Simon Campbell

Writing

Finding a boat: MV Chalice

MV Chalice at berth in the Caledonian Canal near Fort William

We were invited to go and see the MV Chalice at the beginning of March 2008. First thing on Saturday morning Joe, Angela and myself set off on the 300 mile journey to Fort William where the boat is moored for the winter.

Prior to the journey, I examined the specification and found that the hull and decks were constructed from Ferrocement. This caused some raised eyebrows amongst my pals in the boating community as many of these types of vessels are 'home built'. They are also notoriously difficult to sell and repair.

Chris had assured me over numerous conversations that the boat was build professionally and that the insurers had no problems with the construction. He also gave me details of the original surveyors who would be happy to speak with me. Being a commercial vessel, 'Chalice' is 'coded' category two which involves an annual inspection by the MCA (Maritime & Coastguard Agency) to its seaworthiness.

We arrived at the mooring on the Caledonian Canal at around 1215 and were met by Chris and his partner Elaine who gave us a warm greeting, inviting us to come aboard. They showed us through the galley and into the main saloon where we sat down and discussed what we wanted from the boat.

Angela, Joe and myself went through the boat in detail, the tour culminating in the engine room (ie boys toys) where, amongst other goodies, nestled the twin 180hp Dorman diesel engines. It all looked very serviceable albeit in need of a lick of paint!

When we finally reappeared in the saloon we found Elaine dishing up home made soup and rolls, totally perfect. Over lunch we discussed issues with respect to finance, running costs and why he wanted to sell. I mentioned to Chris and Elaine that we were also looking at the Norwegian rescue vessels and he informed me that the 'Hjalmar Bjørge' was moored up for the winter about two miles down the road - excellent news.

We left having met two very genuine people with a good boat at a very attractive price.

Next move was to book in at Braeburn, our guest house. The owner, Julie Mackin, was ruthlessly efficient, whipping us upstairs to the family room and giving us a full briefing in seconds! The comfortable, large room overlooked Loch Linnhe with Ben Nevis to the East; good choice.

Without further adoo we went to take a look at the 'Hjalmar Bjørge'. It was raining (well it is Scotland after all) with the sun occasionally breaking through the clouds. The last time I had seen this boat was in Oban on one of my many diving expeditions. Then it was way down the harbour wall at low water, now I could see the whole ship - great stuff.

I paced out the length and I reckoned it to be about 23 metres long but looked slightly wider in the beam than the 'Chalice'. Just to the aft of the 'Hjalmar Bjørge' was a very tired looking 'Loyal Mediator' which I had also seen on my travels operated as a technical dive boat by the very colourful George Mair.

Having had enough of the rain and things nautical, we slipped over to Fort William for a cool refreshing beer and a chat about our day. When we started talking, the thing that struck us all about the 'Chalice' was the size! The vessel is 21m long by 5m wide: as an expedition boat for a week away it has plenty of room but I couldn't envisage us being able to live and run our business from here. After seeing the 'Hjalmar Bjørge' in the flesh, we concluded that this type of vessel would also be too small. Ho hum.

In the evening we booked the Crannog seafood restaurant which is situated on the Fort William town pier. This turned out to be very good indeed and well worth a visit; Fort William taxis were efficient and inexpensive!

Danger path sign in Glen Nevis

We were leaving for home next day but of course couldn't miss out on the magnificent scenery so we had a two hour walk up Glen Nevis. Totally beautiful and even the weather was kind. Following lunch at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel we arrived back at base.

An enjoyable and informative trip but unfortunately as far as the boat is concerned, back to the drawing board.

Next up, the 'Arctic Janus'.