Winter on Bute

Yes we will fly to edinburgh and then transfer from there.

You might like to consider a mooring at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club at Rhu, because there are trains direct from Edinburgh to Helensburgh, which is a short taxi or bus ride from Rhu. The club does a cheap deal for first-time mooring holders and runs a launch service out to boats (I'm not a member; this is from their website: http://www.rncyc.com/moorings). There is also Rhu marina, but it's a bit of a dump.

I Checked som marinas in the oban area as well but the transfer time (train) makes it impossible to fly in over the weekend. The clyde seems more sheltered for weekend cruising as well? Family wants good resturants, shopping, golf, marinas...

I'm a bit confused now. Do you want somewhere to leave the boat for a winter or somewhere to base yourself for a summer?

Regarding the comment on anchoring gear, what do I need?

Same as everywhere else. Lots of silly in jokes. I get by fine with a CQR plus 30m chain.

if you want good golf ,nice restaurants ,etC, then I would suggest Largs as it is the biggest town with a marina (walking in ) and has Golf galore and castles and National parks near by.

Nice marina, but not as handy from Edinburgh, and the marina is a couple of miles from the town and station. Easy enough to take a taxi. When I'm there I normally walk to Morrison's supermarket, shop there and then taxi t the boat.

James Watt gives you better transport to Glasgow with the benefits that gives you , if you choose to go further North Into the Islands then other facilities become less, and yes 5 weeks is plenty to enjoy Scotland's West Coast.

On the other hand, James Watt Dock is an enclave in the middle of a VERY run-down and deprived area. I'm not sure I'd want to travel from Sweden to base myself in the diplomatic quarter of communist Albania ... I hear that the marina is nice, though.

I will keep my 30kg delta anchor and 60m chain in the bow and see how it works out.

That will be just fine. How far you go in four or five weeks depends on the weather and your family's resilience. If they don't mind ploughing on through wind and rain you can can to lots of places, but if they prefer more civilised sailing and the weather doesn't play nice you might get a lot less done. I am no fan of foul weather sailing, and this year was able to sail every day on the "outside" of the canal. A couple of years ago, though, we spent more than half our time holed up waiting for wind and rain to subside. The good news s that with some planning you can always hole up somewhere with reasonable shore attractions.

I choose bute since the ferry was very frequent and the marina close to the ferry. The prices on the main land is... off (by my standards). £195/m for a pontoon for 6months on bute seems fair (still three times what I pay here). But I´m up for suggestions.

In general the two inaccessible marinas - Port Bannatyne and Portavadie - are about 10% cheaper than the mainland marinas, of which Largs and Kip are the most expensive. On the bright side, even Kip is about half the price of a Solent Marina. Port Bannatyne does very good winter afloat deals, rather cheaper than in the yard.
 
We live in the west coast of sweden north of Gothenburg so there are cheap flights to Edinburgh..

We must have passed near you this summer, en route home via the Gota / Trolhattan canals - timed well, but accidentally, to be in Goteburg for the Volvo Ocean Race stopover.

As you probably already know, we found it cheaper and almost as quick jumping on the excellent train to Copenhagen where there are 3 airlines flying to Edinburgh, rather than the more restricted and expensive Goteburg flights.
 
If convenient travel is a criterion then a flight from Sweden to Prestwick, (Glasgow) Airport, thence to Clyde Marina by 40 min. train journey must be hard to beat. Train terminates at the marina entrance.
In addition, the marina is fairly cheap by Clyde standards. Facilities, service and personnel are excellent, apart from lack of a chandlery, and supermarket is 2 minutes walk away.
 
If convenient travel is a criterion then a flight from Sweden to Prestwick, (Glasgow) Airport, thence to Clyde Marina by 40 min. train journey must be hard to beat. Train terminates at the marina entrance.
In addition, the marina is fairly cheap by Clyde standards. Facilities, service and personnel are excellent, apart from lack of a chandlery, and supermarket is 2 minutes walk away.

Shall we play "geography"?

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I'm a bit confused now. Do you want somewhere to leave the boat for a winter or somewhere to base yourself for a summer?

Prio1 now is to find a place for the winter 2019. We won´t need a berth for more than a few weeks this year so I can fix that when I get there but for 2020 I need a berth to put her.
 
and even if you could fly into Prestwick, Troon is the next railway stop after the airport, 10 mins on a slow day. The marina is not hugely more expensive than Clyde and is I would suggest a much nicer town than Ardrossen.
Ideally placed for all of the Clyde, straightforward for the Mull and onward to the West Coast or nipping across to Ireland. Winter storage packages are very competitive afloat or ashore.
 
Prio1 now is to find a place for the winter 2019. We won´t need a berth for more than a few weeks this year so I can fix that when I get there but for 2020 I need a berth to put her.

Gotcha. If I were you I would winter on Bute (quiet, cheaper, more difficult access doesn't matter as much) but look at mainland options for the summer. It all depends on how often you plan to come across. For regular but short trips Kip and Largs offer the easiest access to nice places to the north and west while for fewer but longer trips it might be worth looking at Troon or Ardrossan, which are handy by train but offer very little by way of local destinations.

