Loch Stornoway

[JumbleDuck]

I have always avoided Loch Stornoway on account of the fairly uncompromising discouragement in the CCC book and the Admiralty chart. I see it's now covered by Antares, and Bob Bradfield doesn't seem too worried by it. Has anyone here used it?

 

[wully1]

Never thought to go in as usually if passing I’m heading to the flesh pots of Gigha in ‘normal’ sailing weather. Might be OK in easterlies though?

 

[mainsail1]

Well, if your wish list has reached Loch Stornoway you are a well travelled sailor.

 

[Quandary]

Well, if your wish list has reached Loch Stornoway you are a well travelled sailor.

Exactly, I suspect he is attracted by the dire warnings in his well worn Blue Book, but seriously Bob is doing a fantastic job in charting new destinations.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Well, if your wish list has reached Loch Stornoway you are a well travelled sailor.

You know that it's in the Sound of Jura, and not the Outer Hebrides?

Exactly, I suspect he is attracted by the dire warnings in his well worn Blue Book, but seriously Bob is doing a fantastic job in charting new destinations.

Last time I passed it I was heading from West Loch Tarbert to Crinan in an unpleasant westerly. Certainly no time to go in, but there have been times when some good, interesting shelter from easterlies in that part of the world would have been welcome. One of the disadvantages of the CCC books is that the information in them can go unchanged for decades - a lot in the current books is word-for-word identical with my 1934 edition - and so things which were originally one person's opinion transmute over time into folk wisdom. Does Ettrick Bay really have underwater obstructions, or did someone snag an MOD mooring cable in 1948?

I confess to slightly mixed feelings about Antares. Yes, they can be awful useful, but there are places I used to enjoy going because they weren't in the CCC book and nobody else used them which are now covered by Antares and occupied every time I visit. Of course that's probably what the other people in anchorages where I've gone in with Antares are saying, so I may just be a hypocrite.

 

[Uricanejack]

Gigha was a regular haunt long ago. Along with Loch Sween. Never thought of Stopping in Loch Stornoway cant think of any reason why we would have I don't know of a pub.
Even so I've never gone into west loch tarbert, East Loch Tarbert often but I always passed by.
Tarbert on Gigha. I wonder how many Tarbert's there are in Scotland?

 

[Minchsailor]

I see that on the Imray chart (C64) it is marked 'dangerous'. Obviously exposed to any wind from a general SWly direction, but could be useful in an easterly when Gigha is uncomfortable. I don't think the CCC is unduly pessimistic; it mentions '..occasional anchorage in settled conditions.'

One of the disadvantages of the CCC books is that the information in them can go unchanged for decades - a lot in the current books is word-for-word identical with my 1934 edition - and so things which were originally one person's opinion transmute over time into folk wisdom.

I don't think people realise quite how much the CCC's directions are a community effort. There is nobody paid to go around checking on all the details. Unless new information is available from those who cruise the area, the content WILL be copied from edition to edition. Let the editor (via the CCC Secretary) know of any errors/observations and the entry will be corrected/changed - at the next corrections (available in April each year) and then in the next edition.

Bob Bradfield/Antares has been very good at making his charts available to the CCC - they have been used to update several places where up-to-date information was scant (Araisag narrows, Acarseid Mhor, Rona and Loch Eynort, South Uist spring to mind).

I know of a few other places which seldom get visited and information on them is ambiguous. In the Shetland Isles it would be good to have a report on the actual depths in Southlade Voe (Yell Sound, W coast of Yell) - the chart on p118 of the SDs is more for guidance than anything else.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Gigha was a regular haunt long ago. Along with Loch Sween. Never thought of Stopping in Loch Stornoway cant think of any reason why we would have I don't know of a pub.
Even so I've never gone into west loch tarbert, East Loch Tarbert often but I always passed by.

I've only been up West Loch Tarbert once. We were heading north from Gigha when an unexpected NW and thoroughly unpleasant chop set in, and after an hour of getting nowehere we turned tail and spend the night at an anchorage on the north side, just inside the entrance. Perfectly pleasant, nothing remarkable and the wash from the Finlaggan was nowhere near as bad as the CCC books suggest.

Tarbert on Gigha. I wonder how many Tarbert's there are in Scotland?

Dozens? Maybe hundreds? Anywhere a boat could be carried from one bit of water to another, basically. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarbert

What intrigues me is that I have encountered four "St Ninian's Isles", all of which are small islands connected to the adjacent land by a shingle causeway. Was St Ninian particularly fond of such places, or did he not say where his was?

