Nine sailings a week across five routes, each with a fixed day. The schedule is on the wall of the shed and on the booking note, and it has changed twice in thirteen years.
Cargo is accepted until four in the afternoon of the day before sailing. Cargo in the shed by then is on that boat; cargo that arrives at five is on the next one, and we will tell you so at the counter rather than letting you assume.
We sail on the day whether or not the hold is full. That costs us money on quiet weeks and it is the only way a customer can plan. A shop ordering stock, a site planning a pour and a council booking a delivery all need a date rather than a probability.
Between May and November the weather moves things. A sailing can be held for a day and occasionally two, and when that happens we ring every customer on the manifest rather than waiting to be asked.