Proposed West Scotland Itinerary

R

richgiddens

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 Apr 2009
Messages
153
Visit site
Hi All,
lucky enough to have a ten day charter on the west coast end of May, beginning of June. It'll be my third visit and, because we've got a reasonable amount of time, we're intending to venture west of the Firth of Clyde. (Lovely though it is)
I've bought myself some of the CCC publications (all excellent) and put together a tentative plan. I've had a look at the tides and it all seems feasible(ish).
I was wondering whether someone with a bit more experience than me in the area could run their eye over it and see what they reckon.
What I'm really after is stuff along the lines of, 'you don't want to go there, it's full of Englishmen on charter'.
Anyway, here it is:
Sat- evening leave Largs anchor somewhere in the Kyles
Sun- Crinan, maybe get part way through
Mon- finish Crinan and through Sound of Luing to Loch Spelve
Tues- Tobermory
Wed- Tobermory
Thurs- Pool of the Otter (apologies to you Gaelic speakers, I've tried but I just can't!)
Fri- Crinan to Tarbert (too optimistic?)
Sat- Tarbert
Sun- Lochranza or maybe Lamlash
Mon- Largs
Tues- Back to The Smoke and jellied eels etc.
Please feel free to laugh this out of court or make any suggestions / comments, helpful or otherwise.
Thanks in advance.
 
If it's only a week and a bit stay in the Clyde.

Or,
Sat, as far through the canal as poss.
Through the week, more or less what you said but Tobers is too far, Oban is probably far enough.
Crinan to Tarbert is doable but why 2 nights there when you have rushed about at the other side of the canal?

Enjoy your cruise
 
Book a pilot for the transit of the Crinan Canal- details from the office- you'll be through in four hours without having to step off the boat.

If the weather is settled why not sail round the Mull to Islay/ Jura/ Colonsay ( or go over to Northern Ireland) Save the hassle of the canal and the well worn route to Tobermory - which you can do in one tide if your timing is OK.

Otter puddle is pronounced " Pul-doe-ran"
 
Big Doris, Sound of Luing, Loch Spelve, Sound of Mull - all go better with a favourable tide but it is neaps at the end of May. Loch Spelve is full of fish farms, Tobermory is full of boats that motor there at full tilt early afternoon to get on the pontoons before they are full - and why suffer 2 days there? Similarly, why 2 nights in Tarbert?

I'd echo the round the MoK to Gigha, Islay, Jura, Colonsay, Iona, Staffa, Coll/Tiree and you could come back via Balamory, Oban, Puildhobrain, Crinan but as always it depends on the weather.
 
I'd suggest that you might find it a bit tight, and that you've left no time for the weather to turn pear shaped. As others have suggested, from Largs you would be just as well going via the Mull of Kintyre; your Friday night stop could be Brodick or Lamlash, or even Sanda if the weather is good. Going that way also leaves you with the option of circumnavigating Mull; a night at Tinker's Hole or Bull Hole near Iona might be good.

The Crinan Canal is a) expensive, b) time consuming and c) has rules about when you can move on it - basically, it is only open for "business hours", and you MUST tie up when they say so; they'll usually tell you where to tie up! It isn't just the transit time - we, for example, were once kept waiting at Crinan for quite a long time (hours) for another vessel to come out of the sea-lock; this left us little time on the canal before the obligatory close of navigation at (I think) 5 pm. That ended up adding a day to our timings. And though it is pretty, it isn't sufficiently pretty to want to spend longer than you have to on it!
 
awol said:
Big Doris, Sound of Luing, Loch Spelve, Sound of Mull - all go better with a favourable tide but it is neaps at the end of May. Loch Spelve is full of fish farms, Tobermory is full of boats that motor there at full tilt early afternoon to get on the pontoons before they are full - and why suffer 2 days there? Similarly, why 2 nights in Tarbert?

I'd echo the round the MoK to Gigha, Islay, Jura, Colonsay, Iona, Staffa, Coll/Tiree and you could come back via Balamory, Oban, Puildhobrain, Crinan but as always it depends on the weather.
Click to expand...

Yeah, should have mentioned: reason for the two night stopovers is that certain of the crew requested doing some things other than sailing (can you imagine?) on their hols so I've tries to factor in places where there are such 'things'.
As ever, the actual sailory things on these trips are pretty straightforward, it's the Butlin's Redcoat bit: trying to factor in spas, places to buy organic honey, 'will there be hairdryers in the showers?' And that's just the blokes!
Anyway, thanks for the advice
 
Loch Spelve is IMHO not an attractive place. The fish farms are placed where you would wish to anchor, and their discarded gear litters the bottom in the alternative 'other places'. You might consider Loch Aline as a more attractive alternative, with anchoring practicable at both the north and the south ends. Reeds mentions somewhere else close by the village and ferry landing.

