MV ''Glenachulish'' is a ferry operating a summer service between Glenelg, on the Scottish mainland, and

Kylerhea Kylerhea (Scottish Gaelic: ''Caol Reatha'') is a village on the east coast of the Isle of Skye, in the Scottish Highlands, overlooking Kyle Rhea, a strait splitting Skye from the Scottish mainland. The village is named after Rhea, a Celtic ...

, on the Isle of Skye. Built in 1969, she is the last manually operated steel turntable ferry in the world.

History

''Glenachulish'' was built at

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire. History The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie. In 1902 the Ailsa yard ...

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O ope ...

in 1969. She is named after Glenachulish, a glen and hamlet near South Ballachulish. In 2006, Murdo Mackenzie, the owner of the ferry, was planning to retire. A community interest company was formed by local residents to buy the ferry and run the service. In 2008, the ferry was featured in the film '' Made of Honour''. In January 2012, following a landslide blocking the A890 road, ''Glenachulish'' began a service at Stromeferry. The service crossed

Loch Carron Loch Carron (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Carrann") is a sea loch on the west coast of Ross and Cromarty in the Scottish Highlands, which separates the Lochalsh peninsula from the Applecross peninsula, and from the Stomeferry headland east of Loc ...

to North Strome, avoiding a diversion by road.

Service

From 1969 to 1975, ''Glenachulish'' operated at Ballachulish. After the opening of the Ballachulish Bridge, she became the relief ferry at

Corran Corran may refer to: Given name *Corran Addison, South African canoeist *Corran Horn, fictional character from the ''Star Wars'' franchise * Corran McLachlan, scientist and entrepreneur *Coran: character from Voltron Surname * Andrew Corran, born ...

, Kessock, and

Kylesku Kylesku ( gd, An Caolas Cumhang) is a small, remote fishing hamlet in Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands. Until 1984, it was the site of a free ferry. Village Kylesku is located where Loch Glencoul and Loch Gleann Dubh join to form a sea pa ...

. The latter two routes have since been replaced with bridges. There has been a ferry on this route for over 400 years, with a car ferry since 1934. It is one of only two remaining ferries to Skye from the mainland – the other is the

Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne ( gd, Caledonian Mac a' Bhriuthainn), usually shortened to CalMac, is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west ...

service between

Mallaig Mallaig (; gd, Malaig derived from Old Norse , meaning sand dune bay) is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line (Fort Willi ...

and Armadale. Since 1982, ''Glenachulish'' has operated the Glenelg ferry across

narrows. The crossing takes five minutes and is the shortest sea crossing to Skye. The ferry runs seven days a week between Easter and October. It operates every twenty minutes (or as required, if it is busy) from 10am to 6pm (to 7pm June to August).

References

External links

Glenelg - Skye ferry - Isle of Skye Ferry Community Interest Company.
Ferries of Scotland Ships built in Scotland Isle of Skye Transport in Highland (council area) {{Ferry-stub