Scotland

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Scotland Cruising Guide

An online cruising guide for yachts sailing around Scotland.

Scotland
56°38.873'N, 004°09.338'W Chart icon.png
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Map
Scotlandflag.png
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Flag
Capital Edinburgh
Language English, Scots Gaelic
Currency Pound Sterling (GBP £)
Time zone GMT (UTC​) , DST: BST (UTC+1 April to Octobe)
Calling code +44

This Cruising Wiki cannot hope to cover all the sailing areas in the United Kingdom but we will attempt to list ports and information of particular interest to cruisers.

Scotland (Gaelic: Alba) is a country that occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It is part of the United Kingdom, and shares a land border to the south with England. It is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland consists of over 790 islands; the main groups of islands being The Outer Hebridies and The Inner Hebridies on the west coast, The Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands on the north coast. The coastline of Scotland is varied and consists of flooded glaciated valleys running deep inland on the West Coast, large river estuaries (Firth of Clyde, Firth of Forth, Solway Firth, Cromarty Firth, Moray Firth, Beauly Firth) and long coastlines on the North and East. In general the waters are deep close to the shore with notable exceptions in the river estuaries where extensive tidal drying areas exist.

Charts

Large area 1:500,000 and 1:750,000 scale charts, from the UKHO, which cover the coast of Scotland are noted below. These charts are usefull for planning routes but can not be used for coatsal navigation as the scale will not show detailed navigational information.

  1. Chart 2635 Scotland West Coast
  2. Chart 219 Western Approaches To Orkney and Shetland Island
  3. Chart 2182B North Sea Central Sheet
  4. Chart 2182C North Sea Northern Sheet

Other charts for routing are availble from Imray and can be selected from the Imray Chart Catalogue.

Source of Navigational Data

The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office provides both digital and paper charts for British waters. These charts are not free and can be purchased from a worldwide network of Admiralty Chart Agents. A list of chart agents is available from the Hydrographic Office web site.

The UKHO also produce Leisure Folios which cover all the main cruising areas and are an economic alternative to purchasing standard paper charts. Publication NP109 is the North West Europe catalogue and is a useful reference for selecting relevant charts for the intended cruising area.

In addition to the UKHO, charts can be obtained from Imray's British Isles and North West Europe portfolio. The 2000 Series and C Series charts from Imray are folios of charts which are very good value and contain chartlets at different scales on one sheet.

The coast of Scotland is fully covered with digital charts. In recent years Antares Charts provide detailed surveys of lesser surveyed areas for the cruising yachtsman and produce augmented UKHO charts with the detailed information. The Antares digital charts are very useful for close in shore navigation at some of the more spectacular areas. Coverage is limited but the Antares digital chart catalogue should Antares digital chart be consulted if the cruiser wants to explore some of the more challenging areas.

Pilotage Information

Pilotage Information for the cruising yachtsman/woman in Scottish waters is better served from sources outwith the UKHO, which tend to provide pilotage data for larger vessels. The Clyde Crusing Club (CCC) produced a series of Sailing Directions which are considered comprehensive, definitive and relevant for the cruising sailor. The CCC Sailing Directions have been amalgamated with the Imray Crusining Guides for Scotland. The following Sailing Directions are available: -

  1. Crusing Scotland - The Clyde to Cape Wrath
  2. Firth of Clyde - Including Solway Firth and North Channel
  3. to Ardnamurchan
  4. Ardnamurchan to cape Wrath
  5. Outer Hebrides
  6. North and Northeast Scotland and Orkney Islands
  7. Shetland Islands

The North and East Coast of Scotland pilotage data is well served by Martin Lawrence's excellent 'The Yachtsmans Pilot North and East Scotland', published by Imray.

A digital reference for harbours and ports can be found at Visit My Harbour, where tidal data, facilities and chartlets are available for many ports in Scotland.

Tidal Data

The UKHO also provides Comprehensive tidal data digitaly and in paper format for ranges, heights, current and direction. Tidal data is also readily available online from many sources such as Marina and Harbour websites.

Weather

The climate of Scotland is temperate and oceanic, and tends to be very changeable. It is warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, and as such has much milder winters (but cooler, wetter summers) than areas on similar latitudes, for example Copenhagen, Moscow, or the Kamchatka Peninsula on the opposite side of Eurasia. However, temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with the coldest ever UK temperature of -27.2 °C (-16.96 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 11 February 1895.[66] Winter maximums average 6 °C (42.8 °F) in the lowlands, with summer maximums averaging 18 °C (64.4 °F). The highest temperature recorded was 32.9 °C (91.22 °F) at Greycrook, Scottish Borders on 9 August 2003.

Sources of weather forecasting

The primary source of weather information is from TheUnited Kingdom Meteorological Office. This is an online weather resource that provides detailed weather information for land, coast and sea areas around the UK. The Met Office issues the Shipping Forecast, Inshore Waters Forecast and actual weather reports which are updated throughout the day. The shipping forecast and inshore waters forecast issued by the Met Office is transmitted by the Coastguard on VHF radio and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 LW and FM. The Met Office web site should be consulted for Radio 4 Shipping Forecast transmission times and the Marine Coastguard Agency for Coastguard shipping forecast transmission times. The Coastguard announces on VHF Channel 16 the working channel that weather information will be transmitted on. The Met Office shipping forecast is also transmitted by Navtex.

