Tobermory Ferry

This is Caledonian MacBrayne's 11am sailing from Tobermory arriving at Kilchoan Pier this morning, with Ben Hiant in the background. The Raasay is one of CalMac's relief vessels, capable of carrying 5 cars, taking the place of the much larger MV Loch Linnhe which can carry 12 cars. Built in 1976 in Glasgow, the Raasay is one of their smallest ships, but she's fine for us at this time of year as the ferry is far from busy. This morning the 8am sailing left Kilchoan with four on board - three schoolchildren who attend Tobermory High School and one person going across to the dentist, and the 11am returned with only the dental patient. In summer it's a different story, with far more daily sailings and, on occasion, so many passengers that some have been left behind in Tobermory.

CalMac provide almost all the ferry services on Scotland's west coast, running 30 vessels serving ports between Arran in the south and the Isle of Lewis in the north. The other Calmac ships we see plying up and down the Sound are the Clansman, one of their newest ships, built in Devon in 1998, and the Lord of the Isles, built in 1989, both of which serve Coll, Tiree, Barra and Lochboisdale on South Uist. More details of CalMac's fleet here.