning after a miserable and uncomfortable night on a visitor's mooring in a substantial swell in Brodick.

The weather was extremely breezy and we tied up alongside the pontoon. The two people to whom we spoke were both courteous and extremely helpful. The lady was anxious for us not to stay on the pontoon but as the weather worsened and picking up a mooring became not only nearly impossible but actually dangerous, she agreed after a very rational and sensible discussion, that we would have to stay until the conditions settled. We moved at the earliest opportunity to a visitor's mooring and spent a comfortable night there.

We were very happy with the way we were treated. We were also very impressed by the pontoon itself which despite the conditions was stable enough for us to get my elderly mother (now nearly 80 and not very steady on her feet) from her car onto the boat. In the process of doing this, a man came and spoke to us, again helpful and friendly, about disabled facilities that exist including a hoist.

Overall we were so impressed we went alongside again in the morning to leave some extra money in the honesty box.

Having visited Arran several times a year for the last 30 years or more, I would agree that Lochranza seems to be in a bit of a slump at the moment with little choice of places to eat (although I noticed there is somewhere new near the campsite beyond the head of the bay) and the local shop shut for over a year now, but hopefully the pontoon will play a part in attracting more boats to the area and thus more income. So I guess my plea to everyone is to come and visit this beautiful spot and in doing so support the Lochranza and Catacol Sea Society's excellent initiative.

 

[LCSS]

Thanks for kind comments, so glad that you found the pontoon (and the locals!) helpful. If all goes well we do hope to consider adding facilities such as putting in a water supply, the ducting for the pipework is all there. We do need to be sure that it would be useful as it would be quite costly to do- not least the annual payment to the water company.
Hope you will visit again
Kind regards LCSS

 

[marknicho]

I came across this thread while searching for information on Loch Ranza and in particular, places to eat there. I have visited the Clyde on a number of occasions over the last few years but have never got to Loch Ranza (mainly due to shortage of time) /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

There are 12 of us coming up the first weekend in October chartering two yachts out of Largs and this time we're going to try and drop into Loch Ranza for lunch en-route to overnight in Tarbert. We really fancy visiting the distillery and sampling (ahem!) /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif some of the produce. The construction of the pontoon (which was news to me!) is a great bonus as we were ready to take a mooring and row ashore. I have to commend you for this effort despite what appears to be some local opposition. There is a lack of pontoons on the Clyde and this will be make the area much more accessible for visiting yachts, but I have found out about it quite by accident. You could do with publicising it a bit more in the sailing press!

Can anyone recommend somewhere good for lunch? I've read mixed reviews about the Loch Ranza Hotel so maybe we'll try the Disillery restaurant.

 

[Alistairr]

We've eaten at the Distillery restuarant many times and thought it too be very good, but my parents were there a couple of months ago, and ended up walking out as the service was dreadful. It wasn't overly busy, but they just didn't have enough staff on. One staff member comment to them as they left "Its not as bad as that!". Bit rude if you ask me.
Don't know anywhere else to eat other than the Lochranza Hotel.

If you are going to moor on the pontoons, and walk along to the distillery, you may need to watch your time. Its a fair walk from the pontoons to the distillery, and you're only allowed to moor on the pontoon for 3hrs.

Anyway, here are a couple of pics i took earlier this year.
Here is a pic of the pontoon for you.

And the notice!

Enjoy.

Al.

 

[marknicho]

Alistair, thanks for such a quick response and the pics are really helpful. I might have to watch the tide as well as I'm sure our draft is 2.2m. Would you get a couple of 37 footers on it?

Where abouts is the pontoon in the bay as I can't find any plans of it and I have no idea where the distillery is in relation to it.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Very commendable, but the comments the local facilities attract, are letting the place down.

Does a short stretch of pontoon and a ramp really cost £158000? Not a troll, but it does seem an awful lot of money.

 

[Alistairr]

Sorry don't know about depth, but I would think you'd fit 2 37' boats on the outside, maybe with a little overhang at each end.

Sorry, but this is the best I can do. The new pontoons are where point 'A' is and the distillery is where point 'B' is, right at the other end of the village. I'd guess at a good 15-20min walk.

It is worth a visit, watch out for the wild deer and sheep walking through the village, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the sampling at the distillery.

Cheers

Al.

 

[Alistairr]

Major, it is a cracking pontoon, built to a very high standard of quality, even having a disability lift on the pontoon to help disabled people get on and off their boats.

Cheers

Al.

 

[marknicho]

Alistair. Thank you very much for your help. That is really useful. Looking forward to our visit now, just hope the wind is favourable!

Regards

Mark