So, what went wrong and how did a campervan save the day?

I want a record, mainly for myself, of a lovely two weeks in the Scottish Highlands and I think the only way is to slog through chronologically, which means starting where it ended. What went wrong with the plan to go to Orkney, a place I have dreamed of visiting for many years?


Back in June I joked about the Mild Peril of getting on a ferry. Only I was not joking but trying to reassure myself things would be OK. And they were, after a fashion - I focussed on planning my trip, arranging visits to the key Neolithic sites, the archaeology & fun stuff and not the actual getting there, I tried to ignore my trepidation about that bit.



After a 300 mile drive to Culloden and my 'rest day' at Clava Cairns, on Sunday I headed off towards Gill's Bay, near John O'Groats, where the ferry leaves for the journey to South Ronaldsay. If you Google "Pentland Firth" the first set of answers you will get are about "one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world". Hold that thought along with the fact that during April/May Pentland Ferries did not sail for a month after an incident with their only ship that left her needing significant repairs . . .



Two bits of background are key: one is that a couple of years ago Pentland Ferries invested millions in a new vessel replacing the old but reliable MV Alfred with the newly built Pentalina. The other is that over the last few years the total inability of the Scottish Government to manage procurement of new vessels for Caledonian MacBrayne means that the vital ferry services on the west coast of Scotland are in complete disarray wth insufficient ships to maintain timetabled services.

At the beginning of 2023 the MV Alfred was leased to CalMac for nine months for £9 million. Which means that when the Pentalina, which seems to have had a few problems since coming into service, is unavailable, there is no backup ship.

I arrived at the Ferry View campsite on Sunday afternoon and got settled in ready for the earliest sailing on Monday. Then I heard from Sian that Pentland had a problem, then I had multiple texts from Pentland telling me the same thing, then I got into long conversations with the site owner who knows most of the mainland-based ferry staff. I immediately attempted to switch my travel to Northlink Ferries but the first available sailing was Wednesday evening.



I tried not to worry. On Monday it was clear no-one was going anywhere, and no-one knew when the ferry would sail again. There was nothing I could do, I went out and did a bit of sight-seeing in the area, and I extended my stay at Ferry View campsite who could not have been more supportive.

Long story short, I learned rather more than I wanted to about the month-long problem earlier in the year and that if the engine fire had not happened so close to land, and if there had not been a convenient sandbank upon which the vessel could be grounded, then sinking had been a real possibility. There is nothing worse on a ship than fire and you do not issue a Mayday call unless things are going very horribly wrong . . . 400 miles from home I am still pleased with myself (and sometimes a little surprised) that I did not have a complete panic attack or meltdown but it was close. If you have ever been at that point you know what it feels like and if you have not then you just would not understand the physical and mental experience. 😢




Instead I finally took a deep breath, made a big decision and got on the phone to the Caravan Club, explained my dilemma and bless 'em - within 20 minutes I had site bookings for the next nine nights to enable me to swing back to Fort William at the end of my holiday as originally scheduled. On my last post Jules commented "sometimes these things work out for the best". How astute of her. Normally my trips are planned to the nnnth degree with maps and locations researched until I boggle my brain. This time I literally stuck pins in a map at Caravan Club locations and by happy accident ended up at some exceptionally special places as you'll see if you manage to stick with this travelogue. 😜



Of course I could have accomplished all this in a car, or a cafe, or a hotel room. But having the comfort of my van with endless mugs of tea, the table set up as a desk whilst I juggled phone, laptop, bits of paper and maps the knowledge that I would always have somewhere comfy to eat and sleep tamped down a small bit of the anxiety and stress. Did I mention how much I love my Blue Bus?



Am I a wimp? Did I panic unnecessarily? Pentalina was back in service within 36 hours and does not appear to have had problems since.

Your mileage would probably vary but I made the best decision I could, for me, on my own, on a damp & blustery day. Am I sad I did not get to Orkney? Heck, YES, of course I am, you have no idea how disappointed I was in both the outcome and my own risk-averse response to it. Did I manage to rescue the trip and still have a great holiday? YES, very definitely.