Bikers furious at TT ferry delay

A group of motorcyclists are apparently stranded at Heysham Docks desperately trying to get to The Isle of Man for the TT races.

MCN reader Martin Blowers, 43, a director of a public school and a Harley-Davidson Road King rider, called our offices with a report on how his dream trip is quickly becoming a nightmare.

Blowers said: “This is a ridiculous situation. We arrived at the docks at four o’clock this morning for a 5am check in for our 7.45am sailing and we are still here.

“I would say that there are around a hundred of us here right now and things are getting tense.

“One of the most annoying things about this is the way we are being treated – I have personally been spoken to in a way that I would describe as being very nasty.

“I am here with six other riders who are all motorcycle instructors. They’ve come from Denmark and have never been to the TT before, so to have them treated like this is particularly disgusting and embarrassing because they’ve come to the event with me and this is their first taste of the Isle of Man.

 “People are now starting to get their camping gear off their bikes and are setting up so that they can have some food and get a little more comfortable.

“But we keep getting told to move around the car-park area, which is only adding to the frustration.

“This was meant to be a good start to an amazing year for us at the TT. I booked these tickets in October 2005 and expected this year to go smoothly because I booked the tickets so far in advance. I am very angry about this situation.

“I have been told that there is damage to one of the two gangways from the dock and that is causing some of the problem.

“There is also talk that the extra boat the Steam Packet Company put on to help ease the transport problems apparently isn’t licenced.”

Laura Howland, spokesperson for the Steam Packet Company was quick to dismiss the unlicensed boat rumour.

She said: “The accusation that one of our boats is unlicensed is completely untrue.

“The 7.45 sailing didn’t operate as scheduled and we are doing our utmost to remedy the problem and get all remaining passengers – of which there are about 30 – on the 16.45 sailing.”