Clachan Sound and Bridge over the Atlantic - Passage Planning

[Beakey]

We are planning to travel in a 6m RIB with 140hp from Oban to Craighouse on the SE coast of Jura in late May / early June

A fair weather plan includes a scenic trip West of Seil, Lunga and Scarba, then East through the Corryvreckan and South into the Sound of Jura.

A more sheltered route for inclement weather, is a passage along the Clachan Sound between Seil and the mainland, under the “Bridge over the Atlantic”.

I would be very grateful if anybody has first hand knowledge of navigating what appears to be a very narrow and shallow passage, particularly to the Northern end around Eilean nam Beathach and any timings to suit tides etc

Many thanks

 

[TQA]

It is definitely doable as I waterskied round Seil many years ago. The boat was a 14 ft Attacker with a 40 hp outboard.

I remember the passage under the "Bridge over the Atlantic" past the "Inn of the Trousers".

We did have a local guy with us as a guide.

 

[alan_d]

A lot of expertise from that part of the world can be found on the Bluemoment forum.

 

[underdog]

Clachan sound

I remember a passage through the Clachan sound with my father in his Westerly 22 in about 1965. We had a moment of panic on approaching the bridge as to whether there would be sufficient clearance under the bridge for us to navigate. The anchor was hastily thrown over the bow in order for an assesment to be made as to whether our gunter rigged boat would fit under. It did!!!!

 

[nevis]

Yes i went down the sound in a dinghy it was great fun at full ebb,went as far as Balvicar.when i went back we had to pull the dinghy as there wasnt enough water to motor up it.

 

[Quandary]

I suppose it would be much too obvious to go the direct route that everyone else uses down the Sound of Luing to Crinan and then the Sound of Jura, the only bit which is ever a bit lumpy is off Easdale but you can avoid most of that by going through the harbour. Tourist ribs work out of there in most weathers.
I am sure Siel Sound will be ok in a carefully navigated rib at high tide but I think it might be worth driving over to Clachan Bridge at low water and talking a walk to spot where the biggest rocks are and what cover they have at high water.

 

[Ceejay]

Make sure there's enough water

and, probably advisable not to go through on the plane.
I knew someone who attempted it in a power boat, back in the seventies, at high speed. He made it under the bridge, but lost his gearbox on the way through
It would never occur to me to go that way as a matter of routine, I've made the passage often in my 4.9m RIB, but always to the west of Seil Island.
CJ

 

[photodog]

They took a severn (?)class lifeboat through there a couple of years ago iirc...

Here it is...

For the uninitiated...

 

[Billjratt]

We went through in an NB 7point-something stern-drive powerboat a few years ago. High tide required, slowly and be prepared to clear weed from the prop, but nae probs.

 

[dutyhog]

When you look over the bridge at lowish tide it looks more like a puddle than the Atlantic, and hardly navigable, but I suppose nearer high water it's OK with only an outboard down. And going this way round the island has the advantage of not having to walk over from Puilladobhrain to the Truish.

 

[A1Sailor]

An excuse for some pictures!

Definitely do-able, at an appropriate state of the tide; and with some spare shear pins if a 140HP outboard has such things!
The following pictures might help. I am afraid I don't know what state of tide they were taken, though. It obviously wasn't High Water Springs - duh...

The Bridge:

Looking north standing on the middle of the bridge:

Looking south standing on the middle of the bridge:

Good luck


A1

 

[gordmac]

There isn't a lot of water about the bridge, probably doable if the tide is right and you are careful. I wouldn't try it unless you have the time to give up and try another route (or the next high tide).

 

[A1Sailor]

Will they need rescued if they do it?

The OP asked about depth of water at the northern entrance to Clachan Sound - and in my pic there seems to be Notalot!
What we need is somebody like Webbie, who lives a stone's throw away, to share some local knowledge...

 

[ghostlymoron]

There's a story about this in PBO this month but here's a picture.


http://www.innish.com/seilb.html

 

[King Penguin]

high water and go slowly..........I believe Scottish small boat fishermen use it all the time.....

 

[Jcorstorphine]

Went through with a 26 foot converted lifeboat

In the late 60s I took my father's 26 foot converted lifeboat through. It drew about 2 ' 6" at the stern. I seem to recall that we started the run about 30 mins before high water and got through without any problem but there was a lot of weed around so keep and eye on your engine water intake.

Might be worth looking in the CCC cruising notes to see if there are any tips, mine are in the boat so cant look just now.

Have fun.

 

[nevis]

The OP asked about depth of water at the northern entrance to Clachan Sound - and in my pic there seems to be Notalot!
What we need is somebody like Webbie, who lives a stone's throw away, to share some local knowledge...

I used to live on the Island 5 minutes walk from the pub,as I said earlier you can go down the sound at high water I did in my did in my dinghy with a 4hp engine with no problem,you need to be careful past the pub as there are rocks all over the place so take a good look at the charts

 

[rbmatthews]

We went through Clachan Sound northwards this summer in our Shetland F4, 1 hour before HW two days after neaps. Even getting to the bridge from Balvicar takes a bit of care, but following the chart and common sense will get you there. There are a couple of rocks you have to be careful of at the southern entrance of the channel just before the bridge, but keeping mid-stream should avoid them. Depth of water most of the way along the channel varied between 0.7-1.0 m, according to the echo sounder, which was just enough for our draft of 50 cm. There is a lot of weed much of the way which you have to be careful not to get your prop caught in. At the north end of the channel it widens out into a pool around 3 m deep, but immediately after this, there is a cill at about 60 cm which we just scraped through on. Once past that, it is fine and you can turn to port into Puilladobhrain to anchor.

Definitely worth doing.

R.