Rothesay pontoons in a poor state

[Gordonmc]

Are you still stuck in there Gordon or is the bridge fixed yet?

Ian, The bridge is fixed, or at least it was raised overnight last time I was up.
Will check it out this weekend... I will be on board from tonight (Friday).
Ra cooncil owns the inner harbour but it is operated for them by Bute Berthing Company.

 

[savageseadog]

Which is a community-owned non-profit, I believe.

A pretty grim conjunction of words there

 

[JumbleDuck]

A pretty grim conjunction of words there

They often run into the same problem: it's much easier to get financial support for capital costs than it is for on-going expenditure and renewals.

 

[robmcg]

I would hope that the refurb of the harbour would have been an ongoing draw for Rothesay. I am a bit biased, having spent many holidays up there but it would be a shame for such a resource to fall into disrepair. What happened to all the old swinging moorings the BBC used to administer prior to the harbour improvements?

 

[Searush]

They often run into the same problem: it's much easier to get financial support for capital costs than it is for on-going expenditure and renewals.

That's why most grants bodies will insist on a business plan indicating a long-term sustainable resource before they pay out a grant.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I would hope that the refurb of the harbour would have been an ongoing draw for Rothesay. I am a bit biased, having spent many holidays up there but it would be a shame for such a resource to fall into disrepair. What happened to all the old swinging moorings the BBC used to administer prior to the harbour improvements?

Poor old Rothesay just doesn't seem able to get it together. Guildford Square has been an eyesore for forty years now, and the big hotel on the front has been derelict for about as long. The pier is a disaster area: at one time it was a pleasnt enough place but the combination of the hideous passenger boarding ramp and high security fencing (I am sure that Osama bin Laden's heirs are even now plotting to hijack the Waverley) give it all the charm of a scruffy industrial estate.

I think it's down to ferry times: the last ferries back from Wemyss Bay are just too early for professional people or anyone who might want to spend an evening in Glasgow, and although the Western Ferries + Rhubodach route runs later, it's slower and a lot more expensive. The results is that living on the island is fairly impractical for anyone with a job on the mainland, and there's stuff-all employment on Bute.

Sorry. Bit of a rant. I still love Bute, and it's sad to see such a lovely place in such a seemingly intractable decline.

The swinging moorings in Rothesay went at the end of 2012. I'm not surprised: they weren't in a great place and cost half as much as a pontoon in Rothesay or Port Bannatyne.

 

[robmcg]

Rothesay ferry also a bit pricey for the average weekend or holiday visitor.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Rothesay ferry also a bit pricey for the average weekend or holiday visitor.

It's not too bad for foot passengers, but stings a bit when I take the car across, even though I always have ten-journey tickets. One point of continuing annoyance to the Brandanes is that a cheap return lasts five days and so doesn't cover a week's holiday. There was talk of Calmac increasing that to seven days sometime, but I don't think it has happened yet. There were hopes, too, that the Road Equivalent Tariff scheme would be extended to the Clyde islands, but no sign of that yet.

 

[savageseadog]

Watch the length limits on the ferry. If you're one centimeter longer then it's the higher rate and they use a tape measure. Taking the bumper off a Transit van saves a few quid.

 

[Searush]

Rothesay ferry also a bit pricey for the average weekend or holiday visitor.

We always parked at Wemys bay & carried all our stuff onto the ferry. All we had to do on the far side was transfer it from the ferry to the boat. Even if it took a few trips, neither side was far to carry stuff. Why take the car across if you are not going to use it?

 

[JumbleDuck]

We always parked at Wemys bay & carried all our stuff onto the ferry. All we had to do on the far side was transfer it from the ferry to the boat. Even if it took a few trips, neither side was far to carry stuff. Why take the car across if you are not going to use it?

It's not much publicised that if you pay for four days' parking at Wemyss Bay (£12) you get a week. In fact I don't think it's made clear anywhere - I only discovered by chance when I asked for four days' parking at the ticket office and got more than I expected.

My boat is at Port Bannatyne, so I have to include travel there in the calculation:

Leaving Car At Wemyss Bay for a week: £12 car parking + £5.60 return bus fares (+ £5 extra to take a taxi with a load of shopping from the CoOp)

Taking Car With Me: £11.80 x 2 = £23.60 ferry fares (using 10-journey tickets).

So basically it's not worth taking the car for anything under a week and well worth it for anything more than a week. Even for the under-a week-trips, one extra return trip to Rothesay swings it in favour of the car.

For occasional visitors it's £31 for a car crossing staying longer than 5 days, so if your boat is at Rothesay there is, as you say, little point taking the car across unles you plan to be away for three weeks or more.

 

[robmcg]

We always parked at Wemys bay & carried all our stuff onto the ferry. All we had to do on the far side was transfer it from the ferry to the boat. Even if it took a few trips, neither side was far to carry stuff. Why take the car across if you are not going to use it?

Parents have a holiday place there so we usually take the car across on the ferry, spend a night there and 'borrow' the boat for a few days. Always feel the pinch when we go for more than 5 days.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Parents have a holiday place there so we usually take the car across on the ferry, spend a night there and 'borrow' the boat for a few days. Always feel the pinch when we go for more than 5 days.

If you go often enough a ten-journey ticket is well worthwhile - it costs just slightly more than seven singles. You need to use them all in twelve months, though, and they are not transferable from car to car.

 

[Gordonmc]

My sojourn in Rothesay is at an end.
I turned up early on Saturday to take the boat out, confident the swing bridge is fixed... but the Easterly wind put paid to the plans. Force 5, gusting to 30 knots was the forecast which meant turning the boat in the inner harbour would not be do-able.
The wind was to abate by Sunday so I hunkered down after a wander around the flesh-pots.
By lunchtime Sunday the wind wasn't much better but a sigma with three up was leaving at 13:00 and with the BBC harbourmaster Davie's help I got the stem round the wind and out.
At times it was a hairy run up the East Kyle with the gusts pushing the lee toe-rail under water but the sun came out briefly as I picked up the mooring (at the second attempt!).
Point of the posting... I found Rothesay far more interesting than the mainland marinas. It was handy for the bus/Wemyss Bay ferry and the BBC folk were very accommodating, even to the point of Davie coming down on Sunday to help get me out.
Top marks from me.

 

[Spyro]

My sojourn in Rothesay is at an end.
I turned up early on Saturday to take the boat out, confident the swing bridge is fixed... but the Easterly wind put paid to the plans. Force 5, gusting to 30 knots was the forecast which meant turning the boat in the inner harbour would not be do-able.
The wind was to abate by Sunday so I hunkered down after a wander around the flesh-pots.
By lunchtime Sunday the wind wasn't much better but a sigma with three up was leaving at 13:00 and with the BBC harbourmaster Davie's help I got the stem round the wind and out.

t times it was a hairy run up the East Kyle with the gusts pushing the lee toe-rail under water but the sun came out briefly as I picked up the mooring (at the second attempt!).
Point of the posting... I found Rothesay far more interesting than the mainland marinas. It was handy for the bus/Wemyss Bay ferry and the BBC folk were very accommodating, even to the point of Davie coming down on Sunday to help get me out.
Top marks from me.

Top man that Davie.

 

[Billjratt]

Top man that Davie.

+1