For almost 40 years, she’s been a vital lifeline for west coast islanders: a shining star in her first flush of youth, now as retirement beckons, a faded beauty.
Countless travellers have stood on the ‘Heb Isles’ deck and felt the westerly winds on their faces: the crew who kept her shipshape, passengers heading to home and holiday, with cars and bikes, animals and luggage – even the occasional dead body for company.
No matter how familiar CalMac’s MV Hebridean Isles might be, the unpredictable combination of weather, water and wildlife meant every journey had potential to be special – sometimes for all the wrong reasons.
Now, after a shift that began with a large splash into the River Ouse in July 1985, the beloved Heb Isles is set to shut down her engines for the final time.
She will officially retire on Thursday, ending a glorious reign for the one-time queen of the fleet. Service over, she will be scrapped and parts of the vessel, recycled.
With her end in sight, frustrations over delays, cancellations and repairs have given way to a treasure trove of memories and a very fond farewell.
Few have more reason to feel affection for the ‘Heb Isles’ than Mairi Ann MacDonald.
She first set eyes on it tied up at the pier in Tarbert in Harris as she walked home from school. “What a cracking boat,” she thought.
By summer of 1989 and aged just 16, she was among its catering crew when a young man called Neil stepped on board.
“He was travelling with his pals to Uist,” she remembers. “When he travelled back, we exchanged phone numbers on a pound note.”
It sparked a fine romance and a marriage proposal - also on board the Heb Isles as it ploughed its route from Uig to Harris.
“We also travelled on her when going across to Harris to get married,” adds Mairi Ann, who now lives in Inverness.
“And when our children came along, we would travel back and fore for holidays to Harris and Uist.”
The couple’s daughter, Megan, completed her CalMac apprenticeship and went on to serve as a motor woman on the Heb Isles.
Not to be left out, their other daughter, Katie, joined the ferry’s crew.
Saddened by the ferry’s retirement, Mairi Ann, now 51, and Neil, 55, recently embarked on a farewell jaunt, sitting at the same seats where their eyes first met. It was very emotional,” she adds. “It’s heartbreaking to think of her going but we have precious memories in our lives and hearts.”
Others hold the Heb Isles in deep affection for other reasons: the joy of spotting a pod of dolphins racing alongside, the hearty CalMac breakfast, and the prize of a calm sailing on a sunny day.
Read more by Sandra Dick:
Even those who were there as she took shape at Selby and Cochrane Shipbuilders in North Yorkshire, feel her loss.
Brian Pulleyn was a ship draughtsman who produced many of the ferry’s steelwork and arrangement drawings and was one of the few on board for her sea trials.
He recalls her launch day, on July 4, 1985, when hundreds turned out to see the Duchess of Kent send her on her way.
Among them, his young daughter and his dad, who was thrilled when the Duchess stopped to chat - precious memories that stayed forever.
“A day my dad never forgot,” he adds. “I worked in the marine industry for 49 years, most of it in design, and Hebridean Isles is the ship I remember with greatest affection.”
Her launch was spectacular: the £5.5 million 1300 tonnes ferry, the first Caledonian MacBrayne vessel to be built outside Scotland and packed with the latest technology hit the water side, as workmen who had hammered loose the boards that had kept her in place dashed for cover.
“My heart was in my mouth as the ship launched sideways into the River Ouse,” says Liz Summers, a local whose relations also worked on her.
Later Liz and her family would later seek her out for holidays: “We have been lucky enough to sail on her a number of times. We are all very sad that she is now being retired.”
Passengers’ memories of the Heb Isles collected by CalMac tell of the deep affection for a stalwart of the ferry service.
While crew members memories shed light on life on board.
Engineer Brian Fraser recalls the shiny new ferry making a dramatic entrance to service.
“She set sail from Hull arriving at Stornoway in the evening,” he says. “A crowd of people turned up to welcome the ship and someone managed to fall into the water behind the reversing ship.
“Fortunately, no harm came to the person or the vessel.”
She went on to become part of the community, running voluntary cruises that raised money for good causes.
Tony McQuade became CalMac’s longest serving captain. His first experience of the Hebridean Isles as Master in 1994 was certainly memorable.
“It was a very different company then without computers or mobile phones and unlike today there was no need for lengthy inductions.
