WAVERLEY PADDLE STEAMER COLLISION

[Penny Tray]

I see the WAVERLEY has been involved in another collision:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/gla ... 122604.stm

[meekan]

Penny,
as a boy I went on many a sail on the Clyde steamers with my parents (my dad was an engine driver with British rail who owned the steamers and he was allowed a number of free passes per year) On one occasion we were on the PS Caledonia on a sail to Loch Ridden. At the top of the loch the steamer tried to turn for the return journey and her bow ran aground on shallow water. My mother ended up in a panic as members of the crew moved about the boat shouting "everybody aft!!" She of course thought they were telling us to get aff. However everybody moved to the back of the boat and this lifted the bow up enough to let her back paddle of the shallows.
It turned out to be a bad day for the PS Caledonia because after she dropped us off at Ardrossan she headed for Ayr but before she got there her boiler blew and she had to be towed into Ayr. I believe she was never repaired and was sent to be scrapped.
Not about the Waverly but of another one from the same fleet who also ran into trouble.

[Penny Tray]

Meekan,

You had me laughing with your mother's misunderstanding of "Everybody aft".

http://www.river-clyde.org.uk/images/ca ... 201934.jpg

[little plum]

I think we can scratch the Waverley trip for Wednesday 15th, Arran sounds a safe bet.