Hi Kim, I wasn't around at the weekend to see her approach, That must have been Sunday?
As far as I'm aware, the point at Kirn, where the pier used to be, is relatively deep, and indeed a local diving training company anchor their vessel near there, just round into the bay (East) at Dunoon.
This bay dries out quite far at LW near Dunoon Pier. However any steamer track has plenty of water...I will find a book I have with soundings.
Also the groundings I have heard about in the Kirn area were due to fog in pre radar days.
any photo would be interesting to see
regards
Clark

Sorry I meant to say "Saturday" in the last post...she doesn't call at Dunoon on Sundays   
She approaches from Kilcreggan on a Saturday and often has to wait on the car ferry leaving, so sounds like she was taking a big sweep round on her approach to the pier.

Hi Clark,
She had to make a big sweep out into deeper water as she approached the pier.
Given the weather I'm not so sure it was the best seamanship practice to be so far inshore.
We regularly run our rib round that way and i know it's deep but should she have run into  bother and taking the onshore wind into account i feel she may well have been ashore by the time the crew had organised / been instructed to lower an anchor.

Perhaps its an over cautious respect i have for the sea but i definitely wouldn't have been in that close and we only draw 80cm and have an auxiliary engine which takes seconds to start.

A pic of her aground on the Gantocks - perfectly clear day and a big white building with a red light and she still manages to hit it! 

Hi Kim,
Wish I'd gone down for a look on Sat, I was up at the museum at the time, but I stayed there because the weather looked dodgy!
Again, I can't comment, but respect to your opinion, and you just have to look what happened to MV Prince Ivanhoe on the Welsh coast......   

Quote from: Channel on June 30, 2009, 09:20:22 PM
Its a shame the media doesn't report on the hundreds of days the paddler carries many passengers on a wonderful day out.

An interesting article in the scotsman -

News to me 

'' Cornford explains that because of the Waverley's side-mounted paddles, the ship's rudder is located in the middle of the vessel, rather than at the back where it's found on most other ships of its size, making it especially cumbersome to manoeuvre''



Not sure i agree 100% -
"Paddle steamers were always bumping into things," says chief engineer, Bob Cornford. "They go aground all the time and it's nothing to do with poor navigation.''

http://living.scotsman.com/features/The-Waverley-steamer-Paddle-into.5534677.jp

Quote from: Talisman on August 20, 2009, 10:10:17 PM

Quote from: Channel on June 30, 2009, 09:20:22 PM
Its a shame the media doesn't report on the hundreds of days the paddler carries many passengers on a wonderful day out.

An interesting article in the scotsman -

News to me 

'' Cornford explains that because of the Waverley's side-mounted paddles, the ship's rudder is located in the middle of the vessel, rather than at the back where it's found on most other ships of its size, making it especially cumbersome to manoeuvre''



Not sure i agree 100% -
"Paddle steamers were always bumping into things," says chief engineer, Bob Cornford. "They go aground all the time and it's nothing to do with poor navigation.''

http://living.scotsman.com/features/The-Waverley-steamer-Paddle-into.5534677.jp

I have never seen a rudder located in the middle of the vessel, can someone please provide either photos or sketches of this? As for paddle steamers bumping into things, I think that would very much have to do with poor navigation and ship handling.
Regards,
Gerald.

I have to say, in none of the pictures I've seen of paddlers in drydock or any of the plans, I've never seen one with the rudder anywhere but at the rear, in the centre unless you include the ones at cologne (about 20 years ago) which had one either side at the back - but I assume had a centre one as well....

Quote from: steamboatmodel on August 21, 2009, 02:07:22 AM


I have never seen a rudder located in the middle of the vessel, can someone please provide either photos or sketches of this? As for paddle steamers bumping into things, I think that would very much have to do with poor navigation and ship handling.
Regards,
Gerald.

Did some paddlers not have a Bow rudder aswell as a stern rudder ? At the back of my mind i seem to recall that the Waverly may have had one at some point or that i have seen drawings of her with a rudder at the bow

Now i'm sure someone will be along shortly to put me right if i'm wrong (not be the first time)

I hadn't considered those! yes, some did. Medway Queen I think and I seem to remember a story in 'paddlewheels' by an ex crewmember from Ryde (not sure now if he was talking about Ryde or another ship he'd worked on) explaining that the bow rudder had been used for backing out from somewhere and not fastened correctly afterward, as soon as the ship moved forward, water pressure pushed it right over to one side......so basically it can't be used for 'normal' steering....

The present Waverley has never had a bow rudder, but I'm sure Ryde and Sandown had them, along with a lot of the steamers from the Thames.

As to Bob Cornfords quote, my opinion would be - well yes paddlers did "bump" things in the course of their duties, and they did take to the ground at times, sometimes on purpose, and most are designed to work shallow waters. However if they "crashed" into things or ran onto charted reefs then perhaps questions could be asked?
Clark

What's going on up there on the Clyde?   just heard that WAVERLEY's had a swipe at Kilcreggan pier with damage to the piles.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2526972.0.Waverley_steamer_hits_a_pier_again.php

http://www.g84.org/latest-news/waverley-steamer-hits-a-pier--again.html

We have had very strong winds up here for what seems like an eternity.

Andy

I got shown a photo of the damage to the pier, taken from the waverley, sorry I dont have a copy....looks to me like the damage was to a wooden "fender" facing on one of the piles, not the actual 12" x 12" pile itself, as far as I could tell.
Had a look at the ship she seems undamaged...a little dent in the belting on the sponson..no more than usual wear & tear.
Think the press are just jumping on it after the Dunoon incident maybe.

Waverley called at the Dunoon breakwater, linkspan berth today, for the 1st time. This was due to the 1/2 hourly calmac service into the wooden pier for Cowal Games, and the ferries have priority. She seemed to berth easily, better than the end of the breakwater. Here's a few photos I took today about 1520, I didn't have my camera with me the 1st time she called. She will be calling there tomorrow also.
The last photo is at the old pier, berth 1,ferry berth, where she has been berthing recently