“I had never seen the Heb Isles before, let alone set foot on her,” he says.
“I arrived, the vessel was already in port. The captain that was leaving was stood on the pier waiting for me.
“My handover was ‘she is all yours and by the way, there is a force 8 gale in the Minch!.”
One late departure from Kennacraig was also eventful.
“The last thing on was a hearse with a coffin for a funeral on Islay the next day.
“The car deck was closed and off we sailed, when the second engineer who was from Islay came to me and said ‘the wrong coffin has been loaded in that hearse. That is not so and so whose funeral is tomorrow; this chap is no getting buried till later in the week’.”
In scenes which could have come from a television sitcom, the bridge was alerted, and the ferry did a rapid u-turn back to Kennacraig for the wrong coffin to be replaced with the right one.
“As was common then, the captain received a sample of Islay’s finest for his troubles,” he adds.
Read more by Sandra Dick:
He recalls another time when the ferry’s fast rescue craft faced the ignominy of having to be rescued itself.
“As we were recovering the craft from an exercise, a line parted from the vessel and the fast rescue craft turned over tipping three crew members into the sea.
“We struggled to rescue them but could not get them out of the water. We had to call out Tobermory lifeboat to help.”
Bad weather is an occupational hazard, as John Angus McDonald from North Uist, a Senior Catering Rating on the Heb Isles, well knows.
He remembers the ferry on an Orkney run to relieve a Northlink vessel which was on its annual overhaul.
“We hit a heavy swell, and the ice cream fridge flew against the wall, and a passenger who was going to visit her sister was clinging onto a pole.
“It was her first time on a ferry and she said that it would be her last. When we got back to Scrabster, one of the crew walked off.”
One Hogmanay, the Islay run was particularly rough. Some fared better than others.
“We had a party on board staying at Stonefield Castle in Kintyre. They had a buffet laid out in the bar and once we got out of the loch, the weather was so bad all the food rolled off the table.
“Everybody was being sick, apart from one man, who kept calmly coming up to the bar and ordering large whiskies.
“I said, ‘you seem to be the only person on this boat who is not suffering. Why is that?’
“He replied that he was on Russian convoys during WW2 so was well used to it. When we docked, he skipped off, while his wife had to be helped off.”
Alex Morrison, the ferry’s master for ten years, has memories of one attempt to ‘beat the weather’ that didn’t go quite to plan.
“We left Lochmaddy at 12.45pm but the forecast was extremely bad.
“On arrival off Idrigil Point near Uig, the weather suddenly blasted to South force 10. It was obvious that we were not going to make it.
“I ran her across to the Ascribs off the sheltered Skye shore, but the forecast was not to get any better and was to veer NW soon.
“I decided to head back for the shelter of the Harris shore which took a long time before we got there.”
The ferry arrived back at Lochmaddy at 12.45am.
“That was 12 hours I had the poor souls out there and took them back to where I took them from. It was the longest non-landing free cruise in history!”
But it wasn’t the only circular cruise to nowhere.
“Another time I had got alongside in Uig, but the swell was such that the mooring ropes began to snap.
“I got five cars off when I had to close the after ramp in the interest of safety.
“There was nothing left to do but to let everything go and take the vessel back to sea with about 30 cars left on board.
“Those left aboard were not too pleased that I took them on another eight-hour non-landing cruise.
“I felt sorry for them but there was nothing I could do until the storm passed.
“I did not charge them any extra fare. Very kind of me.”
In close quarters on shifts that meant they were working together for a fortnight at a time, crews forged strong bonds and enjoyed a laugh.
Sarah Clark, from Port Ellen, was a stewardess in the early 2000s when the Heb Isles became her home from home.
With a 0445 start, she’d stay on the boat rather than risk sleeping in.
She remembers plenty of practical jokes: one crew member being wound into an apoplectic rage after jokers claimed a breakdown meant he was stuck on board…
And another who grappled with his heavy bag all the way home only to find it had been loaded with extra weights by his prankster mates.
Now, with time running out for the Heb Isles, one memory sums up just what she meant.
“When the vessel was new someone wrote the following,” says Brian.
“Come to the islands and see the sights
Lewis, Harris and the Heb Isles lights.
Bright she is as she can be
Everything’s on just come and see.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here