I keep my boat on a swinging mooring at Port Bannatyne and normally only leave it two or three times per season, one of those being for four to six weeks ...
 
Realistically train is not such a good option for any of the marinas arriving at Edinburgh airport requires travelling into Edinburgh city
I would suggest hiring a car especially for short term and one way hires if for longer
 
Ah, I've misgoogled. Can the OP fly to Glasgow? Same trainline, Troon is a good walk between station and marina and AFAIK, masts have to come down for winter storage.

You might just have an out-of-date list ... Prestwick has lost most of its flights over the last few years. And yes, once you've taken a bus or taxi from Glasgow to Paisley, you can get to all the mainland marinas easily.
 
Realistically train is not such a good option for any of the marinas arriving at Edinburgh airport requires travelling into Edinburgh city

Piece of cake. Tram to Haymarket, train to Glasgow. Or, as I suggested, train to Helensburgh for Rhu or RNCYC. Or just take the Citylink direct service from Edinburgh Airport to Glasgow. Runs every 30 minutes, takes an hour.
 
You might just have an out-of-date list ... Prestwick has lost most of its flights over the last few years. And yes, once you've taken a bus or taxi from Glasgow to Paisley, you can get to all the mainland marinas easily.
Aye, tis a sad place now. Sometimes only half a dozen flights a day in and out. I must admit I love it as it's so handy. Never any queues and a train station right outside with covered walkway to the terminal.
 
Aye, tis a sad place now. Sometimes only half a dozen flights a day in and out. I must admit I love it as it's so handy. Never any queues and a train station right outside with covered walkway to the terminal.

It is (was) great for me in the SW. I could get to the airport in under an hour by car, park five minutes from security and be in the departures lounge ten minutes after arriving.
 
Pal of mine keeps his boat on a swinging mooring at Port Bannatyne, and overwinters it ashore at Ardmaleish. He has nothing but praise for the yard people at Ardmaleish, and for the price is very happy with the facilities. I suppose that it does help that he has a house and car on the island. If he needs work done at the masthead, he tells me that he can have the use of a 'cherry picker' platform which makes life a lot easier than going up the mast. Prices for lifting and launching the boat are very competitive as well.
 
I talked to them at Ardmaleish and they seems very nice.
But they told me that the lift is always weather permitting on any given date and this will be hard for us to manage.
 
Any main marina on the South West Coast Largs , Troon ,Kip, Clyde, NOrth of Glasgow, Rhu ,are easily accessible from Glasgow , and you have plenty of scope to explore central Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, some very nice National trust for Scotland grounds, LIKE Culzean Castle, near by.
The further into the Islands and North as usual you gain a little in saving money , but ferries and fuel by car play into the price, not for one trip but if you are exploring this adds up.
Also The North West Coast outside Glasgow has no great road links all single carriage and come tourist season , accidents and the mass of tourists can clog a journey for hours ,and train stations that run every hour services in remote places,
Island marina and out side SW Scotland will give you a traditional small marina experience , closer to your main sail area if that lies outside the Clyde and cheaper , but less facilities , provisions are always around , but eating out maybe less and the ability to hoist your boat out due to weight restrictions, I know Portavadie is limited to 12 tonnes but is a stunning place for spas and foods and exploring.

There is compromise in every aspect, it really is down to your choice , how much money you can afford and your time scales
But it must be noted that all marinas that i have encountered through Scotland have had great and welcoming staff ,
 
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Any main marina on the South West Coast Largs , Troon ,Kip, Clyde, NOrth of Glasgow, Rhu ,are easily accessible from Glasgow , and you have plenty of scope to explore central Scotland, Edinburgh, Glasgow, some very nice National trust for Scotland grounds, LIKE Culzean Castle, near by.
The further into the Islands and North as usual you gain a little in saving money , but ferries and fuel by car play into the price, not for one trip but if you are exploring this adds up.
Also The North West Coast outside Glasgow has no great road links all single carriage and come tourist season , accidents and the mass of tourists can clog a journey for hours ,and train stations that run every hour services in remote places,
Island marina and out side SW Scotland will give you a traditional small marina experience , closer to your main sail area if that lies outside the Clyde and cheaper , but less facilities , provisions are always around , but eating out maybe less and the ability to hoist your boat out due to weight restrictions, I know Portavadie is limited to 12 tonnes but is a stunning place for spas and foods and exploring.

There is compromise in every aspect, it really is down to your choice , how much money you can afford and your time scales
But it must be noted that all marinas that i have encountered through Scotland have had great and welcoming staff ,

You forgot to mention the haggis holding up the traffic and the wild sheep requiring professional American big game hunters to cull and likely hood of the beavers blocking the rivers
 
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You forgot to mention the haggis holding up the traffic and the wild sheep requiring professional American big game hunters to cull and likely hood of the beavers blocking the rivers

You had to say it didn't you you mentioned the BEAVERS :D
You will have the wife on next (colleagues at her work run the beaver experiments )
 
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