BLUEMOMENT

I see that Bruce Watt has lost the franchise for the Mallaig to Knoydart run, after over 40 years of service. He operated a good strong vessel that very rarely failed to operate even in poor conditions. According to press reports, Bruce Watt's boat could carry 81 passengers, but the replacement service will have three boats carrying up to 12 passengers.

That's a shame. Certainly 40 years, and I think maybe a fair bit more. I used their service to the head of Loch Nevis in 1973 and I didn't get the impression then that it was new. I assume the Loch Nevis and the Inverie ferry services are franchised together?

Presumably the limit of 12 passengers with the new operator is to avoid the cost of compliance with the extra requirements for bigger boats. No doubt they'll claim "greater flexibility". It'll be interesting to see how they cope when a bus load of German tourists turns up.

I had a wee search on this and I found via a link on the Calmac web that the ferry is being run by Sandaig Ltd, a cosmetic and beauty product company registered in Leominster but with all the directors' service addresses as "Knoydart by Mallaig". Is there a story?

Probably not. One of the directors of Sandaig Ltd seems to be resident in Knoydart and is also a director of The Knoydart Foundation, so as local a guy as any. Sandaig seem to have been running a local freight service for three years (the boats are in and out of Mallaig fairly regularly). Just a great shame for Bruce Watt and I have my doubts that the new service will be such a pleasurable experience.

Apologies, I was a bit sloppy there. I should have written that "The four directors of Sandaig Ltd seem to be resident in Knoydart and one is also a director of The Knoydart Foundation".

There, that's better, more accurate....

Wonder if that is Mark Woombs.
He is a marine biologist with 2 or 3 big ribs, lives locally and is married to the Organising Secretary of the Foundation
Mark is often commissioned to provide safety cover and general support for filming and events like the Malts cruise

A good man - I have worked with him a while ago.

DaveS wrote:That's a shame. Certainly 40 years, and I think maybe a fair bit more. I used their service to the head of Loch Nevis in 1973 and I didn't get the impression then that it was new. I assume the Loch Nevis and the Inverie ferry services are franchised together?

Presumably the limit of 12 passengers with the new operator is to avoid the cost of compliance with the extra requirements for bigger boats. No doubt they'll claim "greater flexibility". It'll be interesting to see how they cope when a bus load of German tourists turns up.

I remember traveling by the ferry in 1968 to visit my relatives in Stoul traveling one way. We returned by walking over the hill to Loch Morar, visiting other relatives at Bracarina. The relatives in Stoul were two bothers, one was called Donald MacDonald aged 86 at that time, they still ran the croft and fished but were dependent on the ferry for their supplys from Mallaig. I was 10 years old at the time!

The locals aren't happy about it at all...seems after the obligatory ' consultation' with the ferry users they ignored the opinions and went with the cheapest price.

Sounds familiar.

Morning Gents, i've been following this thread since it started, and would like to put a little of our side of the story here, for the record, i am one of the four directors, i am also one of the skippers and a general deck monkey as well. The other four members are all close family who are permanently resident here on Knoydart. The Cosmetic company referred to is the named one as it was set up first as a family company and we saw no reason to pay the running costs of two companies when we already had one established so there is no conspiracy to be had there. The contract that was awarded to us is not the contract to run the ferry as is being widely touted by those who also had a financial interest, the contract was to offer a subsidised fare to Knoydart residents, the Western Isles is still running, as are we. Whether he chooses to continue is up to Bruce himself. The contract is awarded every 5 years, and this year after four years of operation we decided to bid for it, we did so in a straightforward and honest way, we calculated what it would cost, and then added an amount for both profit and contingencies and susequently won. There was a consultation, some of it bad tempered with several people who had financial interests proceeding to lie, out of the residents approxmately 60-70 turned up and about 10 -12 were objecting to us, details can be sought from highland council about this as they chaired the meeting. We have got four boats yes each is a 12 capacity, and we do this to allow flexibility, in running a service. We currently employ 5 Knoydart residents, all of whom are fully qualified and passed by the MCA, where previously no Knoydart residents were employed. The service operates from 0800 until 1800, and allows residents the opportunty to spend more time on the mainland, to do their business, without the cost of accomodation if you cannot conduct your business between 1100 and 1415 weekdays. If we did not have local support we would not have been operating for the last four years, i understand that people do not always like change, but also beware of local politics, unless you know where allegiances lie the version you hear will only be one side of the story.

JIM

jimsharp wrote:..... beware of local politics, unless you know where allegiances lie the version you hear will only be one side of the story.

That's usually pretty good advice. Thanks.

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We were in Mallaig two nights ago and wondered why there where so many Knoydart ferries . . .

Good luck to one and all with the 'free market' - let's hope that in this case it benefits locals and residents.