Following previous successful and highly enjoyable outings the PSPS Scottish Branch is once again arranging a day trip with the Coastal Cruising Association (CCA).

On Saturday 9th September there is the opportunity for PSPS members and friends to join us for a day trip to Loch Katrine to sail on the steamship Sir Walter Scott and the cruiser Lady of the Lake. A coach will operate from George Square, Glasgow at 8:45am to Trossachs Pier to join Sir Walter Scott on her morning run to Stronachlachar. There will be the opportunity to purchase some refreshments at the tearoom adjacent to Stronachlachar pier before joining Lady of the Lake to cruise further up the loch before returning to Trossachs Pier where High Tea will be served in the Brenachoile Café. The coach will then return to Glasgow for approximately 7:30pm.

Tickets are priced at just £30 each (including coach, cruises and high tea) and are available from Mr P.W. Semple, 10 Glenkinchie Road, Kilmarnock, KA3 1NE. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope with your remittance. The closing date for tickets is Saturday 26th August. Additionally tickets can also be purchased from Bob Lambie who is regularly aboard Waverley during her Clyde season.

Sir Walter Scott is named after Scotland’s much loved poet and author Sir Walter Scott. She is 110 feet in length, 19 feet wide and was built by Denny Bros Ltd at Dumbarton. Her journey to Loch Katrine was not an easy one. She was meticulously dismantled before being transported by barge to Inversnaid on Loch Lomond. From there, she continued on her epic journey to Stronachlachar by horse-drawn cart! Still in pieces, it was by the Loch Katrine shores that she was reassembled and finally welcomed to her new home.

Since her maiden voyage in 1900, the steamship Sir Walter Scott has gone through a number of changes. She still has her original Matthew Paul & Co triple expansion steam engine, though 2007 marked the last year of her use of coal as fuel, and the steamship’s two Cochran Wee Chieftain boilers now run on bio-fuel. She uses around 300 litres of this environmentally friendly fuel on a daily basis.

Lady of the Lake is named after the poem written by Sir Walter Scott. The vessel originally operated in the Netherlands, and, before settling into her new Loch Katrine home, she graced Glasgow’s River Clyde as a water bus regularly sailing from the city centre out to Braehead.