 

[dunedin]

I have always avoided Loch Stornoway on account of the fairly uncompromising discouragement in the CCC book and the Admiralty chart. I see it's now covered by Antares, and Bob Bradfield doesn't seem too worried by it. Has anyone here used it?

Looks like it was surveyed in 2015 so not a new one, but an interesting one nonetheless.

Always worth reading Bob’s comments on each location/chart also (these used to be on a separate commentary, but also copied on the charts themselves for new ones this year).
For Loch Stornoway he comments that a lovely loch but fully exposed to SW. He also notes that some of the dire warnings on Admiralty charts may relate to the days before reliable engines, when boats could easily get en-bayed in an onshore wind (lots of places this applies to, not just Loch Stornoway).

 

[cpedw]

I wonder how many Tarbert's there are in Scotland?

That reminds me of an event in Tarbert, Loch Fyne. Elderly car travellers asked us for directions, showing us their road map. They were bound for Glasgow, it was late at night and they thought they were at Tarbet, Loch Lomond. There was deep disappointment when they found it was over 100 miles, not 40, still to go.

Made me feel quite guilty for bringing the bad news.

Derek

 

[JumbleDuck]

That reminds me of an event in Tarbert, Loch Fyne. Elderly car travellers asked us for directions, showing us their road map. They were bound for Glasgow, it was late at night and they thought they were at Tarbet, Loch Lomond. There was deep disappointment when they found it was over 100 miles, not 40, still to go.

I knew someone who was asked by an American couple, as the train they were on approached Leeds, how far it was to the castle. They had flown across for a wedding starting in under an hour, and didn't want to be late. Leeds Castle is near Maidstone, about 230 miles from Leeds.

 

[mainsail1]

You know that it's in the Sound of Jura, and not the Outer Hebrides?.

Yes........ Actually I did not know there was a Loch Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. I will have a search for it.

Have now looked, can't find another Loch Stornoway?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I have been in a long time ago. It is a sandy bottom and IIR correctly we were far over to the west side. We went swimming and windsurfing. The yacht had about a 2 m draft, weather was calm and visibility in the sea good, so we easily could see what we were doing. Anchor was a big CQR in sand. I think I have pictures at home. I might now be getting mixed up with a bay on Bute, but I think this is one of these bays that had cables laid out to sea as part of some WW2 thingy.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Yes........ Actually I did not know there was a Loch Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. I will have a search for it.

Have now looked, can't find another Loch Stornoway?

I have never heard of one. Sorry, when you said that knowing the place showed I was well-travelled I wanted to point out that I'm not and it really isn't very remote.

I have been in a long time ago. It is a sandy bottom and IIR correctly we were far over to the west side. We went swimming and windsurfing. The yacht had about a 2 m draft, weather was calm and visibility in the sea good, so we easily could see what we were doing. Anchor was a big CQR in sand. I think I have pictures at home. I might now be getting mixed up with a bay on Bute, but I think this is one of these bays that had cables laid out to sea as part of some WW2 thingy.

All the guides say that Ettrick Bay (on Bute) is foul, but are irritatingly short of detail on what fouls it. It sounds quite likely that there could have been a submarine net between Bute and somewhere near Ardlamont, but even then it would seem more sensible to run it from the point to the north of the bay. I've had a Good Hard Stare at the place at low tides and seen no sign of anything ominous.

 

[Aja]

I have never heard of one. Sorry, when you said that knowing the place showed I was well-travelled I wanted to point out that I'm not and it really isn't very remote.



All the guides say that Ettrick Bay (on Bute) is foul, but are irritatingly short of detail on what fouls it. It sounds quite likely that there could have been a submarine net between Bute and somewhere near Ardlamont, but even then it would seem more sensible to run it from the point to the north of the bay. I've had a Good Hard Stare at the place at low tides and seen no sign of anything ominous.

I suspect it is a bit like Kilbride Bay (known locally as Ostel Bay) around Ardlamont, where there is an awful lot of barbed wire now embedded in the sand. There may well be unspent munitions there too. I ran aground many years ago in Ettrick Bay having a nosey in, but luckily was in a Loch Long so able to jump over the side and push off. In all my years in the area I haven't seen a yacht anchored there overnight. Occasional lunch stops, yes.

 

[mainsail1]

All the guides say that Ettrick Bay (on Bute) is foul, but are irritatingly short of detail on what fouls it. It sounds quite likely that there could have been a submarine net between Bute and somewhere near Ardlamont, but even then it would seem more sensible to run it from the point to the north of the bay. I've had a Good Hard Stare at the place at low tides and seen no sign of anything ominous.

