Choice of Clyde marina

[cloud7]

Any recommendations for choice of Clyde marina for summer month
Thanks

 

[Quandary]

Largs
Close to Cumbraes, Arran C'town etc. Reasonable town nearby, visitors berths that you do not have to squeeze in and out of like they make you do at Kip, good chandlery, choice of places to eat.

 

[dunedin]

Depends a lot what you are looking for
- cheap secure place to leave a boat unattended
- lots of places near to marina for day sail
- lots of marina facilities
- pretty place to lounge in cockpit
- easiest to get to by car
Rate these in order and can start to narrow things down.
Largs ticks many boxes for us, but not the cheap one ; )

 

[JumbleDuck]

Any recommendations for choice of Clyde marina for summer month
Thanks

Not much to choose between Kip and Largs. James Watt Dock is a bit out of the way to the north, Troon and Ardrossan are a bit out of the way to the south, Port Bannatyne's on an island and Portavadie might as well be on an island.

Do you want somewhere for regular shortish trips to nice places, in which case it's probably Kip, Largs or Port Bannatyne if you can thole the ferry? If you want to base a boat on the Clyde for occasional visits, any of them would be fine, though Portavadie really is in the back of beyond.

 

[cloud7]

Any experience of Ardrossan

 

[Spyro]

Any experience of Ardrossan

I like it, cheapest between Troon, Largs or Kip. Great staff. Nothing to see in Ardrossan, there is a bar/restaurant at the marina which us ok. It's very handy if you want to get there by train, the stop is 100m from the marina office entrance. There is an Asda 100m in the other direction which is very handy for stocking up. The marina has a security gate. The entrance (sea) is more exposed than Largs or kip and in a south westerly blow can be quite nasty but it's summer so you should be fine. You are close to Arran and only 1.5 hours away from the sheltered waters north of the Cumbraes on the Clyde. It us a commercial port and there is a light system which changes when the ferries are coming or going. Get a timetable and work you comings and goings around that. The ferries always communicate with the tower on channel 12 so you can hear what's going on.
Any other specific questions about ardrossan just ask.

 

[cloud7]

Could I ask about security for leaving boat week or two , services on site ?

 

[Spyro]

Could I ask about security for leaving boat week or two , services on site ?

No problems that I know of, there is a security guard and cctv. Plenty of boats get left for long periods of time. I've been there about 8 years and had no problems. I have heard if a few instances of theft from the hard standing areas over winter but no more than other places.
There is a large yard with riggers, engineers, boat builders, marine electronics, brokerage, undercover area. No chandlery onsite.
Petrol, diesel and gas available onsite.
Toilets , showers, laundry available
http://www.clydemarina.com/

 

[scottie]

Security is not considered a problem in any of the three marinas discussed along with Troon and all have good facilities.
We used Kip and are biased perhaps but do feel that ardrossan and and troon are not really that close to anywhere except Arran and that’s over 10 miles
Largs is probably the best to live aboard but personally I don’t like the cramped berthing and narrow short pontoons that we have been put in anytime we have been there.
Kip is better laid out and has more space I believe
Don’t think you would find any real problems in any of them
Price is probably competitive but worth checking
Port banantyne and Holy Loch smaller and more remote as is Portavadie

 

[QBhoy]

All the above are great marinas, but also known to be the most expensive in Europe too.
Rhu marina is also great and not affected by tide, but also dear.
A few more to choose from further north, but prices are always crazy on the west coast. A side effect of arguably the most stunning cruising ground in the U.K....when the weather plays ball !