tillerman
Super Anarchist
You had me at "home of the Crocodile Rock.''Scotland has some of the best cruising in the world, as long as you are not obsessed with hot, dry weather.
The Western Isles/Outer Hebrides can be challenging but the sailing in the Clyde is relatively straightforward and offers a wide range of options. It's a pretty big sailing area with little tidal flow and a range of attractions: There are relatively populated areas with nice marinas, posh restaurants and top class facilities, several interesting islands with varying character (Cumbrae- home of the Crocodile rock, featured earlier in this thread, Bute, Arran), and the more remote corners of the mainland along the eastern Kintyre Coast and the Cowal peninsula. There are several interesting sea-lochs (like fjords) with isolated castles, naval facilities, fishing villages and a variety of interesting pontoons, anchorages and visitors moorings. You can even combine sailing here with exploring Glasgow and beyond, as there are marinas with easy rail access into the cities.
It's a fascinating area steeped in history with deep maritime heritage.
There's also a big sailing area in between the two- the inner Hebrides, which has tidal gates and more challenging sailing but without the remoteness of the western Isles- accessible either by rounding the Mull of Kintyre, which requires a bit of seamanship in a small boat, or through the Crinan Canal ("Britain's most beautiful Shortcut"), which doesn't. From there you can reach Gigha, Islay (distilleries galore), Jura, Mull, the Ardnamurchan peninsula, Oban.... endless possibilities, according to your interests; all in waters largely sheltered from the open ocean by the islands to the west and with sufficient facilities for convenience.
Charter available from a variety of bases- Largs and Oban being the most obvious.
Visit in June and the evening light lasts until 10pm or later... Oh, and I didn't mention the wildlife, the northern isles, the northwest coast, the mountains...
