Falmouth to Oban recommendations?

[Seven Spades]

I found this quote:-

Nick Morgan, responsible for Diageo’s Scotch Knowledge and Heritage activities commented in the announcement: "It does not make sense for us to be holding the Classic Malts Cruise at the same time as the Centenary Cruise, which is why we have decided to postpone the Classic Malts Cruise until 2011. We know this will come as a disappointment to some. However, we hope that those who were planning to join our cruise will be able to take part in the Classic Malts Cruise another year.”

Do you know more?

 

[Bat21]

Oh dear this sounds like a mess.

Bat21, can you explain what has gone wrong?

Do you know what was the original itenery and how it differs to what is on offer today?

Thanks.

Originally, the Classic Malts Cruise was sponsored by Diageo and organised by Clyde Cruising Club, it was based around three parties at three Classic Malts distilleries, Oban, Talisker & Lagavulin. More recently, World Cruising Club have organised the cruise on behalf of Diageo.
There was no 2010 cruise, WCC are now launching a Malts Cruise for 2011 without Diageo sponsorship and have therefore changed the programme. They have regrettably placed the details of their new cruise on the framework of the original Classic Malts Cruise website this is confusing and in itself misleading.

The details which have been released so far about the cruise programme are in my previous post.

The cost for participants is also considerably increased I guess because of the loss of Diageo sponsorship.

 

[Ubergeekian]

With due respect, that is not the "Classic Malts", but an alternative organised by WCC who are calling it "The Malts Cruise"...

Welcome to the Classic Malts Cruise

The CLASSIC MALTS Cruise is for many the 'must do' event in Scotland's sailing year... would you care to join us?

United by a passion for sailing, scenery and single malt whisky, crews embark on a 200-mile voyage through the Inner Hebrides, choosing their own route from Oban to Skye, and back south to Islay. Hospitality offered by the coastal Classic Malts distilleries of Oban, Talisker and Lagavulin provides the social focus for a relaxed fortnight of cruising.​

Incidentally, though Classic Malts of Scotland is indeed a Diageo Trademark it is just a marketing ploy - their malts are no more or less classic than any others.

 

[Ubergeekian]

•The Malts Cruise will start in Kerrera Marina, Oban where registration will be open from Friday 08 July 2011 ready for a skippers briefing in the afternoon of Saturday 09 July, and the first cruise party that evening.
•Yachts will depart after the parade of sail in Oban Bay on Sunday 10 July
•The Malts Cruise will finish with a function in Port Ellen, Islay, on Thursday 21 July

Oh goody. A bunch of pi55ed up sheep being herded around the west coast for a fortnight. Still, I'm planning to be safely inside the Clyde then, so I can wave at the Tall Ships.

 

[jdc]

Newlyn or Penzance not useful imho

Fond of them as I am as under-rated destinations in their own right, they are out of your way on this trip in my opinion. The tide runs W past the Lizard and then N past the land so you can carry a fair tide for about 9hrs all the way from the Manacles. Thus there's no difficulty at all in timing the passage from Falmouth - you should make it well out into the Bristol channel on the one tide (see Mark Fishwick for instance). If you really have to stop (which means you must have left Falmouth about 3hrs late or it's rather calm and you are an admirable purist about sailing) Mousehole is altogether less hassle and less out of your way. Anyway, it feels wrong to stop until a decent fraction of the miles is under your belt!

PS: As for the malts cruise: I might have guessed it was all a Diageo scam! We went on the Talisker distillery tour last summer - God almightly was it DULL (and V expensive to boot)? A corporate puff from first breath to last, with the content so dumbed down that even my 12 year old daughter was offended. Nothing to taste either unless I bought a bottle at the end (where it was more expensive than at the CoOp in Kyle). And by the way Talisker actually doesn't do the whole process anymore - malting is done somewhere else in the Diageo empire in an industrial facility on the mainland near Inverness. Mashing, maltase, and indeed enzyme reactions at all, remain a closed book to the guide.

PPS: Compared to the science one sees in wine making these days, either the instrumentation is hidden from us tourists, or distilling is still in the stone age, or measurement or precision are curiously irrelevant to whisky making - anyone know which or why?

 

[awol]

Just took a gander at the worldcruising.com website and have to concur that it would lead the casual reader to assume the same Diageo linked format as before. A wee look further and it appears that for £225 per person - not per boat 'cos parking is not part of the deal - you get:

* Cruise flag
* Official cruise fleece
* Parties at Oban, Tobermory and Port Ellen
* Visits to distilleries in Oban, Lagavulin and Tobermory
* Additional rendezvous as determined by the weather

I'm thinking of organising my own event for, say, £200 per person - so a bargain! As well as visits to distilleries that are already open for public visits, I thought I would throw in a fleece (brand new, just sheared, complete with wild-life), parties in Aulay's (Oban), Mishnish (Balamory), Jura Hotel, dinner booking at the Crinan Hotel, and a trip through the Corrievrechan. Any takers?

 

[Quandary]

Awol
A real bargain if you are including the drinks in Aulays and the Mishnish with the wine and dinner at the Crinan hotel, as soon as you get your dates sorted post them, it would be wasted on my wife who won't drink fast enough but I know a few guys in Ireland who could extract full value from their £200.
I just do not know how you can afford such generous sponsorship in these straitened times.

 

[awol]

Awol
A real bargain if you are including the drinks in Aulays and the Mishnish with the wine and dinner at the Crinan hotel, as soon as you get your dates sorted post them, it would be wasted on my wife who won't drink fast enough but I know a few guys in Ireland who could extract full value from their £200.
I just do not know how you can afford such generous sponsorship in these straitened times.

I am glad you are so keen and if you send me a 50% deposit I shall happily ensure your and your Irish friends places in, what is bound to be, an enthusiastic throng. You seem to be a little confused though and have managed to infer that drinks and food are provided within the entry fee. I feel it is unreasonable to expect that on top of the exciting itinerary planned and I regret that, as with berthing, imbibition and nourishment are entirely in the hands of the entrants.

 

[webcraft]

either the instrumentation is hidden from us tourists, or distilling is still in the stone age, or measurement or precision are curiously irrelevant to whisky making - anyone know which or why?

There isn't really any instrumentation - that is part of the skill and delight of a single malt and if you don't appreciate that you are IMO missing the point. Points two and three undoubtedly apply to a certain extent. Take a tour of Oban distillery and at least you will get a dram. My brother is one of the guides there.

- W

 

[Quandary]

I am glad you are so keen and if you send me a 50% deposit I shall happily ensure your and your Irish friends places in, what is bound to be, an enthusiastic throng. You seem to be a little confused though and have managed to infer that drinks and food are provided within the entry fee. I feel it is unreasonable to expect that on top of the exciting itinerary planned and I regret that, as with berthing, imbibition and nourishment are entirely in the hands of the entrants.

Oh dear,
It sounds as if your event might be almost as big a rip off as the first one, though the organic fleece should give it a unique quality, do we have to do our own shearing?

 

[awol]

Oh dear,
It sounds as if your event might be almost as big a rip off as the first one, though the organic fleece should give it a unique quality, do we have to do our own shearing?

I thought that it would add to the authentic island experience if I included a fank (BYOB) and then the participants could select their own sheep to shear off the hill To avoid a conflict with the other lot's inferior product, I thought later in July when the clegs, midges and Jura adders would be more active and only the best, most active sheep would have escaped an earlier shearing.

I resent the "rip off" comment - I and my team intend to work tirelessly to ensure that all the entrants have an unforgettable, life-enriching (mine that is!) experience.