Scotland - Where should I aim to keep my boat?

Why fly to Wick when you can fly to Stornoway?

(Actually, can you wait until we've build a bigger marina first...)
 
Is train an option

Hi I have just looked up train options and its 4 hrs from Aberdeen to Largs, only largs because its much the same to several marinas in the east Clyde area, Ardrossan I spent some time there just after they opened several years ago but the day sailing from there is great and loads of anchorages, I am heading up that way from Jersey this spring. As I have an old folks rail card its about £40 return.
Just a thought.
I keep my boat in Jersey in the winter, (my elderly Mum lives there) and fly out very frequently it takes 5 hrs door to boat and cost about £40 each way I live in Cumbria so train to Manchester 1hr flight and 30 min on the bus and I am on the boat.
Mike
 
I keep Rowana in Peterhead, and live about 3/4 hour drive away which is very handy. It is also very cheap compared with some other marinas, and the other boat owners are a friendly bunch.

Stonehaven dries as has already been mentioned.
Whitehills is fine, but I think there is a waiting list for berths.
Lossiemouth also has a waiting list.
Banff may have spaces, I'm not sure. I have heard it is silting up again, so I think you may have a problem with your draft.
Findochty & Nairn would also give you draft problems, I think.
Inverness is a new marina, with still a few spaces left I believe.

Not sure which side of Aberdeen you'll be staying, but if you're on the south side - Portlethen/Stonehaven - then there is Arbroath. The down sides of Arbroath are that access is only 3hrs (from memory) either side of HW. Not only do you have to pay for electricity, but also water! The toilet/showers are abysmal, so much so that it is the only time I have ever sent a letter of complaint! That was a couple of years ago, so perhaps they've been upgraded. They certainly needed it.

My gut reaction would be to go for Inverness in the first instance, especially if you're to be living on the west or north side of Aberdeen. You can probably drive it in 2 - 3 hours, and there is a few places to sail to. Cromarty is nice, you can pick up a visitors buoy and take the dinghy ashore.

You could then spend a while looking round the other places and decide if you want to move nearer to your home in the future.

Send me a PM with your contact details if you want, and we could discuss this further

Jim
 
A plan

Geoff

I grew up in Aberdeenshire, sailed with Aberdeen and Stonehaven YC for a few years in a mirror. My Dad kept a boat in Stonehaven for a summer.
I now live in Lanarkshire, and keep a boat in Oban.

So .. - East coast - convenience ( but I wouldn't put Inverness in the convenient category )- I think the Aberdeen - Inv road is still rubbish? ( admit I haven't driven it for 12 years).
My pontoon neighbour lives in Aberdeen and although it takes him 4 hours he feels its worth it.

My suggestion? Don't be in a hurry to get your boat to the east coast. Bring her up as planned , but sail the summer from a west coast base ( clyde, or further north, or both). That gives you time to get access to an east coast berth, or if you like the west coast and feel the drive is manageable then keep her on the west. I think you should be able to get a clyde/oban marina berth OK.

You can tell I am biased, compared to the west coast the east is much less scenic, has drying harbours, and just doesn't have so many places to go. West coast has scenic grandeur,often sheltered sailing,anchorages by the pilot book full, and the bonus that when you come out of marina you can head in whichever way the wind suits and end up somewhere interesting, on the east coast you can go to port or erm starboard when you leave your berth :)

Steve
 
stevepick said:
I think the Aberdeen - Inv road is still rubbish? ( admit I haven't driven it for 12 years).
Click to expand...

I don't drive it often, but I think the A96 is an abysmal road.

They keep on banging on about how they have grand plans to upgrade the A9 from Perth to Inverness to dual carriageway, when really the A9 is not a bad road. They should spend the money instead upgrading the A96 to dual carriageway, that would make a lot more sense IMHO.
 
Thanks for your input everyone. There are quite a few more options to consider than I had come up with myself (which is why I asked). I do like the idea of making it to the West coast this summer and then perhaps hopping through the canal for the winter which is something I hadn't thought about. That would also give me time to decide if I mind the drive to the West or not. I'm not sure how much time off I will get so that is also a large factor.
Whitehills looks good - quite a nice rate there too :-) I will give them a call shortly but they may well be full already as mentioned above.
 
Spoke to Whitehills earlier. They have a 15 boat waiting list at the moment and he doesn't anticipate many berths changing hands this year. Bummer.
 
G12 said:
Thanks for your input everyone. There are quite a few more options to consider than I had come up with myself (which is why I asked). I do like the idea of making it to the West coast this summer and then perhaps hopping through the canal for the winter which is something I hadn't thought about. That would also give me time to decide if I mind the drive to the West or not. I'm not sure how much time off I will get so that is also a large factor.
Whitehills looks good - quite a nice rate there too :-) I will give them a call shortly but they may well be full already as mentioned above.
Click to expand...

I live just south of Stonehaven -and keep my boat on the Clyde (Ardrossan). That's about 3h15. Not too difficult. In spring/summer you can be on the boat by 20:30- and even head off somewhere in the evening light if you wish. It's fairly easy to get outside -round Kintyre or use the canal. Once the M80 upgrade is finished this summer- it will be an easier drive through/round Glasgow.
Getting to the Oban area takes a bit longer driving- about 4 1/2 hrs since there are just basic A roads, less handy for week-ends, but the sailing is worth it :)

Graeme
 
All of this keeping the boat many hours away seems very strange to me. If I lived more than a few minutes away I dont know what I would do. I sometimes nip out for a hour long sail after work on nice summer evenings. I definately get my moneys worth out of her as much as possible!;)

Bad luck about Whitehills, it seems that cos its such a nice all tide access place everyone has the same idea. Inverness seems to be your next closest bet for a good berth then. Everywhere else is pretty much tidal for us fin keelers. (mine winds up tho after a bit of a slog:p) Not that I want to do it more than at the start and end of a season mind.

