Toddling across to Tarbert

Summary: Loch Ranza across to East Loch Tarbert. 12.9 miles in 2 hours and 5 minutes. A short hop from Arran across to Tarbert on Loch Fyne.

Entering Tarbert

After a peaceful night (generally) in Loch Ranza, we headed off at 08.10 across to Tarbert. We started with a pleasant sailing breeze and optimistically had full sail for a while. However, the weather gods knew we were coming and so the wind died, then went round 50 degrees and then later blew up (to a 4 gusting 5) and then dropped down again, so we ended up sailing for just half an hour and the rest was spent motorsailing directly to windward. Neverthless a nice trip and Tarbert is a beautiful harbour. Weaving around the islands (Eilean a Choic and Sgeir Bhuide) past first a port hand and then starboard hand beacon makes for a tight entrance, but you come into a beautiful and very sheltered harbour.

In the afternoon we went for a walk to Tarbert Castle and then round a waymarked trail around Tarbert Forest. Tarbert Castle is now mainly a ruin but still stands prominently above the town on the south side with excellent views over the harbour entrance. The castle dates back to the 13th Century, but came particularly to prominence in the early 14th century when Robert the Bruce realised the strategic importance of Tarbert. After the Battle of Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce turned his attention to the Chiefs of the Western Isles, who were then in an alliance with the English. On his way to challenge them, he is said to have dragged his ships across the mile wide isthmus between West and East Tarbert on a track of logs with their sails set to help push them across. This made him realise the importance of the Kintyre Isthmus. He is said also to have stayed in the castle in 1329 – the year of his death.

Looping across to Loch Ranza

Summary: Port Bannatyne to Loch Ranza (Arran), 23.2 miles in 4 hours. Through the Kyles of Bute and the Burnt Islands and across to Arran.

Moored in Loch Ranza

We left around 8.40am heading through the East Kyle to the Burnt Islands and then down the West Kyle past Tighnabruich and Kames and across to Loch Ranza on Arran. A beautiful trip despite the weather and we managed to sail for the last part across to Arran. Picked up a visitors mooring in Loch Ranza.

In the afternoon we went ashore and walked past Lochranza Castle at the end of the bay. Lochranza Castle, as with many in this area, dates back to the 13th century, though most of what cn be seen today dates from the 16th century. Perhaps its most recent claim to fame is that it was used as the model for the castle in the Tintin adventure ‘The Black Island’. Bob de Moor, Hergé’s chief post-war assistant toured Britain finding appropriate settings and chose Lochranza for the castle in The Black Island.

We then paid a visit to the Arran Distillery. The distillery is a very new one and only opened in 1995. In fact the opening was delayed by a pair of Golden Eagles who were nesting in the hills above the distillery – all work was stopped while the pair raised their chicks. The distillery now produces around 750,000 litres per year and I can vouch for the fact that the 10 year old single malt is very nice! It is said that there used to be around 50 distilleries on Arran, but since they were all ‘moonlight’ ones, the new Arran distillery is the first legal one.

After visiting the distillery we walked round the bay following signs to the fairy dell. We are not sure if we ever got there as we didn’t see any fairies and we weren’t sure we saw a dell, but it was a lovely walk nevertheless. We did see two different orchid species though – the common spotted orchid and the northern march orchid.

Deer & Charmary