Hanging around in Holy Loch

Passage: Rhu Marina to Kilmun and back. 17.7 miles in 3 hours 20 minutes. A short passage across to Holy Loch for lunch and a walk and back again.

Hanging around in Holy Loch

A nice weather forecast (for a change) prompted us to head over to Holy Loch for a lunch stop. Holy Loch is only a short inlet (a couple of miles) just off the southern end of the entrance to Loch Long. The sunny weather brought almost no wind though, so we had to motor across and back. We stopped just off Graham’s Point at Kilmun and though we considered anchoring, the Loch didn’t shoal until very close to the shore, so we picked up a mooring. After a quick walk ashore we had lunch on board and then headed back to Rhu.

The main submarine base on the Clyde is now just up from Rhu at Faslane, but during the Second World War Holy Loch was a key submarine base. The Loch was used for trials and exercises for submarines. To prevent attack by German U-Boats an anti-submarine boom was put in place between Dunoon and Cloch Point. Two submarines were sunk during WWII in exercises in Holy Loch. These two submarines were ironically named HMS Vandal and HMS Untamed. HMS Untamed was later salvaged.

Resting in Rhu

Passage from Largs to Rhu: 17.6 miles in 3 hours and five minutes. Motored most of the way, but with a short interlude of sailing.

Approaching Rhu Narrows

A fairly short passage from Largs to our mooring at Rhu. We left fairly early at 6.35am with a forecast of lighter winds early morning. In the afternoon, stronger winds were forecast – again …… It was generally fairly quiet, but we managed to sail a for 45 minutes or so in the middle before the wind dropped again. it did gust back up to around a F5-6 at the end, but this was just as we were trying to come into the marina to make life more interesting. Still at least there weren’t any nuclear subs coming out of Faslane to make things even more interesting! We headed into the marina for a few days rather than straight onto our mooring – just to make it easier to get ashore and do things.

The afternoon was spent booking a car which we will collect tomorrow. The forecast for the next few days looks much better for cars than boats. We also went for a walk into Helensburgh – the birthplace of the inventor of the television – John Logie Baird.

Landing in Largs

Passage from Troon to Largs: 17.2 miles in 3 hours and 35 minutes. A short motor up the Scottish Coast.

The Thomas Makdougall Brisbane memorial bridge

A weather window prompted us to head straight from Troon to Largs. Though strong winds were forecast for the afternoon, the morning saw almost no wind at all, so we motored all the way. Just before Largs is Fairlie Quaywhere William Fyfe began building fishing boats in the 19th Century. He built his first yacht on the foreshore there in 1812, though yacht building became more popular in his son’s time (his son also being called William) with ‘Stella’ being launched in 1849. From then on Fyfe yachts became renowned and many still survive having been lovingly restored.

Trolling across to Troon

Passage from Bangor to Troon: 64.3 miles in 10 hours and 35 minutes. A good fast passage. Wind very variable and light to start off with, but gradually rose to around a F5 just aft of the beam – lovely sailing with speeds often around 7-9 knots.

With the forecast looking OK for today, but fairly flaky in the coming days, we decided, after much deliberation to head straight in one passage to Troon rather than the long way round via Glenarm and Campbeltown. So, we set off at 05.15 to try and catch a fair tide setting us north up the coast. the tide is fairly strong in the North Channel and then weakens significantly on the Scottish Coast, so the first 5 hours or so of fair tide were the most crucial. Winds were fairly light to start off with and we managed to broad reach at around 5.5kts, but the wind was very variable and kept going directly aft and doing so by 07.45 the engine went on again.

From there, the engine was on and off every so often, but after around 11.00 it came back and shifted slightly to the NW, gradually increasing over the coming hours to around 20-22kts. This gave us speeds of 7-8.5kts – lovely sailing.

Ailsa Craig - dominating the entry to the Firth of Clyde

At midday we were level with Ailsa Craig. Ailsa Craig is around 220 acres and is now uninhabited. It is formed from a volcanic plug of an extinct volcano and was used for many years to quarry blue hone granite for curling stones. It is owned by the 8th Marquess of Ailsa (appropriately named) and she put it on the market in May 2011 for an asking price of something over £1,500,000. It is 2 miles across and rises spectacularly to 1,110 feet (340m). As a result, it is visible from many miles away. When it was still 18 miles away, I felt we were getting close! The island has a ruined keep on the east side which was built in the 1500s by the Hamilton family to protect the island from King Felipe of Spain. At the time the island was a haven for Catholics during the Scottish Reformation.

The island is now simply a haven for gannets and increasing numbers of puffins! The island is leased by the RSPB until 2050 and they undertook a project to rid the island of imported rats. Now that the rats are gone, the puffins are coming back.

The wind dropped off as we got close to Lady Isle off Troon, so we took the sails down and motored the last few miles, arriving at Troon at 15.50.

Entering Troon