Planned passages for next season

[BarnacleBill]

I've been reading posts about the passages you have all participated in with some jealousy I was looking through charts today with the plan to extend my sailing grounds. Since I don't have a lot of experience with sails and will be solo, I am more used to start an engine point and go. My plan now is to get used to the yacht in the Gareloch, then venture into Loch Goilhead. I plan to have an overnight at Carrick Castle then back to Rhu. The next trip will be east side of the Kyles of Bute, stop over at Kames or Tighnabruich, maybe meeting up with a work mate who's mother lives there. Then down the west side back to Rhu.

I would like to gain suitable experience first before I venture through the Crinan, Oban and Mull, staying overnight in any nice wee secluded bay that takes my fancy.

What are your plans?

Cheers

Billy

[wully]

Plan 'A' is to get some sailing in over the winter first, hopefully in company with Nick in Fairwinds.

Next year it'll be the same as usual...with a decent forecast, head for the utter haemorrhoids and if the forecast is really decent- head out to St Kilda.

The only time I've been out there the weather was stunning and I'm waiting for the same again.



Might be a long wait.

( BTW I had about 3 days experience in my first boat before heading through the Crinan Canal- that's how long it took me to sail from Troon to Ardrishaig and If a nugget like me can do it...)

[Nick]

.
The Outer Hebrides are where I plan to sail to and from and around mostly now I am singlehanded, focussed around the Sail Stornoway week. Hopefully a different way up and a different way home each year.

Would consider St. Kilda again if in company with another boat. (Been twice, once in Fairwinds). I would also like to get further up the W. coast of Lewis to Loch Roag (only been as far as Taransay so far) - but again prefer to sail in company with other boats for the craic, I can sail on my own but don't enjoy it for days on end.

A bit of Winter sailing sounds good, but only if it stops pissing it down.

[wully]

A bit of Winter sailing sounds good, but only if it stops pissing it down.

That's why deck saloon boats are the way ahead....

[Storyline]

That sounds a good plan Billy and imo getting to the west coast 'proper' is best if you arrive via the Crinan rather than rounding the MoK. It was many years since we did this and it is still firmly etched in my mind as one of my greatest sailing memories. Already had quite a lot of experience in the Irish Sea before setting off north and it took three days to get to Ardrishaig. The journey up the Clyde had been nice but nothing prepared us for the view when we arrived at Crinan. Everything seemed on a different scale with Jura and Scarba laid out before us. That first view was absolutely spectacular and within a day we realised the whole character of the area was so different to anything we had experienced before.

You have something to really look forward to !

[aquaplane]

The trip to the West of Mull was OK but too quick. Will probably try again with longer there to explore by doing longer delivery trips to get there and back.

Still lots to look @ round the Sound of Jura too for those shorter breaks.

If the weather is suitable we may poke our nose round Ardnamurchan for the first time too.

Looking at the number of tins we have brought home, some for the second time, I think we should not be so keen to get fresh food as often and stay away from civilisation more.

That looks vague enough to be a firm plan.

[mm5aho]

I had planned for Skye area, especially north end and east side this year, but didn't get there. Rounded the MoK in August to be met with headwinds, and for the 2 weeks planned it looked like it'd be tack all the way north, then tack all the way sounth again when the wind turned. So we stayed south of Oban that trip. Had been round Mull, Up to Salen for a jaunt (SIPR), and various other places, totalling four trips to the west from the Clyde.

Next year I wonder about further afield, like Orkney? But time constrains me, so I need to work out a plan. Might possibly involve several long weekends getting the boat west then north, leaving it anywhere suitable in between.
But I also want to fit in SIPR again, and Round Mull Race. They take up time too if arriving from the Clyde.

To B Bill: As a foreigner here, I've found over the last 15 years or so sailing here, that the Clyde area is often dismissed far too quickly by locals. The places you mention (and more) are fantastic. Just think of the contrast between the Clyde and the east coast!

[Telo]

My plan now is to get used to the yacht in the Gareloch, then venture into Loch Goilhead. I plan to have an overnight at Carrick Castle then back to Rhu. The next trip will be east side of the Kyles of Bute, stop over at Kames or Tighnabruich, maybe meeting up with a work mate who's mother lives there. Then down the west side back to Rhu.

That sounds like a good plan. Take it easy and get used to how she handles. There's a lot of ground and some really interesting and beautiful spots in the Clyde, some of it with quite a remote feel.