Passages

List popular passages/routes, timing, etc.

Communication

Add here VHF channel for coastguard, harbor masters. etc.

Also see World Cruiser's Nets

Navigation

Add any navigation notes such approaches, dangers etc here. If this section does not apply remove it.

Entrance

See United Kingdom, Entrance.

Customs and Immigration

See United Kingdom, Customs.

Health and Security

See United Kingdom, Health and Security.

Berthing

Key to symbols: |Port of entry icon – port of entry |Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Waterway or canal icon – waterway or canal |Needs data icon – needs data ||
Ports, Marinas, & Island of Scotland
Aberdeen Aberdeen /wiki/Aberdeen Port of entry icon – port of entry |Harbour icon – harbour |Needs data icon – needs data |
Abroath Harbour Abroath Harbour /wiki/Abroath_Harbour Harbour icon – harbour |Needs data icon – needs data |
Ardrossan Ardrossan /wiki/Ardrossan Marina icon – marina |
Caledonian Canal Caledonian Canal /wiki/Caledonian_Canal Waterway or canal icon – waterway or canal |
Campbeltown Campbeltown /wiki/Campbeltown Harbour icon – harbour |
Craobh Haven and Ardfern Craobh Haven and Ardfern /wiki/Craobh_Haven_and_Ardfern Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |
Crinan Canal Crinan Canal /wiki/Crinan_Canal Waterway or canal icon – waterway or canal |Needs data icon – needs data |
Dundee (Firth of Tay) Dundee (Firth of Tay) /wiki/Dundee_(Firth_of_Tay) Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |
Fair IsleFair Isle/wiki/Fair_Isle_Harbour Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Firth of Clyde Firth of Clyde /wiki/Firth_of_Clyde Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Firth of Forth Firth of Forth /wiki/Firth_of_Forth Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Fort William Fort William /wiki/Fort_William Harbour icon – harbour |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Needs data icon – needs data |
Forth and Clyde Canal Forth and Clyde Canal /wiki/Forth_and_Clyde_Canal Waterway or canal icon – waterway or canal |Needs data icon – needs data |
Inverness Inverness /wiki/Inverness Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |
Islay Island Islay Island /wiki/Islay_Island Island icon – island |Needs data icon – needs data |
Isle of Skye/Sound of Sleat Isle of Skye/Sound of Sleat /wiki/Isle_of_Skye/Sound_of_Sleat Island icon – island |Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Needs data icon – needs data |
Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright /wiki/Kirkcudbright Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Kirkwall Kirkwall /wiki/Kirkwall Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |
Largs Largs /wiki/Largs Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |
Lerwick Lerwick /wiki/Lerwick Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Loch Ranza Loch Ranza /wiki/Loch_Ranza Anchorage icon – anchorage |
Lossiemouth Lossiemouth /wiki/Lossiemouth Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Mainland Mainland /wiki/Mainland Island icon – island |Needs data icon – needs data |
Mallaig Mallaig /wiki/Mallaig Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |
Montrose Montrose /wiki/Montrose Harbour icon – harbour |Needs data icon – needs data |
Oban/Dunstaffnage Oban/Dunstaffnage /wiki/Oban/Dunstaffnage Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |
Orkney Isles Orkney Isles /wiki/Orkney_Isles Island icon – island |Needs data icon – needs data |
Peterhead Peterhead /wiki/Peterhead Port of entry icon – port of entry |Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Portree Portree /wiki/Portree Harbour icon – harbour |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Needs data icon – needs data |
Port Ellen Port Ellen /wiki/Port_Ellen Harbour icon – harbour |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Needs data icon – needs data |
Rothesay Rothesay /wiki/Rothesay Harbour icon – harbour |Marina icon – marina |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Needs data icon – needs data |
Shetland Isles Shetland Isles /wiki/Shetland_Isles Island icon – island |Needs data icon – needs data |
Stromness Stromness/wiki/Stromness Marina icon – marina |
Stronsay Stronsay/wiki/Stronsay Island icon – island |Needs data icon – needs data |
Tobermory Tobermory /wiki/Tobermory Harbour icon – harbour |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Needs data icon – needs data |
Troon Troon /wiki/Troon Marina icon – marina |
Ullapool Ullapool /wiki/Ullapool Harbour icon – harbour |Anchorage icon – anchorage |Needs data icon – needs data |
Westray Westray /wiki/Westray Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |
Wick Wick /wiki/Wick Marina icon – marina |Needs data icon – needs data |

Transportation

List transportation to other countries, etc.

Friends

Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.

Forums

List links to discussion threads on partnering forums. (see link for requirements)

Links

References

See United Kingdom.

Comments

We welcome users' contributions to the Wiki. Please click on Comments to view other users' comments, add your own personal experiences or recommend any changes to this page following your visit.


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Names: Lighthouse, BlowingOldBoots


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