Sailing in Scottish Islands

jusw

jusw

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In intend spending much of next summer sailing the "Inner Hebrides"

Its not an area I know, so could forumites suggest "must see" areas so I can plan a sensible worthwhile itinery ?

(any parts to be avoided would also help,

Thanks Jusw
 
Riddled with hazards generally. Have a good study of the charts, as always.
Loch fyne is lovely in general.
Kyles of bute too
Tarbert, Islay, oban etc all lovely. Can’t really go wrong for the most part.
 
Be careful of the tides if you’re a slow vessel too. Many of them can run quicker than most displacement boats and yachts can motor. Pays dividends to plan to go with them...
 
QBhoy said:
Riddled with hazards generally. Ha:)
ve a good study of the charts, as always.
Loch fyne is lovely in general.
Kyles of bute too
Tarbert, Islay, oban etc all lovely. Can’t really go wrong for the most part.
Click to expand...

Have they moved? :)
 
jusw said:
In intend spending much of next summer sailing the "Inner Hebrides"

Its not an area I know, so could forumites suggest "must see" areas so I can plan a sensible worthwhile itinery ?

(any parts to be avoided would also help,

Thanks Jusw
Click to expand...

The "Inner Hebrides" covers a wide area, and a large number of islands, sea lochs, and passages. We all have our favourites, but that is subjective, and I would hesitate to make suggestions of particular places. I would recommend getting the relevant Clyde Cruising Club Sailing Directions.
 
I wouldn't say they are riddled with hazards. I grew up sailing here, spent 12 years sailing on the east coast of England, and then moved back. The western isles are easy sailing by comparison with the east coast. The main reason is that you're seldom more than a few hours from an all weather entrance to somewhere safe. The second reason is that the bottom (although a bit hard) has the good grace to stay the same shape from year to year, and it's not so near the top as on the east coast. I find the tides less of a problem here. Typically there are tidal gates which have to be negotiated, but for most of the open area the tidal flows are modest, as is the rise and fall. The land geography helps too. There are big lumps of mountains that enable you to work out where you are by eyeball. On the east the land is often a thin featureless line on the horizon. But do you really think we are going to tell people about our favourite places?
 
As a native of Fort William I would say there are no bad bits. I will recommend that you read anything by Gavin Maxwell to get a flavour of the area. In my opinion not much has changed in the last 50 years.
 
Welcome to you.
As already mentioned, beware of/make use of tides.
Correyvreckan, Sound of Luing, Cuan Sound, Kyle Rhea, Sound of Islay, Mull of Kintyre to name but a few.
Great if you get them right, otherwise .........

Depends where you intend to be based and how long you have available.
In six seasons I have only just scratched the surface.
A circumnavigation of Mull, Skye; Bute+Arran+ Loch Fyne and Crinan Canal are all worth investigating.

And of course, once north of Skye there is my area from Rona to Kinlochbervie including Torridon, Gairloch, Loch Ewe***, Outer+ Inner Loch Broom et al, Lochinver - but that's perhaps less of an Island jaunt than an extended cruise up and down a long coast.

If/when you make it up here, contact me.
Good luck.
 
Beginning of June has the fife regatta on the Clyde so watch out for the participants around this time
They are an incredible sight going by previous years but will take up some spaces
 
Hi Jusw,
A westcountryman's very personal (and probably out-of-date) view:-
In the 00s I used to charter for week a couple of times a year out of Largs and Craobh (nr. Oban). Our charters mostly happened at both ends of the season including March and October. We never had a complete write off week because of weather and I would say that the best month on average was May.
Looking back, the memorable routes that I would dearly like to revisit were -
+ Croabh - Oban - Sound of Mull - Tobermorey - Arisaig - Kyle of L'halsh - Plockton and return via Staffa & Iona.
+ Largs - Rothesay - Kyles of Bute - East Loch Tarbert - Campbeltown (for the early morning bacon rolls ashore when the rest of the crew were eating rabbit food) - Islay and back via Arran

There are very few places I had on my 'avoid' list. If pushed, I would say Dunstaffnage but only because it was bland not bad. In general, just enjoy the scenery and let the balm envelope you.

The Clyde Cruising Club Sailing Directions were excellent and, at that time, Penguin used to publish info on the smaller anchorages.
http://www.penguin.org.uk/

Cheers
Bob
(Currently confined to Lake Solent)
 
Sandy said:
As a native of Fort William I would say there are no bad bits. I will recommend that you read anything by Gavin Maxwell to get a flavour of the area. In my opinion not much has changed in the last 50 years.
Click to expand...

I think you would find that the yacht "facilities", such as visitor's moorings and the provision of pontoons etc have greatly increased. There has been a huge increase in fish farming and its associated traffic, although the current farm sites are tending to be more offshore, whereas initially, they tended to be in many of the wonderful natural anchorages.
The sailing is as good as ever.
 
Amulet said:
I wouldn't say they are riddled with hazards. I grew up sailing here, spent 12 years sailing on the east coast of England, and then moved back. The western isles are easy sailing by comparison with the east coast. The main reason is that you're seldom more than a few hours from an all weather entrance to somewhere safe. The second reason is that the bottom (although a bit hard) has the good grace to stay the same shape from year to year, and it's not so near the top as on the east coast. I find the tides less of a problem here. Typically there are tidal gates which have to be negotiated, but for most of the open area the tidal flows are modest, as is the rise and fall. The land geography helps too. There are big lumps of mountains that enable you to work out where you are by eyeball. On the east the land is often a thin featureless line on the horizon. But do you really think we are going to tell people about our favourite places?
Click to expand...

+1
Compared with my North Sea home waters, the West Coast of Scotland is not especially difficult. You do have to keep an eye on the weather, but then you have to do that everywhere.
There is no point in suggesting 10 places not to be missed as the choice is so bewildering, but I would say if you have the time, it would be a shame to limit yourself to the Inner Hebrides and not at the very least have a taste of the Outer Hebrides.
My conclusion after two months on the West Coast: I’m going back for more.
Read as much as you can in advance, to get a feel for the place. The CCC directions are essential, their companion Cruising Scotland is very good as a first appetizer, and if you want a more extensive background, The Scottish Isles by Hamish Haswell Smith is a must.
 
Inner Hebrides? My suggestion but far from comprehensive.
From the South, (Belfast Lough) Gigha makes a good landfall and is worth going ashore, about 9-10 hrs from Bangor if you get the tide right, alternatives are Port Ellen (distilleries) and Craighouse (distillery) Port Ellen is less interesting but offers most shelter. North then toward Mull, perhaps calling at Colonsay. Unless winds are strong W. leave Mull to starboard, plenty of really sheltered quiet anchorages with beaches and wildlife, Tinkers Hole and Bull Hole are best known, but there are better if you use your charts, visit Iona (you will be anchoring in a strong tidal stream) Tresnish Isles, ULva or Gometra, then you can call at Coll, Tiree or both. If the weather is good head north again toward Canna, Loch Scavaig and then round Skye, Stein has a good pub. Across to Gairloch, then explore Torridon or Rona, Raasay before coming south down the Sound Of Sleat, Inverie in Knoydart is not the same since the Belgian came, so Mallaig might make a better stop, back round Ardnamurchan to Tobermory then south calling at the places you left out on the way up. Inner Sound, Sounds of Mull, Luing and Jura are well sheltered and best kept for stronger weather.
How many islands is that, not counting Ireland or Skye it must be a dozen, you may need an extra week?
 
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