Similarly, Tobermory - full to bursting with 'white settlers' - soon palls. They may however have fixed by now the recurrent raw sewage problem that plagued previous visits. Instead of two days/nights, consider going round the corner to the NE and choosing one of the many superb anchorages in Loch Na Druim Bhuide - certainly one of the West Coast's finest havens.

Enjoi!
 
Spanner in the works. head south to Northern Ireland. First night Brodick or lamlash or Campbeltown. Then head for Ballycastle or Glenarm. Then Belfast and Bangor back via Ballycastle or Rathlin and Islay and Jura. back round the Mull and a few stops on Arran.
 
Not far from Largs up the Kyles to Caladh Harbour, lovely anchorage but it will be quite full on a Sat. night. There are plenty of alternatives anchorages in the Kyles so you will find somewhere comfortable. About 3 to 4 hours to Ardrishaig, but if you can lock in by ten or so you should get through to Crinan that day. You lock out at Crinan about an hour before, until an hour after LW. and the tide will whistle you up to Loch Aline or on to Tobermory, tide is negligible after Loch Aline and you will get a pontoon berth or mooring up to about 17.00 18.00 if not you anchor in the clear area inside the visitors moorings, just off the waterfall south of the pontoons, the shore will seem close but it is deep right up to the cliff where there are lots of interesting sea birds nesting. The trees take the wind so it is always tenable. You can anchor down by the mussel farm but it is a long walk to the Mishnish. Don't be tempted by Tavyallich, nice enough village but not worth the long trip up and down Loch Sween. Note that time of HW Ardrishaig is LW at Crinan.
After that you can go where you like, Sunart is nice but I am another who does not rate Spelve.
However if I wuz you and the weather was good I would go from Largs to Lamlash or on to Sanda first night, then take the rising tide to Gigha; next day Pulladobhrain, Oban or Loch Aline or all the way to Tob. and use the canal for coming back if there is a risk of poor weather to hold you back. From the Canal back to Largs is a day and you are in sheltered waters with weak tides nearly all the way. Tides only decide the timing of your passage between Crinan and Loch Aline, rounding the Mull of Kintyre and off Loch Sween in the Sound of Jura, elsewhere they are not more than a knot or so.
Places to go- Gigha Hotel for food and craic, Achamore garden for a walk, if there is a celidh in the hall,be sure to go, everyone on the Island from 2 to 99 will be there and you will never forget it.
Good restaurant in Loch Aline, reasonable bar food in Mc Gochans in Tob. and good craic in the Mishnish. From Pulladobhrain hike over the hill to the Tig an Truish and look at the bridge over the Atlantic (Seil Sound) before you go in; Crinan hotel is still pretentious but they now do (pricey) bar meals, the Cairnbaan hotel beside Lock 5 in the canal is a good lunch or overnight stop and better than anything in Ardrishaig, though the food and hospitality in the Grey Gull is fine, it lacks atmosphere. I presume if you have cruised the Clyde before, you know all about Tarbert.
 
Last edited:
I would not push the pace just to get to Tobermory. With crew who do not want to spend all their time sailing, and if the canal is a novelty, I would seek to enjoy the delights of canal cruising, and then take my time to enjoy the waters around Seil and Luing, which give very interesting navigation combined with fairly flat water and the ability to do off boat stuff at Arduine, Melfort, Easedale. Maybe of course your crew have got some sort of exotic off boat tastes that can only be satisfied at Tobermory.

Only been to the Mishnish once, and found it hard to see why everyone thinks it is such a good pub. Perhaps people who don't go to a pub very often?? Just IMO of course.

R
 
Romeo;4126507ory. Only been to the Mishnish once said:
But you are Scottish so it does not have the exotic charm from the last century that it has for visitors from afar. It is only a few years since the girls used to come around at 20.00 sharp on a summers evening lean across the tartan tablecloth and draw the tartan curtains whether you wanted to stop looking at the view of the bay or not. And the Rangers shrine at the back is still there for pilgrims.
I admit that it needs to be very full of rowdy sailors to create its unique atmosphere though.
Click to expand...
 
richgiddens said:
As ever, the actual sailory things on these trips are pretty straightforward, it's the Butlin's Redcoat bit: trying to factor in spas, places to buy organic honey, 'will there be hairdryers in the showers?' And that's just the blokes!
Anyway, thanks for the advice
Click to expand...

Showers, hairdryers? You need Portavadie, Tobermory, Kerrera and that's about it. Yes, there are showers elsewhere but not of the hair dryer/straightener variety. Beware of T'mory - toilets close at 2100 IIRC, so careful where/what you eat!
 
