Ali Cat on a misty day

The beautiful spring weather of last week has gone, to be replaced by grey skies , increasingly sharp showers and a rising wind.

Coming along the seafront at Dunoon late this afternoon I saw a dot in the distance which turned out to be the "Ali Cat", one of the two passenger ferries on the Dunoon to Gourock route.   This was taken with my Nikon P900 which has a very long lens and good resolution. 

The fact that the route is passenger only (and has been for almost 8 years) and that these smaller boats can be subject to a higher rate of weather related delay than bigger ones means the whole  issue remains contentious on this side of the Clyde.

Of course there is a very regular and very well used privately run car ferry crossing operated by Western Ferries, which is used by the vast majority of those who travel and in addition it is possible to drive round to the central belt.

None the less a town centre to town centre passenger service is valuable and necessary option and needs to be maintained.   In order to continue to provide what people want, however, Cal Mac - which has recently taken responsibility for the service - will need to bring forward some improvements.