BLUEMOMENT

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An article in today's Oban Times announces that Mallaig harbour has published ambitious plans to transform the ailing fishing port into a premier West coast yachting destination. Funding for the £800,000 pound project has already been secured and Ayr-based contractors Shoreworks apparently began removing berths and dredging the inner harbour on Monday. Further work will continue over the Winter on a pontoon system providing up to 45 yacht berths with the scope for 20 more if rafting. There will also be 20 new small boat berths and some swinging moorings. It should all be ready for next season.

Normally I'm opposed to marinas. However this would be a VERY good place to start a Charter from.

It would allow us Southerners to take the sleeper to Inverness (completely impractical at the moment). At very least it would knock some time of the Journey.

Wonder if Isle of Skye Yachts might relocate across the water?

Nick wrote:.
............. Mallaig harbour has published ambitious plans to transform the ailing fishing port into a premier West coast yachting destination. ....................... It should all be ready for next season.

oban bay - eat your heart out
where there`s a will ......

little boy blue wrote:

Nick wrote:.
............. Mallaig harbour has published ambitious plans to transform the ailing fishing port into a premier West coast yachting destination. ....................... It should all be ready for next season.

oban bay - eat your heart out
where there`s a will ......

Today's Oban Times is looking to a brave offshore future with windfarms from here to Stornoway . . . apparently plans are underway to spend the CHORD money on preparing the bay for the offshore wind rush. Soon Oban will be as welcoming to yachts as Aberdeen.

Mark wrote:Normally I'm opposed to marinas. However this would be a VERY good place to start a Charter from.

Good point, although I'm not sure the people at Sleat would necessarily agree with you.

There are other anchorages not too far away where shelter can usually be found, but Mallaig can be very useful for going alongside for water, food and fuel. Unless you want to dry out at the shallow end near the slipway, you're very often alongside a fishing boat so cannot wander off for too long as they come and go all day. Some visitor berths will be very handy imho.


- Shard alongside at the shallow end...

I called into Mallaig this summer. My engine was not behaving and I thought I needed professional assistance and access to spares

The yard there was very helpful and very reasonable. There was a mechanic on the boat within half an hour of my arrival and I think he was charged out at £25 per hour. Job done in 90 mins. He was telling me that they were getting more yacht work than before.

I checked in at the harbour office, they didn't charge me as I was in for repairs but they did show me the new marina plan. The 'root" of the marina is to be round the bay from the yard.

I don't have a problem with a marina there. Its already a developed place. I wonder too if the bar to development of West Coast sailing is not the lack of facilities but the geography. Will another marina tempt more people over the natural threshold of Ardnamurchan Pt?

This is great news - a real convenience. As others have said, it shows up Oban's pathetic approach. And it's using the old (inner) harbour. I wondered when they were going to move the fishing boats into the new (expensive looking) basin that was built about ten years ago and been virtually empty since.

Apparently the good old EU is providing much of the funding. Story here: http://www.boatingbusiness.com/news101/ ... ve-mallaig" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I must say I hadn't heard of Sail West, but it seems that Mallaig will not be alone, Campbeltown is also being looked at:
http://forargyll.com/2010/03/sail-west- ... ity-study/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mark wrote:
It would allow us Southerners to take the sleeper to Inverness (completely impractical at the moment). At very least it would knock some time of the Journey.

You could go to Inverness, where you could get a bus to Fort William then train to Mallaig. OTOH you could simply take the sleeper to Fort William.

In the summer this makes a good connection with The Jacobite to Mallaig. One of the world's finest train trips: breakfast in the bar car as you cross Rannoch Moor, down by Loch Treig and the Monessie Gorge then steam hauled to Mallaig with a stop at Glenfinnan.

Jings a shud hae a joab wi the towrist board...

Or a job on the fire engine that has to follow the train most of the time!

Build it and they will come......

Well done Mallaig.

It won't be a Kip, Largs, Ardrossan type of marina, but its existence will make the difference for a lot of cruising plans as a safe temporary stop off or a location for a crew change.

Shame on Oban for the inability of the community to pull together and develop the shore front and make Oban bay attractive for water based leisure activities.

........... Councillor Donnie MacMillan, Chair of the Mid Argyll, ........ He say: ‘ .... a .... following wind to make Campbeltown a destination of choice.

lot of work still to be done then

DaveS wrote:

Mark wrote:
It would allow us Southerners to take the sleeper to Inverness (completely impractical at the moment). At very least it would knock some time of the Journey.

You could go to Inverness, where you could get a bus to Fort William then train to Mallaig. OTOH you could simply take the sleeper to Fort William.

In the summer this makes a good connection with The Jacobite to Mallaig. One of the world's finest train trips: breakfast in the bar car as you cross Rannoch Moor, down by Loch Treig and the Monessie Gorge then steam hauled to Mallaig with a stop at Glenfinnan.

Jings a shud hae a joab wi the towrist board...

Thanks, I didn't know there was a sleeper to Fort William. I've done Plockton to Inverness by train once. Felt pretty cool to thumb a lift from a train, and it wasn't too shabby a train ride through some pretty stunning scenery.

Mark wrote:
Thanks, I didn't know there was a sleeper to Fort William. I've done Plockton to Inverness by train once. Felt pretty cool to thumb a lift from a train, and it wasn't too shabby a train ride through some pretty stunning scenery.

They're excellent services. Coincidentally, earlier today I was entering my 2006 log into the TPF site here: http://www.threepointfix.co.uk/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (just started, and still a fair bit of development needed, but could become useful). That trip involved leaving the boat for a few days at Inverness and Banavie and using both Inverness and Fort William sleepers to get to meetings in London.

Spent Thursday night on the new Mallaig pontoons, and I was really impressed. There's room for around 40 boats and the fingers are 12 metres long and well spaced. There's electricity and several water hoses on the pontoons. There's a security gate at the entrance. By situating them round into the bay, I expect they'll offer good shelter. The public toilets are close by. Don't know about pricing as they are not officially open yet.
The best pontoons north of Ardnamurchan and I would expect them to be successful and bring a lot of business to Mallaig and encourage more yachts to come north.
Very impressed!

The new marina has been open a while now and as predicted is doing well, it is busy during the summer and we see a wide variety of boats from far and wide, a lot of people are using it to rest up for a day or two and it also good for picking and dropping off crew as it has the railway station close by, Chris who runs it, runs it well, possibly going to be extended in the near future due to its success, we even saw a few hardier souls using it in January and February this year. There are plans I believe to situate showers near to the pontoon and a laundry, but these are dependant on a building becoming available.