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OGITD

OGITD

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This being mine!

South west Scottish sailing area:

WESTCOASTSAILINGAREA_1.jpg


I’ve not managed to make it out of here yet ..... but there's just so much to see & do .... & all within 4-ish hour hops/legs. :)
 
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I've made it up round Mull, via the Crinan Canal. I'd like to do it via the Mull of Kintyre, and take in Islay and Jura. I've also been down to Bangor (N Ireland, not Wales), and Capricious has been to the Isle of Man (without me, unfortunately).

One day I'll have time to get up to Skye and the Outer Hebrides!
 
OGITD said:
This being mine!

South west Scottish sailing area:

WESTCOASTSAILINGAREA_1.jpg


I’ve not managed to make it out of here yet ..... but there's just so much to see & do .... & all within 4-ish hour hops/legs. :)
Click to expand...

That is beautiful! It has been my area too and I never tire of it. I've every intention of chartering in the Firth of Clyde or Oban if I can get 4 or 5 interested friends or relatives.

I moved from Largs to Cowes in 1990 and 5 years later, to Italy. I now race from Porto Ercole and cruise in my own boat which is currently in Greece.
 
OGITD said:
This being mine!

South west Scottish sailing area:

WESTCOASTSAILINGAREA_1.jpg


I’ve not managed to make it out of here yet ..... but there's just so much to see & do .... & all within 4-ish hour hops/legs. :)
Click to expand...

Thats got to be the Knob Bollux of the scottish sailing area.... :D
 
AntarcticPilot said:
I've made it up round Mull, via the Crinan Canal. I'd like to do it via the Mull of Kintyre, and take in Islay and Jura. I've also been down to Bangor (N Ireland, not Wales), and Capricious has been to the Isle of Man (without me, unfortunately).

One day I'll have time to get up to Skye and the Outer Hebrides!
Click to expand...

Then pop acroos to me (Gruinard Bay/Ullapool/Loch Ewe/Gairloch). Hospitality available, with a few hours warning!!
Handy for The Summer Isles, Inner Sound, Plockton, Kyle Rhea, Sound of Sleat etc etc
 
OGITD said:
This being mine!

South west Scottish sailing area:

WESTCOASTSAILINGAREA_1.jpg


I’ve not managed to make it out of here yet ..... but there's just so much to see & do .... & all within 4-ish hour hops/legs. :)
Click to expand...

I am seriously considering moving to this area - it is beautiful and would be a great place to begin one's West coast sailing. Current area is the much more dull (but probably drier) East coast / Forth.
I reckon I could easily spend the remaining years before retirement exploring that "square" and then when i have proper freedom ;) move further north. Deciding factor at the moment will be how long it will take me to commute there of a weekend, probably to somewhere like Greenock, as that would be closest.
 
After long discussions with SWMBO we have decided to move to the Clyde, an area that I sailed for many years and revisited in 2011.

It will be a 7 hr journey to get there but we will be spending most of the summer on the boat. I have to say that the weather is not much different than North Wales but the cruising is so much better.

Look out Scotland Little Ship is coming :)

Tom.
 
A serious question, not wishing to be rude; are the Midges a problem around there ?

I love Scotland ( my Dad is from Strathdon near Aberdeen ) and have spent a lot of time there - slightly inland at West Freugh aircraft Test Range off Luce Bay - but the only sailing I've done in Scottish waters was from Dysart to Port Edgar, a lovely trip but the Forth seemed a bit short on safe ports ?

I suspect overall a sad thing, but I expect in the future there will be more ' convenient ' harbours in Scottish waters, for instance the long proposed development at PortPatrick will happen one day - my favourite spot in Scotland, and the Crown is the best hotel / restaurant I've ever tried, for any price !

My own waters, Chichester Harbour and the Solent, are wonderful too and one need not mix it in crowds if knowing where and when to go; Cowes during Cowes Week for example being a good place to avoid unless itching to try out a new machine gun ! :rolleyes:

However just upstream from Cowes at the Folly etc it's all business as usual; it seems the trendy Hoorays don't know the place or it's too far from their ' yell at the top of ones' voice ' venues listed on their I-phones, which is great for the rest of us !
 
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Seajet said:
A serious question, not wishing to be rude; are the Midges a problem around there ?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Some people claim that midges can't swim and you're ok if there's even the smallest amount of water between you and land. This might be true in some cases, Her Ladyship and I have been "eaten alive" here: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=ardn...0.257058,0.837021&t=h&hnear=Ardnamurchan&z=19 admittedly it's fairly well surrounded by midgie-land.

Midges are the dominant species in the west of Scotland, during the hours of twilight (which in Scotland in summer is all night and can be all day too).
 
Zen Zero said:
Yes.

Some people claim that midges can't swim and you're ok if there's even the smallest amount of water between you and land. This might be true in some cases, Her Ladyship and I have been "eaten alive" here: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=ardn...0.257058,0.837021&t=h&hnear=Ardnamurchan&z=19 admittedly it's fairly well surrounded by midgie-land.

Midges are the dominant species in the west of Scotland, during the hours of twilight (which in Scotland in summer is all night and can be all day too).
Click to expand...

IMHO that point of view is a tad unfair; Midgies are often bad ashore and up in the hills, particularly where there are animals, trees/bushes/heather and water (OK, that's most of Scotland!!) but afloat and even ashore whenever the breeze is notable (but not excessive) the midgies are not a problem.
We were told by the Beastie Guru, Dr Alison Blackwell, that 2012 would be the worst year ever; as it happened up here we hardly had them at all all year. And we hardly had any rain either - but that's a side-issue!!!
Don't let the horror stories put you off. It's a wonderful part of "saling Britain".
 
I've never been bothered by them on the Clyde, except along the shore-line. And I am a mosquito magnet.

On a boat, I am told (and my experience backs it up) that you are completely safe if the wind's above 4 knots; the beasties simply can't fly any distance in winds above a gentle breeze. A hundred metres of water seems to be an effective barrier in any conditions.

On shore, they are really only a pest near standing water or along a shoreline with a lot of seaweed.

Now I'll expect to be eaten alive next year, just to prove me wrong!


Zen Zero said:
Yes.

Some people claim that midges can't swim and you're ok if there's even the smallest amount of water between you and land. This might be true in some cases, Her Ladyship and I have been "eaten alive" here: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=ardn...0.257058,0.837021&t=h&hnear=Ardnamurchan&z=19 admittedly it's fairly well surrounded by midgie-land.

Midges are the dominant species in the west of Scotland, during the hours of twilight (which in Scotland in summer is all night and can be all day too).
Click to expand...
 
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