Large rocks strewn on the bottom??

 

[JumbleDuck]

I suspect it is a bit like Kilbride Bay (known locally as Ostel Bay) around Ardlamont, where there is an awful lot of barbed wire now embedded in the sand. There may well be unspent munitions there too.

This map - http://www.bute-at-war.org/gallery/mapkeylocations.pdf - doesn't show any booms or nets, but it does say that there was commando training at both Ettrick Bay and Ardlamont, so perhaps that's where the obstructions come from,

I ran aground many years ago in Ettrick Bay having a nosey in, but luckily was in a Loch Long so able to jump over the side and push off. In all my years in the area I haven't seen a yacht anchored there overnight.

That might be "challenge accepted", but I'm not sure it would be a very rewarding overnight - one would have to anchor a long way out. By the way, the tearoom there is excellent.

Large rocks strewn on the bottom??

Not that I've seen. I've never really considered an overnight stop there, but I have thought about going in for lunch (see above) and haven't seen anything which would deter me from anchoring above 1/2 tide. Dunagoil Bay is nice for a high tide visit too.

 

[pagoda]

This map - http://www.bute-at-war.org/gallery/mapkeylocations.pdf - doesn't show any booms or nets, but it does say that there was commando training at both Ettrick Bay and Ardlamont, so perhaps that's where the obstructions come from,



That might be "challenge accepted", but I'm not sure it would be a very rewarding overnight - one would have to anchor a long way out. By the way, the tearoom there is excellent.



Not that I've seen. I've never really considered an overnight stop there, but I have thought about going in for lunch (see above) and haven't seen anything which would deter me from anchoring above 1/2 tide. Dunagoil Bay is nice for a high tide visit too.

There is nothing too horrid on Satellite imagery, (underwater obstacle wise) so a lunch stop could be fine. The whole lot are pretty exposed to long fetch SW weather, so going past in suitable weather is not going to happen that often. I think old steel hawsers buried in the sand probably pose more of a hazard?

 

[MM5AHO]

It's funny how places get a reputation for something, or for nothing. Probably in the mists of time there was something, that got handed along, and distorted in the process, of why such an anchorage was good or bad.
I remember telling an old salt of how I'd overnighted in Port Mary (near Cuan Point, west end of Cuan sound) once. Right between the bay itself and the nearest rock offshore there's a reasonable anchorage with a little protection, but not much joy in anything with west in it. OK is anything easterly (as it was that night). A horrified look made me really wonder if I'd been silly, but still don't think so.
I think there must be hundreds of anchorages hardly explored because no-one does.

 

[JumbleDuck]

There is nothing too horrid on Satellite imagery, (underwater obstacle wise) so a lunch stop could be fine. The whole lot are pretty exposed to long fetch SW weather, so going past in suitable weather is not going to happen that often. I think old steel hawsers buried in the sand probably pose more of a hazard?

Are there such cables? The dire warnings never seem to say what they are warning (direly) about, just that Here Be Dragons. I agree that there won't be many opportunities to use it, but the wind blows from the east occasionally, normally when I am trying to get back round Ardlamont to Port Bannatyne ...

It's funny how places get a reputation for something, or for nothing. Probably in the mists of time there was something, that got handed along, and distorted in the process, of why such an anchorage was good or bad.

Yes, that's what I think happens. Someone went in in 1948 and had a problem, reported it to the CCC, it went in the guide and since then nobody else has been in (because the guide says Bad Things happen) and so it doesn't get updated. Which is, I suspect, what has happened with Loch Stornoway.

I remember telling an old salt of how I'd overnighted in Port Mary (near Cuan Point, west end of Cuan sound) once. Right between the bay itself and the nearest rock offshore there's a reasonable anchorage with a little protection, but not much joy in anything with west in it. OK is anything easterly (as it was that night). A horrified look made me really wonder if I'd been silly, but still don't think so.

I haven't used it but I'm pretty sure that one's in the old (hardback) CCC books, though it maybe didn't survive the cull when they went A4.

I think there must be hundreds of anchorages hardly explored because no-one does.

Definitely. There are a few interesting looking possibilities along the south of the Ross of Mull for example, but apart from Port Nan Ròn, nobody ever seems to try 'em. I used to like using An Caolas, the west end of the Sound of Erraid, because it was always deserted, but now it's been Antaresed there always seem to be other boats there.