A SELECTION OF ONE WEEK CRUISES FROM ARMADALE BAY

Click HERE to read an article by Dick Durham, Features Editor, YACHTING MONTHLY about cruising on one of our yachts. It is reproduced here in PDF format by kind permission of YACHTING MONTHLY

Starting off your holiday from our moorings in Armadale Bay, at the Southern tip of Skye puts the Inner and Outer Hebrides on your doorstep. If the weather is right, visiting St Kilda is a distinct possibility within a weeks holiday. Those of you with two or more weeks to spare will find us well placed for Orkney and Shetland as well. Full details of how the cruising area is divided up can be found on the location page.

Wherever you cruise in the area there is interesting marine life to be seen. Puffins, seals, dolphins, whales, basking sharks, porpoises, otters and many, many sea birds are regularly observed and photographed by customers. If you would like to spend time ashore then there are plenty of hill walking opportunities and a number of castles and other places of interest to visit during your sail in the area. For the family parties and those who long to walk barefoot in the sand there are also beautiful and remote beaches to visit.

As well as a selection of classic remote anchorages, if your preference is to dine out on Gourmet food, there are a number of wonderful restaurants and pubs to choose from. The location of some of these establishments has to be experienced to be believed!

About 50% of our customers arrive at Armadale with a clear idea of where they intend to go for their holiday and we would not like to presume to tell these people which places they might visit.However, as we know from our own experiences of visiting new sailing areas it is useful to have a bit of locat advice to make sure that you find the nicest places and miss the worst hazards! We have cruised on the West Coast of Scotland for over 20 years now and would like to pass on some of the information we have acquired (both through own experiences and from our customers) to anyone who would like a little help in planning their holiday.

These guides are not in any way meant to replace the pilot books, which you will find on board your yacht and is certainly not meant to exclude anyone’s favourite places. This is simply meant as a starting point for a guide to the West Coast, which we hope will expand through the years. We would therefore be grateful for up to date details about any of these places and for you to tell us which were your favourite places. What you want to do with your holiday in terms of eating, drinking and other entertainment will determine to some extent the places you wish to go to. This guide is aimed at the average crew (if there is such a thing) who will probably want to do 5 or 6 hours sailing, between 25 and 35 miles each day. The number of nights you are able to eat out will vary according to which itinerary you try. There are a lot of nice places to eat in the area but options can be limited and occasionally you might get to a place which is recommended in the pilot book and no longer exists or is full when you get there. Fortunately, these days most eating establishments are more laid back about their serving times.

None of the suggestions should be adhered to strictly - part of the enjoyment of a cruising holiday is to go where the wind takes you (although we do like to see you back at the mooring here at your due time)! Of course everything detailed here is weather dependent. The tides are quite large, but the only tidal gate you which will stop your progress altogether is Kylerhea, which on a trip round Skye you will meet either at the start or the end of your holiday. The flow through Kylerhea turns at HW/LW Ullapool (flood runs North) so we include the time of HW Ullapool in your joining instructions to give you some idea of how to plan your trip.

To help you follow this guide; a plan of the area can be found on the back of the Isle of Skye Yachts brochure. However, to give a clearer overview of the area, we suggest you obtain a copy of the Imray chart C66 "Mallaig to Rudha Reidh and Outer Hebrides". For more in depth reading a copy of the Martin Lawrence's pilot book "The Yachtsman's Pilot to Skye and North West Scotland" (although it doesn't cover the Outer Hebrides) would be useful. Alternatively, if you are feeling extravagant "The Scottish Islands" by Hamish Haswell-Smith has some excellent information and useful navigation details.

Over the next pages there are 5 suggested itineraries for a 1-week cruise - depending on weather and tide. 1 and 2 can be done in reverse order or combined. If there is anywhere else in the area you need some advice about visiting please just contact us and we will do our best to help you.