So. West coast of Scotland

Saguday said:
Yes, I have to say my preference based on armchair googling so far is Craobh Haven/Ardfern area, although that is longer to get too
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Ardfern / Croabh are indeed fantastic bases. But it doesn’t have to be a binary decision.

Why not have a first season based in the Clyde then move further north in season two?

The Clyde is a bit closer with much easier travel options for a first season. And fantastic cruising grounds in their own right. We have 4 amazing islands to explore within 15 miles of our berth at Largs - Great Cumbrae, Little Cumbrae, Bute and Arran. Lots of different anchorages within 8 miles.
And plenty more to explore within a season. And it’s not far to Ireland or round the Mull (not that tricky in the right weather, just more advanced for an inexperienced sailor in late October)

Enjoy.
 
It’s all normal leisure sailing these in Scotland. Nothing unusual or remote, post a selfie, upload a YouTube video from anywhere at anytime.

Driving north of Glasgow to Oban or Lorne area is a major issue at high season with caravans and motorhomes blocking the roads.

All the marinas on the Firth of Clyde are good except Troon and Ardrossan, both of which are lee shores downwind of a long fetch, with big swells. The marinas themselves are okay, but a soulless sail to get to them. On the Argyll coast only Craobh has all round protection from the weather. Repairs on the Clyde are great, all services, well catered for, plenty of choice. Out in Argyll services are more difficult and awkward with lots of excuses why it will take a long time then eventual cancellation. Basically Argyll trades are always travelling which gets in the way of service. I returned to the Clyde for a 10 year insurance survey and work, most done within a week or two. It took over a year at Craobh to get my gas serviced with a lot of reasons why it would be a problem.

Food is generally good but a lot of places are small and fill quickly in the summer season. If you fancy a night in a hotel, not easy for last minute bookings. Lots of places to anchor off the beaten track, less so at popular areas as moorings and stuff have taken over, but still accessible to anchor, just less space.

The space is awesome, the scenery spectacular, prepare for the weather. A while ago I hired a yacht with a Bimini and it was great for the rain typical of summer, less great for the horizontal rain. I suggest a good outboard is required for convenience. The FOC can be a bit linear, to and from the same bits of water with only two choices at most how to get there, I grew tired of it.

Obviously other people will have different experiences and opinions.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Driving north of Glasgow to Oban or Lorne area is a major issue at high season with caravans and motorhomes blocking the roads.
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That's why I think the Clyde may be better for regular short trips - the drive into the wilds and back regularly in high season would soon become frustrating. Even that depends on timing, though. I did Oxford to Crinan and back fourteen times (in a Triumph Herald!) one summer, leaving Oxford at 6pm on a Thursday and Crinan at 6pm on the Sunday, which meant I saw practically no traffic past Glasgow on the way north and very little on the way south.
 
It's not the caravans which frustrate as so much as the motorbikes. Every drive up the a84 this year has seen multiple near death maneuvers from idiotic bike riders requiring me to take avoiding action.

The drive up before last the rider managed to smear himself across the road just ahead of us resulting in a road closure and a 4hr diversion.
 
Lon nan Gruagach said:
You forgot the pesky mountains rearing up out of the sea ruining the view
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And all those scenic islands making it difficult to make a straightforward passage like crossing the English Channel.

And as CTVA will confirm, there is a weird Englishman who tempts unsuspecting sailors to his sheltered Bay by offering pizzas, showers and gin (not necessarily in that order.......;))
 
I may be alone but I feel a certain disquiet at the encouragement being meted out to travel from "Zummerzet" to the west of Scotland. Public transport, alas, makes such trips time consuming and fraught with difficulty to the extent that driving and its pollution (EVs would run out of juice north of Watford) become necessary.
Move your boat by all means but move yourself as well. If we can thole Webby up here, you will surely be welcomed. Just beware, though, Argyll cooncil are trying to impose parking charges everywhere - Oban is a no-parking zone and they tried the same on Mull - and the peerie parliament has just passed legislation to tax private car parking with marinas being tempting targets.
 