Going further west, depending on the weather, we prefer going around the Mull of Kintyre, but Storyline's post reminded me a the sheer exhilaration when you leave Crinan Basin and go west for the first time;

The journey up the Clyde had been nice but nothing prepared us for the view when we arrived at Crinan. Everything seemed on a different scale with Jura and Scarba laid out before us. That first view was absolutely spectacular and within a day we realised the whole character of the area was so different to anything we had experienced before.

[BarnacleBill]

Aye, there's some nice wee bays in the Clyde. I am hoping to get out over the winter to give me a rough idea of the boats speed, then I can calculate times for passages.

[sahona]

I have to agree with those who have been gobsmacked by the visual impact of the view from Crinan -especially if you've spent your childhood dreaming of owning a boat and possibly actually "doing it".
Take your time though, the Clyde has lots to offer and you can do worse than visit LochGoilhead - a good sail (remember to ease the sheets as you go under the pylons) and don't annoy the submarine police with their tommy guns. Come down to Arran, Cumbrae, the Kyles, Caladh, Tarbert then do the "nolly", learn about fenders and say hello to Big Doris...

[Storyline]

Another great place to see the view from Crinan is the dining room at the Crinan Hotel. It is a bit of an arm and a leg job but the food was fantastic on our one and only visit a few years ago.

[pagoda]

I have to agree that the Clyde is a fine big area to explore and learn. I still have quite a few places to visit yet after several years in the area. Next season, we plan to return to the Clyde by August. Boat's in Peterhead after coming back from Norway. Younger son is in Orkney, so rough plan is up to Wick, then Orkney. Weather allowing Shetland and maybe Fair Isle. Then head South and west along the Caithness coast. Eventually round the corner (Cape Wrath) and work our way back in to familiar territory. (option to do St Kilda, since it's only about 50 miles west of the Hebrides?)
It is a bigger than normal sailing plan, but since I am almost retiring, should be workable

[pagoda]

My plan now is to get used to the yacht in the Gareloch, then venture into Loch Goilhead. I plan to have an overnight at Carrick Castle then back to Rhu. The next trip will be east side of the Kyles of Bute, stop over at Kames or Tighnabruich, maybe meeting up with a work mate who's mother lives there. Then down the west side back to Rhu.

That sounds like a good plan. Take it easy and get used to how she handles. There's a lot of ground and some really interesting and beautiful spots in the Clyde, some of it with quite a remote feel.

Going further west, depending on the weather, we prefer going around the Mull of Kintyre, but Storyline's post reminded me a the sheer exhilaration when you leave Crinan Basin and go west for the first time;

The journey up the Clyde had been nice but nothing prepared us for the view when we arrived at Crinan. Everything seemed on a different scale with Jura and Scarba laid out before us. That first view was absolutely spectacular and within a day we realised the whole character of the area was so different to anything we had experienced before.

+1 on that, but I'd add the sensation of arriving at Gigha from the south. You realise you have really come outside of Kintyre, to a different environment entirely

[Storyline]

My plan now is to get used to the yacht in the Gareloch, then venture into Loch Goilhead. I plan to have an overnight at Carrick Castle then back to Rhu. The next trip will be east side of the Kyles of Bute, stop over at Kames or Tighnabruich, maybe meeting up with a work mate who's mother lives there. Then down the west side back to Rhu.

That sounds like a good plan. Take it easy and get used to how she handles. There's a lot of ground and some really interesting and beautiful spots in the Clyde, some of it with quite a remote feel.

Going further west, depending on the weather, we prefer going around the Mull of Kintyre, but Storyline's post reminded me a the sheer exhilaration when you leave Crinan Basin and go west for the first time;

The journey up the Clyde had been nice but nothing prepared us for the view when we arrived at Crinan. Everything seemed on a different scale with Jura and Scarba laid out before us. That first view was absolutely spectacular and within a day we realised the whole character of the area was so different to anything we had experienced before.

+1 on that, but I'd add the sensation of arriving at Gigha from the south. You realise you have really come outside of Kintyre, to a different environment entirely

The Clyde has areas of great natural beauty but let us agree that however you arrive, God's own country starts north of the MoK

After the first years arrival via Crinan we then used to slog it up from the Mersey all the way to Gigha (typically 30 hours ish). Used to leave Lpool late morning on a spring tide and arrive Gigha early evening and then crash out. Nothing can beat that feeling when waking in Ardminish on the following morning with two weeks of holiday ahead.

[Rowana]

I'll probably head up towards Wick again. One of these years I might get over to Orkney. . . . .