A youth football team ended up stranded on Arran overnight after their ferry home was cancelled.
Prestwick Caledonian Youth Club 2010s were forced into extra time on the island after they climbed Goatfell in a bid to score some new kits last Saturday (May 13).
But their fundraising day trip ended up a costly overnight stay with players and parents forced to bunk-up for the night in a hostel.
Eighteen of the group who journeyed over to scale Ayrshire’s tallest point were left stuck after ferry chiefs at CalMac pulled the plug on the last sailing back to the mainland.
The 7.20pm back to Ardrossan was axed due to thick fog which surrounded the island and put a safe passage home in doubt.
Six of the group were able to board the Catamaran service running from the island at 6.30pm.
But the rest were left scrambling for a warm bed, with no room left on the Catamaran service.
Coach Mark Gardiner told Ayrshire Live: “The plan was to go over on Saturday morning to climb Goatfell and then catch the last ferry home.
“We didn’t think there was anything untoward then we got a text to say the final ferry was off and that we had to be at the terminal for the second last ferry.
“But they could only get six of us on the Catamaran service – the rest of us were stranded.
“Our main concern was we had eight kids and how we were going to get them somewhere to stay.”
CalMac staff at the Brodick port frantically called police to help deal with the stranded passengers who were left waiting around the terminal.
Island cops soon arrived and started to help look for alternative accommodation for the stranded passengers.
Mark added: “The police were great, they managed to get us a bunkhouse on the other side of island, that was a huge help. They sorted out transport too, we all got onto a mini-bus.
“It was a bit of a tight squeeze, we had eight adults all in bunk beds, I can’t remember the last time I had to spend the night in one of those.
“The kids were in another room, they thought it was brilliant they all loved it!.”
Mark says the unwanted stay came at a cost on a trip that was supposed to help the players get new kits for a tournament in Edinburgh in August.
He added: “All in it was about £400 odd extra that we’ve had to spend. The accomodation was around £300 and we had to fork out £50 for pizzas at the ferry terminal, and around £80 for the minibus.
“The whole point of the trip was to go and raise some funds behind us for new kits and future trips.
“We had no choice though. Our main concern was finding a bed for the night and making sure everyone was fed. It could have been worse we could have ended up sleeping on a hard floor somewhere.”
Don McKillop, Area Operations Manager for CalMac said that the decision to cancel the ferry was “extremely difficult”.
Mr McKilop added: “CalMac staff in Brodick worked extremely hard to find accommodation for most, including children, while a small number of them were supported by our staff to stay in the terminal building at Brodick.
“I am very grateful to the local community and to the local police who helped us to find accommodation, and to the CalMac team at Brodick who pulled out all the stops to help stranded passengers.”
CalMac have since told Ayrshire Live that anyone who is subjected to weather cancellations are entitled to claim food and mileage back as per their terms and conditions.
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