My tuppence worth.
Don't overnight in Craighouse, Jura, and another -1 for L.Spelve
I would think you'll easily make it to Tobermory and yes it's not the remote wilderness experience but crews do like it.
Pool of Otter is very nice but there are better in my opinion. It's useful as a stop while waiting for the tide to get further South.
Loch Aline on North shore of Sound of Mull has pontoons but loads of anchoring mostly anywhere towards head of Loch.
Oban, wouldn't bother. It's a town.
Craobh Haven, wouldn't bother. It's a marina (only) although the pub did fair food last time I was there.
Do Cuan Sound, it's an interesting passage, especially if you get the tides wrong!
Loads of lovely anchorages about in Sound of Jura. lowlandsmans Bay, Lussa Bay, between 2 reefs outside Carsaig Bay (all need to be assessed with a weather eye out). Just sail to the wind and enjoy the stunning scenery.
we've spent ages just sailing back and forth across the Sound of Jura, it's not shabby.
Note: you can carry the flood tide a long way North, you don't get as much help coming back South.
hope you enjoy it.
I can't wait to get back.
 
Sounds like you already have a good outline view. My main input would be DON'T SET A FIXED PLAN IN ADVANCE.

Look at a range of different options and stop-off points ahead of time. Start to short list when see long range forecast. Make choices on the day, depending on the real conditions. Much more enjoyable for the whole crew if don't force to fixed schedule but go with the flow.

Personally I would look at and pre-plan tides for round and/or back via Mull of Kintyre (and Rathlin then Islay is quite a nice alternative to Gigha as staging point) - then decide between Canal and Mull a day or so before departure (we have changed plan off Arran once).

Unlike others we love Loch Spelve - interesting entrance but not too difficult, and absolutely masses of space to anchor in the north west corner. Also twice seen sea eagles above the entrance when leaving. And similarly Lowlandmans Bay an easy anchor alternative to Craighouse on Jura, but lacks the pub.

Make sure you get the Antares charts before leaving. Should be great fun if you go with the weather, NOT the plan.
 
I have to agree with some of the others. Why hire a boat in Largs if you want to see Mull / Inner Hebrides? Wouldn't it be better to pick up the boat in Oban for that trip? From Largs, in the ten or so days you've got just enough time to savour the delights of the Firth of Clyde and maybe Antrim/CoDown.
 
.
If you are determined to 'do the West' from Largs on a ten day charter then be ambitious and plan Tobermory in three days.

Largs to Ardrishaig is not a long day. The Crinan in a day is easy if you have an experienced crew or get a pilot, and if timings are auspicious then you can carry a fair tide from Crinan Northwards for eight hours, which should get you most of the way to Tobermory.

That leaves you a week to chill and meander back, perhaps via the Mull instead of the canal.

If that is too hectic I would agree with a previous poster - charter a boat in Oban.

Agree about Spelve - dull - and Puilladobhrain can be insanely crowded at that time of year, esp. at weekends.

- W
 
Its been a while since I have transited Crinnan. So what I say next could be well out of date.

In my day. Crinnan was closed on Sunday. Well actually from 1700 Saturday Night until 0800 Monday morning. It may not make sense but many of the locals are very keen on the Sabbath. You could move through any of the locks outside these hours. The Bridge by the Killmartin Hotel and the Sea locks can only be operated by the keeper and they only worked 0800 to 1700 but not on Sundays.

If you want to go up through the Kyles of Bute and through the Crinnan canal it’s a nice trip.

+1 to round the Mull. Stopovers in Brodick or Cambelltown.
Big +1 to Ghiha Very nice Hotel Pub and if you have crew who want other interests the Gardens are worth a visit.
Graighouse nice stopover, small pier,
+1 to Phulldoran, Oban, Tobermoray, Loch Aline, Loch Drambuie I think it has a fish farm now.
If it were me Id leave my Options open. A circuit of Mull is quite possible in 10 days from Largs.
On the West side Gometra has a nice quiet anchorage, Castle Bay is worth a visit if the wind is right but on the limit time wise.

In any case there is lots of options, Just get up in the morning and see which way the winds blowing and there will be a lovely anchorage by dinner in almost every direction many with a nice watering hole.
Enjoy the trip.
 
Isnt it a goood job we are not all chartering one big boat - we'd never get going.

Personally, I think you'd best stay away, its going to be a rubbish year. The giant midge project is being trialled in all the places listed. Fish farms are being developed in every bay and marina prices are being tripled.
In addition, Webcraft is mounting his West Coast Global Warming charm offensive, targetting all boats exiting the Crinan.
Did I mention the beer? Its off.
So - heed the warning and venture nae further west than Ardrishig. If you choose not to mind my advice, have a lovely trip and enjoy every place you visit, especially Tobers!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top