The Invergordon Archive

Ferries in the Cromarty Firth

The picture shows two images of "Surf" boats similar to one of the Invergordon ferryboats.

The following is a History of the Cromarty Firth ferries in the 1940s and early 1950s and I hope it will help clear up any confusion about the ferries in the firth during this period.

Invergordon to Balblair Ferry.
This ferry was run from the mid 1940s until the early 1950s by Dougal MacIntosh. Prior to this it was run by a Mr (Willie?) Ross, using a clinker built 20ft boat having a forward and an after "cuddy".

Dougal purchased an ex RNLI Surf boat, or "pulling" boat, originally propelled by oars, in this case 10 oarsmen. This type of boat was in use with the RNLI until 1957. The "Modern Girl" as she was called, was 37 feet long and was of the self-righting type, having a whaleback deck fore and aft , enclosing watertight compartments, rendering her "unsinkable". She was fitted with a heavy ( 30 cwt.) iron false keel, which together with the watertight bow and stern chambers would have caused her to right herself in the event of a capsize. This heavy keel, together with her rounded bilge, made her very uncomfortable in a swell and produced a violent rolling motion , which frequently alarmed the passengers. She had a folding canvas pram hood forward, giving some shelter to the passengers. She was of double diagonal construction, of teak and beautifully made, using the best of materials and fittings, as were all the lifeboats. After decommissioning from the RNLI, she was fitted with a 4 cylinder 32 HP Kelvin Poppet petrol/paraffin engine, which gave her a speed of 7 knots. Dougal later bought an ex-admiralty harbour launch, which he called the "Inverblair". She was about 40 feet long and fitted with a 4 cylinder Kelvin Ricardo petrol/ paraffin engine. She was carvel planked and somewhat faster than the "Modern Girl". She was used in the summer and the "Modern" in the winter.

When Dougal gave up the ferry, the "Inverblair" was sold to the Inverness Harbour board, fitted with a deckhouse and used as a Pilot boat. The fate of the Modern Girl is unknown. Dougal also owned two smaller clinker-built 20 ft boats, the "Kirsty" and "Tina", which lay for years pulled up at the head of the ferry slip. Ted Abarrow bought one of these and used it when he took up the ferryman’s job after Dougal retired. Dougal then became skipper of the steam harbour launch shown in picture #278 which acted as the Pilot boat. David Ross (Davy Coon) was a crewman.

Dougal was an exceptionally kind and gentle man and he and the ferry acted like a magnet for many of the youngsters of Invergordon. He had no shortage of willing "crew" members who were keen to jump ashore with the ropes and generally assist him. In return they were given a thorough training in boat handling and seamanship. Hamish (Skipper) Ross and George (Geordie) Mellon were two amongst many.

The fare to cross the firth was 6d and because the Black Isle was something of a backwater, with poor public transport, the nearest town for many was Invergordon. Saturday was a busy day, with the last boat sailing at 6pm. The ladies of the Black Isle patronised Mrs Leslie’s Ladies Hairdressing Salon and risked the destruction of their coiffure on the return journey to Balblair. On occasion, when the tide was very low, there was insufficient depth of water at the Balblair slip to berth the ferry and passengers were taken ashore in a dinghy, towed behind the ferry. This caused great alarm to many of the passengers. The dinghy Dougal used latterly was a stout 15ft boat, built by Mr David (Dave) Cumming, a master boat-builder, from, I think Cornwall, who had worked in the dockyard. I was given the privilege of holding the "dolly" whilst he riveted the fastenings. There was a rock on the seabed 20 yards east of the Balblair slip which posed a hazard at low water and Hugh Ross very kindly blew it up for Dougal using gelignite.

The fleet visited Invergordon regularly and many of the ships were opened to the public, who came from far and wide to view the spectacle and for other reasons. Dougal, using his two boats, was kept busy all day ferrying the trippers to and from the ships. Dougal used to give me a shilling ( a bob or 5p) every Saturday, for helping with the ropes throughout the week. With this treasure I could get into the front stalls at the Pictures for 10d and afterwards buy a 2d bag of chips from Roddy Graham’s at the foot of King Street. Dougal often sent me on my bike up to Taylor’s garage for a gallon of Shell-Mex petrol for the engine. It cost 1s11d. The petrol was used to start the engine and once it was hot, it ran on paraffin.

Dougal was an expert boat handler and the ferry ran in all weathers. The firth can become quite rough in strong winds, with short steep seas when the wind is from the west and long seas during the ebb tide when the wind is easterly. I remember on one particularly rough crossing an elderly lady sitting under the forward shelter took to prayer and Dougal sent me forward to comfort her. I held her hand as she said her prayers and could not convince her that I went on the boat for fun and that we were in good hands. The cargo carried varied greatly, from bikes to rabbits. One lady who lived near the Balblair slip regularly asked me to buy her an ounce of snuff from George the barber.

Cromarty Ferry
The Cromarty ferry was run by Albert Watson, using one or other of his two boats, the "Enterprise" and the "Endeavour". Albert also ran a coal merchant’s business in Cromarty. His brother John (Johnny) Watson sometimes did the ferry run as did Clemont, Albert’s son. John Watson was the Cromarty lifeboat mechanic and the only full-time paid member of the lifeboat crew. Albert was the lifeboat’s coxwain and had a distinguished career in that role.

Nigg Ferry
There was a ferry running between Nigg and Cromarty at this time. It was run by a Mr Willie Ross, from Cromarty. The ferryboat was an ex-Admiralty launch, similar to the "Inverblair" but clinker-built. She was painted black and was called the "Menace".