BLUEMOMENT

Excract from a letter to customers of Craobh Marina:

"The owners have decided as part of a preparation for retrial to reduce their holdings, and as such they are placing Craobh Marina, the Craobh Marina Holiday Cottages and development land, on the market for sale"

not sure where you can find details of the sale, price etc but I'm sure someone will be along soon to tell us

Interesting. I wonder what the impact will be for the berth holders, medium term? The upside for a buyer is expansion of the pontoons up to the original 300 or 400 berths, if they feel there will be demand and building of the 200 houses behind the marina (no planning permission yet).

The berth figure is available on line from the original planning permission, so not my guess. The houses are from the plans and discussions with Alastair Spence, some time ago. The house numbers would be reduced as ABC insisted on full size roads and pavements each side, which the existing plans did not have. Modern road design, junctions and corners take up a lot of space.

There was discussion on YBW after Covid where a Kip berth holder complained about fees being charged with no access. Apparently their research established £6million cash in the bank, back then, for the Holt group of companies.

Turnover at Craobh can’t be that significant, about £1.5 million from berths, Mowi and holiday cottages, back of a fag packet calculation, so not accurate, but not a crazy figure either.

There is good potential at Craobh, which no doubt will carry a value, the good will might carry a strong value, as berth holders are fairly loyal and the land of course.

I guess we shall see!

Just for fun, I wonder if there is a community that could instigate a community buy out?

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotl ... 20buy%20it.

There is a sales brochure that lists it at £10 million.

There wont be any more development at Craobh until the water system is upgraded… They made a start but that stalled and there is very little likelihood of mains water.

Not sure how the estate got permission to build some mega houses as the Lunga supply is a bit tenuous.

I’m sure it’ll be picked up by some marina company with deep pockets..

If you don’t fancy Craobh for £10m, Arisaig marina is now on the market, complete with excursion boats and a nauticat 38 which is in the process of being restored

Not sure what the asking price is

An agreement to sell Craobh Marina was made yesterday, according to an email sent to berth holders. The sale is expected to be completed in June this year. The holiday cottages will remain with Holt. Also announced on FB via the Craobh Marina feed. The new owner's yacht is an Oyster which will be berthed at Craobh.

Salen jetty also up for sale. I still cant afford it.

Sounds like serious investment in Craobh is being made by the new owners. It looks like a new crane will be ordered and of course the recent announcement that LOTI has been purchased.

No doubt they will want to see an uptake in berths, probably annual berths initially, as a lot of berths are summer only. If they can increase annual berth holder count, then I wonder if they will apply to increase berths at the marina? The original plan was for up to 400 berths!

you'd expect that the owner will want to be able to lift his own boat at his own marina and put it into his own shed for maintenance, so maybe quite a lot of change coming.
I also expect that the yard drainage and electrics will be upgraded and improved. That's been highlighted to him as a priority.

Apparently all the marina team were asked:
what are the top 3 things you think are needed?
what are the top 3 things you think our customers want?
....which is a positive way to start

Marina owners now fully on seat and have asked berth holders for comments via a survey with free text space.

LOTI will open spring next year.
Going for Gold Anchor Accreditation

The survey provided a good opportunity to express opinions on a wide range of points from the car park to interest in wellness facilities (spa) as well as sailing facilities for the berth holder requirements.

The owners see that there is potential to expand the offering beyond berths e.g. water-sports, camper vans, accommodation.

I think it is quite exciting times, but change will take time. I look forward to LOTi reopening.


https://www.tyha.co.uk/gold-anchor

BlowingOldBoots wrote: ↑Thu Sep 04, 2025 3:18 pm Going for Gold Anchor Accreditation

It sounds good generally but I wouldn't set much store by this award; Dunstaffnage got theirs at the height (depth?) of their incompetence.

good to see that the new owners have ambitions for the marina and pub

not sure I'm fully supportive of a "yacht club" being created as the next evolution the LOTI. Running it as a really good pub with food that welcomes everyone will be a good start. If berth holders get a discount, then that'll encourage more use, but a "club" has the risk of becoming a clique and being less welcome to those who aren't in it.

getting the basics of the marina right should be the priority:
improve the yard electrics and drainage, improve the yard and car park surfaces (to reduce the dust and dirt), improving wifi, electrics and water on the pontoons (some of this already being done)

Campervan park:
hopefully not in the current car park or boat yard. walking past camper vans where the users are cooking and relaxing always feels like you are intruding on their privacy. If it's a camp site, then you expect that and it's what you sign up for, but not in a marina.

encouraging other water sports and facilities for kids and young families is good. It's noticeable that boat owners and users are an older demographic so anything that helps reverse that would be good.

Summer looks after itself, so anything that improves the place during the colder months will be positive

good luck to them

Motorhome Stop - Don't expect it would be a traditional campsite as you imagine it but a simple 'Aire' which is basically a parking bay of a suitable size with some services provided for a fee. Easy to make the rules that no outside seating or cooking to take place so doesn't need to be any more imposing than passing other boats on the pontoon. Happens at Portavadie and was at Largs till recently as well.