Rounding the cape (Mull of Kintyre)

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Cappen Boidseye

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In a few days I will be heading around the Mull to head up towards Islay and beyond. I know the tidal rips can get quite violent even without a lot of wind, the forecast is for a westerly as I try to use the tide to get me from East to West around the Mull. I know wind over tide can get quite interesting, however the forecast is only for 10 to 15 knots. What do you recommend? Keep inshore, stay well offshore or don't be silly!

27 foot yacht, 18 hp engine so enough power, crew, one big man!
 
Cappen Boidseye said:
In a few days I will be heading around the Mull to head up towards Islay and beyond. I know the tidal rips can get quite violent even without a lot of wind, the forecast is for a westerly as I try to use the tide to get me from East to West around the Mull. I know wind over tide can get quite interesting, however the forecast is only for 10 to 15 knots. What do you recommend? Keep inshore, stay well offshore or don't be silly!

27 foot yacht, 18 hp engine so enough power, crew, one big man!
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Well I did it some years ago in a Jaguar 22 with a little OB as the motor. Left from Cambeltown at crack of dawn or just before to hit slack water at the Mull then headed for Gigha. It was a long day but I made it in daylight. Took the inshore route round the Mull. It was a little rougher at the Mull but nothing exceptional. I have an abiding memory of a good days sailing.

I had a back up plan of staging out of Sanda.
 
TQA said:
Well I did it some years ago in a Jaguar 22 with a little OB as the motor. Left from Cambeltown at crack of dawn or just before to hit slack water at the Mull then headed for Gigha. It was a long day but I made it in daylight. Took the inshore route round the Mull. It was a little rougher at the Mull but nothing exceptional. I have an abiding memory of a good days sailing.
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I did it a few times in a 21 footer, and my memories are much the same as yours. I went very close inshore: the demarcation line between the smooth inshore passage and the wild bit was very visible and very audible. I remember swell so large that the 35+ footer about 100yds away kept disappearing ...

Edit: One odd thing was that the Admiralty Sailing directions and the CCC book had very, very different ideas about the timing of slack water. That was 20 years ago, so they may have converged how. I trusted the UKHO tidal stream atlas.
 
sorry cannot help, just a question: is the place as beautiful as the image on the cover of The Wings's 45rpm vinyl? I still have it somewhere, btw was it The Wings or Mc Cartney alone I do not remember..
 
My current plan is to moor in at Sanda, then set off at slack water (Monday morning) before the tide starts to flow in my favour, I intend to use the tide to push me as far as I can get up the Sound of Islay, if I manage to get out of the top then I will anchor for the night in Loch Tarbert on Jura, before heading back. If I can't get that far, there are always Port Askaig or Port Ellen to spend the night in.
 
Roberto said:
sorry cannot help, just a question: is the place as beautiful as the image on the cover of The Wings's 45rpm vinyl? I still have it somewhere, btw was it The Wings or Mc Cartney alone I do not remember..
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Don't know about the sleve, but the Mull of Kintyre is a wonderful place, on the way up to some fantastic scenery and sailing, made even more interesting by the tides around all the crinkly bits and shrapnel.
 
I always like to bounce along the cliffs, even in strong conditions it is usually fairly flat for a couple of hundred metres, but then we try to time it for close to slack water to carry the flood either north or south. If going through Sanda Sound the long diversion off shore means you are there for a lot more time.
 
The last time (two weeks ago) we were heading S/E, and the inside passage was not at all smooth. W3-4, big waves all thru it, and breaking on the cliffs. ( tide going E)

Usually inside passage is pretty smooth tho :-)

(it was foggy 3 weeks ago when we went W/N, we crept along the shore, "inside passage". Couple of shallow spots tho, but you can see them pretty much.)
 
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