M
ost of us, especially on the south
coast, are used to quite gregarious
cruising areas, with plenty of
other boats about and a sense of
company and camaraderie. But
anyone looking for wilder, more remote
waters cannot do better than make for the west of Scotland.
This spectacular coastline of soaring mountains and sheltered
sea lochs lifts you instantly from the stresses of modern life.
Jane and I were cruising in the Firth of Clyde recently and
were captivated once again by the sense of space and room to
breathe in the upper lochs. One of the most dramatic is Loch
Striven, which creeps mysteriously inland from the south-east
end of the famous Kyles of Bute. We saw no other yachts, from
the mouth of Striven to its head. We passed steep slopes of
bracken and heather, and fi r trees fl ourished near sea level,
sheltering lonely cottages and oases of greensward.
The head of the loch was like a Norwegian fjord and we felt
privileged to be in this special place, with hardly another soul
in sight. Over the hills we spotted the propeller tips of a massive
wind farm, a strange sight against the vast-scale forestry
stretching miles inland.Back down at the mouth of the loch we saw a fi sh-
farming ship with huge tanks of salmon and sea trout
thrashing about. The fi sh were being fed and
their sheer numbers were incredible.
Entering the Kyles of Bute we saw a CalMac ferry
crossing to Rothesay and yachts in the distance heading past
the Cumbrae Islands towards the Clyde. The southern part of
the East Kyle feels much softer than Loch Striven, with lush
green fi elds to starboard. At the north end you squeeze through
a narrow buoyed channel between the low scrubby Burnt Isles.
Beyond the narrows we found another night of blissful
remoteness in a spacious bay, where highland cattle came
down to the water’s edge and heathery mountains loomed
overhead. Seals lolled unperturbed on the beach. Away to
the south-west we could just see the tip of the Isle of Arran
out in the Clyde approaches and the mountains way over on
the Kintyre peninsula. Beyond the West Kyle, Loch Fyne is
yet another mysterious waterway reaching far inland, up to
the old market town of Inverary. Here you pass a wonderful
anchorage opposite the Otter Inn.
Our Kyles of Bute hideaway was a fantastic setting in which
to unwind, which we duly did over glasses of peaty Islay whisky.CRUISING LIFE
Peter Cumberlidge: For wild remoteness the west coast of Scotland cannot be bettered. In this
land of grand mountains and mysterious sea lochs you can savour the sense of space and escapism
ABOVE: For those seeking solitude, the majesty of Scotland’s west coast will not disappointCOLUMN