Residents in Balloch might’ve spotted a rather surreal sight travelling through the streets earlier this month.
After more than 18 months of waiting, Sweeney’s Cruises finally had their new vessel - Avocet - delivered, with the final leg of the boat’s journey from Rotterdam to Loch Lomond seeing her travel through residential streets in the village.
And John Sweeney from the firm admits that finally seeing the company’s new purchase in Balloch was a poignant experience.
He told the Lennox: “We’re a family business and we’ve all mucked in, so seeing her arriving was a proud moment.
“The boat was built back in 2020 in the Netherlands. We bought it about 18 months ago but, because of Covid and restrictions because of Brexit, the whole process was heavily delayed.
“Getting permission to operate on Loch Lomond can be a long and drawn out process, so once we got those we had to ship it over to Glasgow.
“We had to charter a freighter to sail from Rotterdam to Glasgow.
“We then sailed it down to Dumbarton, and it was sitting there for over a month whilst we awaited clearance from the Police to do the roadblocks required to get it here.
“She finally arrived last Saturday morning, so it’s been a really long haul.
“We’re just waiting on final paperwork and a couple of altercations before she will be fully operational.”
Incredible drone photos shared by Sweeney’s show the striking vessel being through West Bridgend in darkness, around the Lomondgate Roundabout then onto Bonhill and round the roundabout at the A813, before coming down Balloch Road and being lowered into the water.
And John said that assigning a name to the new addition was an easy task, as he explained why he’s sure she’ll be a big hit with visitors.
He added: “We chosen the name Avocet, which is a wading bird.
“On my first sight of the boat’s beautiful curved bow it reminded me of an avocet’s beak.
“We had various other names on our list, but it was Avocet that came out on top.
“Our boats are all up to a high standard, but this new boat takes it to a new level.
“The Dutch are a master of the craft of boatbuilding. The finishes on it are absolutely tremendous.”