We headed to the West Coast of Scotland three years ago and spent two full seasons plus a bit at the beginning and end. In the summer we kept the boat at Kilmelford on a mooring. About £1500 for 12metre and we wintered in Troon, Dunstaffnage and Croabh Haven. The problem with Troon is the air pollution from the timber factory (my conclusion but it could be the airport) spreads black dirt over the boat. Dunstaffnage really can be a nightmare due to swell. Croabh Haven was brilliant and cost about £1700 for the winter. On year two it would have been nice to base the boat further North but nowhere seemed right in terms of travel or risk to the boat so we plodded around Ardnamurchan seven or eight times.
My experience of trying to get maintenance done in Scotland is very patchy. Everything will be done next week when "Dougie" has finished this or that but it never happens. Get your maintenance done before heading North. The difference in price seems minimal.
Incidentally we had no problem with midges and only fled South again because the high winds and rain do get to you after a while.
 
mainsail1 said:
We headed to the West Coast of Scotland three years ago and spent two full seasons plus a bit at the beginning and end. In the summer we kept the boat at Kilmelford on a mooring. About £1500 for 12metre and we wintered in Troon, Dunstaffnage and Croabh Haven. The problem with Troon is the air pollution from the timber factory (my conclusion but it could be the airport) spreads black dirt over the boat. Dunstaffnage really can be a nightmare due to swell. Croabh Haven was brilliant and cost about £1700 for the winter. On year two it would have been nice to base the boat further North but nowhere seemed right in terms of travel or risk to the boat so we plodded around Ardnamurchan seven or eight times.
My experience of trying to get maintenance done in Scotland is very patchy. Everything will be done next week when "Dougie" has finished this or that but it never happens. Get your maintenance done before heading North. The difference in price seems minimal.
Incidentally we had no problem with midges and only fled South again because the high winds and rain do get to you after a while.
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Ha ha! Rain and wind. We had 18 books on for reading after one cruise, oh and the new hampshire heater!!
 
awol said:
I may be alone but I feel a certain disquiet at the encouragement being meted out to travel from "Zummerzet" to the west of Scotland. Public transport, alas, makes such trips time consuming and fraught with difficulty to the extent that driving and its pollution (EVs would run out of juice north of Watford) become necessary.
Move your boat by all means but move yourself as well. If we can thole Webby up here, you will surely be welcomed. Just beware, though, Argyll cooncil are trying to impose parking charges everywhere - Oban is a no-parking zone and they tried the same on Mull - and the peerie parliament has just passed legislation to tax private car parking with marinas being tempting targets.
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We are all-electric as far as cars go and I’ve regularly driven Zummerzet to Glasgow and further on business with no issues. Scotland has an excellent charging network. Craobh Haven have offered me charging from the shoreside commando sockets, so no issues there.

Moving is not out of the question, but not yet. Probably have to suss it out by stealth first, and see if SWMBO is able to understand the locals...
 
pagoda said:
Norway is very pleasant, though the weather is generally wetter and often windier than Scotland. *excluding SE Norway which has more steady summers.
I found the preponderance of bare rock and coniferous forest wears thin in the eye after a while. Scotland has much more variety of scenery.
And beer has not reached £10 a pint.
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We have a Danish lady sailor friend, also an Island Packet owner, whose husband is Norwegian and they go up way north. Her photos are spectacular, ice, glaciers, rocks all that stuff but too cold for us. Curiously, her favourite cruising ground is Scotland...
 
Never get lost? There's a first time for everything.................;)
When you get up to whichever marina you settle on, get Antares Charts and enjoy the real experience of sailing in fantastic scenery, amazing passages and challenging headlands (don't ask me how I know the last item :o).
It really is the most fantastic area to sail a well found boat.
Take a note of my Lat/Long position, anchor in Mill Bay and come and enjoy G -P -S.
Even better still, make it up here to meet ctva and try to empty my stores of gin n pizza (hot water always in endless supply).

All raggies, even mobos, welcome

:encouragement:
Robert
 
scruff said:
It's not the caravans which frustrate as so much as the motorbikes. Every drive up the a84 this year has seen multiple near death maneuvers from idiotic bike riders requiring me to take avoiding action.

The drive up before last the rider managed to smear himself across the road just ahead of us resulting in a road closure and a 4hr diversion.
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Careful what you say with your overgeneralising , an acquaintance of mine a nicer man you could not meet , was killed on his bike when a foreign tourist pulled out onto wrong side of the road in front of him leaving him nowhere to go and killed him instantly , road was shut for hours causing chaos , think before speaking !

He was heading back to his boat ,probably he and his family readers of this forum , hopefully have missed your grossly insensitive remarks .
 
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