Good luck
 
pagoda said:
I live just south of Stonehaven -and keep my boat on the Clyde (Ardrossan). That's about 3h15. Not too difficult.
Click to expand...

Home to Jumblie is about 2 hours by car, 30 minutes by ferry and 15 - 30 minutes by bus, depending on the connection. Worth it, 'cos the alternative is the Solway, which is an intermittently submerged sandbank.
 
I am a big Moray Firth fan, but you might want to consider changing your boat to one which you are happy to take the ground in. Gives you many more options for lovely places to visit. I am also a fan having a boat close to home. In the summer you can sail in daylight on the Moray Firth till 11pm, so how frustrated are you going to be doing the garden on lovely mid-week summer evenings if your boat is 4 hours away?

If you want the odd weekend on the west, and we all do, it is pretty easy to find a friend who is looking for crew!
 
Robwhelton said:
Agree, it would seem really odd to go a whole day without seeing the boat.
Guess I'm just lucky...
Click to expand...


Yes you are...

I've lived by the sea (100yards away) on the NE coast for almost 30 years, though originally from the West Coast. It's not the most sailing friendly part of the world -we get the tail end of all sorts of Northern north sea storms / swell, haar (seafog) when the weather dares to be good in early summer. Where you live and where you want to sail are usually a compromise... I'd be delighted if I could live close to our (big) boat, but I can check the tide and sail my RS dinghy in maybe half an hour if the weather is right. Actually I've got 2 dinghies to play with this year :D
 
Sailed up that way last summer. I have a 6' draft fin keeler.

Inverness, A new, but not yet finished marina which is very secure and has spaces. Easy to get in and out off but sailing from there there tends to be on long linear paths. Good for going through the canal to the west coast.

Lossiemouth, Now turned over completely to pontooned mooring. Tidal entrance, Secure and enough depth in places when inside. Reasonable facilities, Waiting list.

Burghead, Fishing port, good access in the right conditions. Handy back up refuge.

Whitehills, In spite of what has been said on this forum it is tidal and is not the easiest of entries. I had to wait outside in big seas for about an hour to avoid bouncing off the bottom on the chop on the way in. And that was well after low water.
It was quite nail biting coming in in pitch darkness and turning sharply to port through the narrow entrance. The harbour master was very helpful and guided us to the entrance from the harbour head. A great place once you are in and very friendly. Much better on a pontoon than in the outer harbour. Fairly long waiting list.

Buckie, A commercial harbour with easy entry and helpful harbour master, No pontoons so berthing against the wall between fishing boats. A good shelter in bad weather.

Banff, very tidal entry window and far too rough for us even to think about attempting.

Peterhead, Reasonably secure pontoon berthing. Quite low cost for a pontoon berth and a very friendly and helpful bunch of berth holders. A fairly long waiting list.

Stonehaven, The inner harbour dries out and the outer harbour can get VERY rough in certain wind conditions. A wooden mooring board is essential to minimise damage caused by the constant surge. The outer harbour is used by quite a few creel boats in the season and a permanent berth may not be available. The restaurant above the harbour masters office is extremely expensive.

Montrose, a commercial port with no real facilities for yachts and a long torturous tidal entrance with quite high currents at times. But 'any port in a storm' they will turn anyone away and are very low cost. Not a place for permanent berthing.

Arbroath, There is a tidal gate for entry and exit into the inner harbour pontoon berths. Once in there is no problem, it is deep enough and very secure. Entry is not possible every day, they do publish a list of opening times. Some of the metering units for water and fuel are faulty. Helpful staff but again a long waiting list. Slightly more expensive than other harbours for short term berthing.

Anstruther, The pontoon berths are mud from about a foot below the pontoons when the tide is out. (a bad job was made of dredging it). It is possible to lie alongside but a rope to the mast is essential as it dries out. Also there are HUNDREDS of lobster creels everywhere along this coast even very far out.


I have restricted myself to those places I have recent experience off which are compatible with a fin keeled yacht. There are several other places.


I would suggest that you initially take your boat to Inverness until you can find a better compromise for yourself.



During the summer, my boat is on a deep water swinging mooring on the north shore of the river Forth. At the moment it is on the hard for the winter.

Club membership this year for self and SWMBO about £200 / annum, we have to pay £40 to the crown commission and we lay and are responsible for our own moorings. Boats all come out in the winter on launching trolleys. Not much more winter storage space left now.

It is about two hours driving of almost all dual carriageway to Aberdeen from here.
 
This is interesting as I also am based near Aberdeen. Keeping my boat in Inverness for the winter and although the Moray Firth is lovely I agree with all the other comments. Not a fan of Whitehills though having seen waves coming over the top of the outer wall. Findhorn is very nice but you really need local knowledge to get in and then only available at the top of the tide for a fin keeler. Oban is great and worth the 4hr drive in my opinion. If you can get away Friday afternoon and return Sunday afternoon it's not too bad. (mabe we should all start a car club) The Firth of Forth is an option being just a couple of hrs down the the main road but there again you are still restricted for short cruise options.
 
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