The Gulf of Corryvreckan

Sandyman said:
Does the OP really want to go here ?

I did it a few years back & the skipper got the tide wrong. Right date. Wrong year. Believe it or not.
Most frightening sail Ive ever had, and that's saying something. Will not be going there again.
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Boy am I glad I got the tides right!

2532137540_914c11b0ea_d.jpg


OK, some way off - Scarba in the background - but it was like this all the way through the gulf. (Me taking the photo, not in it - full story posted here).

I found the tides in the Sound of Jura pretty impressive, too.

Andy
 
Sandyman said:
Does the OP really want to go here ?

I did it a few years back & the skipper got the tide wrong. Right date. Wrong year. Believe it or not.
Most frightening sail Ive ever had, and that's saying something. Will not be going there again.
Click to expand...

I remember speaking to a guy in McGonachs in Tobermory one night about the Corry. He said he had been through it maybe a dozen times, no problem, a pussycat. Then on the next trip they sailed over a 12ft vertical drop - broke a huge amount of stuff, strained frames etc etc - very scary and very expensive. (The standing wave can apparently be invisible from the 'back', with a very steep face the other side).

Lots of locals sail through it regularly and the Bay of Pigs is a popular anchorage - but everyone takes it seriously. If you don't it is likely to end up biting you. The earlier poster's idea of using it as a rat run to get into shelter if it blows up West of Jura is foolhardy - the passage round the top of the Black Isles and across to Cuan or back down the Sound of Luing is straightforward and not much further.


- W
 
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
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More sinned AGAINST than sinning--do your sums --not a problem.
 
I seem to recall that it was featured in the first series of Coast. From memory (which doesn't count for much, these days) those filming had chartered David Ainsley in Purpoise (very well known dive boat out of Seill / Oban). David rarely and only takes known-to-him experienced divers to the site for a plop in the water. Always an experience, I'm told and not for the feint hearted. Last season I was crew on a 47 foot yacht passing the inside channel north bound. Even at a reasonable state of neap tide, it looked scarey, especially given that my home waters include the Swellies in the Menai. I'm sure it's relatively easy and straightforward to transit when the passage is well planned...and double checked.........and checked again! As per the delightful pictures above, it can be done in a hollowed-out tree bark (or similar).
 
webcraft said:
I remember speaking to a guy in McGonachs in Tobermory one night about the Corry. He said he had been through it maybe a dozen times, no problem, a pussycat. Then on the next trip they sailed over a 12ft vertical drop - broke a huge amount of stuff, strained frames etc etc - very scary and very expensive. (The standing wave can apparently be invisible from the 'back', with a very steep face the other side).

Lots of locals sail through it regularly and the Bay of Pigs is a popular anchorage - but everyone takes it seriously. If you don't it is likely to end up biting you. The earlier poster's idea of using it as a rat run to get into shelter if it blows up West of Jura is foolhardy - the passage round the top of the Black Isles and across to Cuan or back down the Sound of Luing is straightforward and not much further.


- W
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Much agreed! I've done a lot of sailing around and about this area and been through the Corrie and Bealach a Choin Glas (Grey Dogs) many many times, but as you say, pick your time, weather and course carefully, and keep out of the Great Race except in benign conditions. We treat the Corriebreachan with great respect at all times of course. Wind against tide anywhere around here is uncomfy(!) due to fast tides! But with an Atlantic swell coming in from the west meeting a flood coming out, you get the most spectacular standing waves. Especially the ones that appear out of the blue, in the middle of the channel. They can be quite awesome in certain conditions. Add a westerly gale and er...

And I agree, I personally wouldn't follow a previous poster's advice of reaching for shelter in worsening weather by heading in through the Corrie from the west, even on an ebb, unless you know what you're doing! And stay away from the centre of the channel, I guess.

And apart from the weather, it's horses for courses. Ok in a 35 knot RIB, or a 45 foot Nelson doing 20 knots, but for a small auxiliary sailing boat at 4 knots, the Corrie is quite a long passage, if you decide you don't like it and want to turn round! The Grey Dogs is the opposite: it's a short passage, and you're spat out before you know it. Happy sailing.
 
contessa26 said:
Much agreed! I've done a lot of sailing around and about this area and been through the Corrie and Bealach a Choin Glas (Grey Dogs) many many times, but as you say, pick your time, weather and course carefully, and keep out of the Great Race except in benign conditions. We treat the Corriebreachan with great respect at all times of course. Wind against tide anywhere around here is uncomfy(!) due to fast tides! But with an Atlantic swell coming in from the west meeting a flood coming out, you get the most spectacular standing waves. Especially the ones that appear out of the blue, in the middle of the channel. They can be quite awesome in certain conditions. Add a westerly gale and er...


I've been passed The Corrie a few times and through Cuan a few. Cuan has always been doable if a little nerve-wracking. The Corrie looks terrifying. Where is the Grey Dogs?
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