Jacobite wins at Quality Awards

We have a new award to add to our trophy cabinet. At the Quality Scotland Excellence Awards held in Glasgow this week, Jacobite Cruises won the award for the best company with under 250 employees.
Jacobite has the distinction of being the first Highland company and the first tourism business to win this prestigious award and will now go on to compete in the European Excellence Awards in 2009.
The Quality Scotland Awards were developed to recognise outstanding achievement in the field of business excellence.
Jennifer Fraser our Excellence Manager (amongst other things) said: "We were absolutely stunned when our name was called out - not a Bronze, Silver or Gold award but we topped our category and won the Quality Scotland award."
This was no easy award to win. Six judges travelled to Inverness to sample our cruises and interview both management and staff. The whole team worked really hard for this one.
David Bradley, Chief Operating Officer at Quality Scotland and chair of the judging panel said: "Jacobite Cruises was judged the best organisation in the SME category below 250 employees. They clearly applied the characteristics and behaviors of an organisation progressing through the stages of performance excellence in a sustainable manner." He added: "Customer focus is the key strength of the business and their customer satisfaction has increased by 11% in the last few years. They should be an inspiration to other SMEs' throughout Scotland."
In the last 6 years our business has increased by 300% and we have won a number of prestigious awards, including a Visit Scotland Thistle Award, a National Business Award and have been awarded a five star Visit Scotland rating, the highest a business can achieve. No need to worry, we will not become complacent and will keep on striving to give our passengers the best experience we can.

Jacobite Spirit has a minor hiccup

On Friday 6th on the 1530 return journey from Urquhart Castle to Clansman Harbour Skipper John Peterkin noticed the engine water temperature on the starboard engine was rising and soon the warning alarm sounded. A quick turn around and the Legend was on the 1600 run.

An initial investigation gave no clue as to the problem, cooling water was coming through the system, the header tank was hot but still had water, nothing was visible in the inlet strainer and all hoses were intact.

So back to the beginning and get the spanners out. Once inside the inlet strainer all became clear, or so I thought, a clear plastic bag which could not be seen in the water was blocking the water outlet. 30 minutes out on the Loch at full speed showed no serious problems.

Monday morning, seriously windy conditions and our overheating problem was back. By 1100 the conditions were so bad all sailing was abandoned for the day. Davie from Caley Marina the local Volvo Penta agents was called to give his expert opinion. Many Oohs, a few Aahs, differing opinions on the which engine had the greatest volume of cooling water coming though we came to the conclusion there were 3 possible causes. The Jabsco raw water pump which had seen 8500 hours service was not working as efficiently as it should be. The engine circulating pump was suspect or the thermostat was defective.

So perm any 1, 2 or 3 from 3 and we should have the answer. All the necessary spare parts are sourced, some from Ghent in Belgium and we were ready to start a repair on Wednesday morning. Which one do you start with? Our logic was it was possible to do the Jabsco without losing the circulating water so that was the first part to be replaced. No joy - 10 minutes of trial saw the temperature rising steadily. Off with the thermostat cover – Davie holding a specialist tool to deflect the seriously hot water away from his person, no, really just a redundant cupboard front. A quick test of the thermostat in a cup of boiling water and it appeared we had the culprit. In with the new thermostat, refill the engine with hot coolant and out for a further sea trial.

A good 30 minutes on the Loch at up to 2000RPM and all was well. Skipper John Askew then took Jacobite Spirit on the 1600 run.

Just a little add on to Rod's blog:

The new RNLI Lifeboat was out training at the weekend with the RAF Air Sea Rescue helicopter and I managed to get a photo of it approaching the biggist vessel in out fleet, the Jacobite Queen.

It was interesting watching the crewman from the helicopter being winched on and off the lifeboat.

Robin

Weather

The weather still continues to be dry. Turns out that May has been the warmest in Scotland since records began and it has bee the 8th driest. The water level in Loch Ness is down a bit again but there is still plenty left. Sorted out the problem we had with the Jacobite Spirit starboard engine which was overheating. It turned out to be the thermostat. It has been replaced and all is now well.
Our seasonal staff are gradually returning from school and university. Tommy has arrived back. A big 18 year old and finished with school at last. Has to wait for exam results now. He will be working with us for the rest of the season to save some money and then he is off to New Zealand for his gap year.
Philip will be returning next week. He is a mature student, with the emphasis on the mature. He drives the rest of us round the twist as he never stops talking but the passengers love him and he is a great worker. Hannah will be back later in the season. She is training to be a vet and has a six week work placement before she can rejoin us. Eilidh is training to be a Midwife and can only work with us during her holidays so I expect to see her quite soon for a couple of weeks on the boats.
The boss is on holiday in Tuscany, on a horse. We will See her back again next week and hear all about the trip. No doubt she will be back with new ideas she has picked up there to give us all more to do.
I was in Glasgow on Tuesday at a Practical Retailing day. Very interesting it was too especially as it was held in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. This was closed for about two years undergoing a 28 million pound refurbishment and it is the first time I have been back since it reopened. Well worth a visit. It has been money well spent.
It's lunchtime now and the Jacobite Spirit is just coming back in. Off to eat my sandwich.

Robin

Back again to the grind. Been away for a break. Managed to get to the International Wine Fair in London. Very enjoyable! For three days tasting wines I could not afford to buy. Tough but someone had to do it. Then spent a few days with friends in Lancashire. Solid sunshine all the way.
May has been a great month up here on Loch Ness. Weather almost perfect with little or no rain and very light winds which suits the boats and the passengers. June has also started well with another sunny, calm and warm day today. Good Nessie spotting weather.
Boats all running well and getting busier with lots of happy passengers on board.
Had a relative of John Cobb on board last week. John Cobb was the world land speed record holder and in September 1952 he decided to try for the water speed record on his jet powered boat "Crusader". Sadly on 29th September 1952 he was killed during deceleration in preparation for a second run after achieving over 200 mph on his first run. Crusader apparently hit a wave and flew into the air, breaking apart on impact with the water. his relative wanted to see the loch and visit Temple Pier near Drumnadrochit, where Crusader had been based.
We have Marie back again as crew for a second season. She is French and her language skills can be very useful. When she left us at the end of the season last year she went off to Germany for a spell but had difficulty finding work and has returned to Jacobite. Germany's loss is our gain. Welcome back Marie. The stop smoking efforts of our office manager continue to be most impressive. Six weeks now without one puff! I wish I had as much willpower when it comes to eating!
Later this month we will be launching "Jacobite Warrior", our new real time online booking, reservation and ticketing system. Businesses in the area who sign up to use the system will be able to log on and in real time sell tickets for all our cruises and trips. Launch date is 26 th June and we are hoping for a good response from the business community.
Off to sell more tickets now to help keep the boss in the style to which she has become accustomed.
Back soon.
Robin