The Gulf of Corryvreckan

ianj99

ianj99

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Just wondering if anyone is familiar with this mighty stretch of water between Jura and Scarba off the Argyll coast?

I've just been watching the dvd made by
http://Whirlpool-scotland.co.uk

I will venture out of Ardfern and into it this year during the neaps and colm conditions, hopefully in a flotilla (safety in numbers!)

Ian
 
Gulf of C.

A Geordie actor who's name I have managed to forget swam across it last summer, made an interesting episode for a TV series. Lots of tripper boats run expeditions from Crinan, Croabh and Ardfern to it in summer so it is possible to have a look at it first. Best East to West first time as it is easier to get the timing right.
 
Yes, and it can be very impressive. Don't go anywhere near it with a westerly wind and flood tide.
There is, however a beautifully remote sheltered, and out of the tide, anchorage, on the Jura side of the Gulf, called Bagh nam Muc or Pig Bay. Well worth a visit -- just get the tide right.
 
Quandary said:
A Geordie actor who's name I have managed to forget swam across it last summer, made an interesting episode for a TV series. Lots of tripper boats run expeditions from Crinan, Croabh and Ardfern to it in summer so it is possible to have a look at it first. Best East to West first time as it is easier to get the timing right.
Click to expand...

Robson Green.

Yes, E-W. I don't envisage a problem in a 36' ketch unless the 30year old Perkins conks out. It will have been overhauled by then though.

I
 
NormanS said:
Yes, and it can be very impressive. Don't go anywhere near it with a westerly wind and flood tide.
There is, however a beautifully remote sheltered, and out of the tide, anchorage, on the Jura side of the Gulf, called Bagh nam Muc or Pig Bay. Well worth a visit -- just get the tide right.
Click to expand...

Yes there are some shots on the dvd and it did look idyllic.

I
 
NormanS said:
There is, however a beautifully remote sheltered, and out of the tide, anchorage, on the Jura side of the Gulf, called Bagh nam Muc or Pig Bay. Well worth a visit -- just get the tide right.
Click to expand...

Had lunch in there a number of times, getting there though is the only time I have motored up hill.

Brian
 
Anyone gone through the Grey Dogs? interested to hear how it was. The CCC instructions are offputting but a lot of their stuff presumes you do everything under sail.
 
A friend of mine, a very very experienced diver, dived it with a group of similarly experienced divers a couple of years ago, even in ideal conditions, and neap tides he said the current that swept them over the 'sill' was like going up in a lift, all the rocks he said are scoured smooth with all the blasting of grit and pebbles that they get, there was no sign of plant life.
 
ianj99 said:
Just wondering if anyone is familiar with this mighty stretch of water between Jura and Scarba off the Argyll coast?
Click to expand...

As other have said, it's fine if you time things right. In bad conditions - wind over tide - you can hear it groaning away from Crinan and further.

Once, many years ago, I sailed through en route for Colonsay and ran into a patch of fog on the other side. We sailed for four hours without leaving the fog - or making much progress, since the tide had turned against us by then. Eventually we got a VHF fix from the coastguard (kids, get a grown up to explain what this means) and I was most relieved to find we were within a mile or so of my estimated position. Another half hour and we popped out of the fog, went into Garbh Eileach overnight (ignoring every single bit of "suitable for daytime use by a single yacht in settled conditions" and the following day had the most glorious sail of my life from Garbh Eileach to Gigha in utterly perfect weather.

We never did get to Colonsay - we went to Bangor instead. Take that, SOLAS passage plan.
 
took an eboat through it

it was a couple of decades ago - I had a 4hp seagull outboard on the back

most invigorating even at the slackest possible water

Aijm to do it again whehnever I get around to that part of the coast

Dylan
 
Corryvreckan

ianj99 said:
Just wondering if anyone is familiar with this mighty stretch of water between Jura and Scarba off the Argyll coast?

I've just been watching the dvd made by
http://Whirlpool-scotland.co.uk

I will venture out of Ardfern and into it this year during the neaps and colm conditions, hopefully in a flotilla (safety in numbers!)

Ian
Click to expand...

-- Reasonably familiar, having lost count of the number of passages in Piota, in both directions; but never lost respect for its ability to turn from 'benign' to 'gut-churning' in a very short time. It can suddenly boil, and very rapidly form a local fog bank. It is not to be treated lightly with only an auxiliary engine.
Eleven years ago, on a SW to E passage just as the W-going stream was gathering pace we spotted red flares and found two guys in kyaks desperately trying make ground eastward. In manoevring to get them alongside, Piota and both kyaks were being swirled through 360 turns at different rates and sometimes in opposite directions: they were close to exhaustion and as there were just two of us, we had a seriously difficult task getting them on board before being swept into the race to west.

Westward in benign conditions:
picture.php


The anchorage already well described;
picture.php


(These are from an album 'North-West Scotland' on my 'bio' page, for any with wider interest than Corryvreckan)
 
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Piotaskipper said:
-- It is not to be treated lightly with only an auxiliary engine.
Click to expand...

I agree with that, but hope that 37bhp in a 36' long keel steel ketch will prove adequate. Not enough to motor against the current perhaps, but better than with many yachts' auxilliary engines.

ian
 
That "benign conditions" picture liiks just like the swirls under the old Severn Bridge where the river narrows and a full spring tide can run near enough 6 knots.
 
ianj99 said:
The DVD is worth the tenner it cost.

I almost wish I had a power boat like the cat used by the makers. Looked fun right in amongst the turbulence!

Hasn't put me off though.

Ianj
Click to expand...

Gemini runs trips every day in summer from Crinan, so anyone can go.
 
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