Sailing In Scotland - See it all without climbing a 3000ft mountain

Give your knees a break. Pull on blocks and tackles instead, harness the wind & enjoy the view.

When you sail in Scotland you don’t have to climb a 3000ft Scottish mountain to see the full grandeur. The amazing thing about a sailing holiday on the West Coast of Scotland, are the 360 degree panoramic views.
Sailing a few miles off the coast you can see the mountain ranges stretching out to the far horizon and the Western Isles silhouetted against a silvery sea. The highland interior maybe tantalising blocked for a few miles behind an impressive sea cliff of a nearby island, or a Minke whale sighting may distract you, but the next dash across open water reveals a new landscape.
Nautical charts don’t show all the land features so a popular game in spring is to guess the name of snow capped peaks inland amongst the complex succession of hazy purple ridgelines and glacial valleys.

Sailing in Scotland allows you to be self sufficient and anchor in unspoilt locations that would take days for a backpacker to reach, with the added benefit of effortlessly carrying bottles of wine, and bunks cosier than a mountain bothy. Oosterschelde even has a real piano in her saloon!

 

The charter skippers we know who work extensively in Scotland says the same thing. You can never claim to know every inch of the complex Scottish coastline and the hundreds of offshore islands. The Coast of Scotland is considered to be over 11 800 km (7700 miles), or 6% of the whole coastline of Europe. Our two Scottish vessels in 2010 have a mix of local knowledge from experience and the pioneer spirit about them to find lots of new places in the vast coastline on offer in Scotland.

Our two vessels in Scotland have 2010 voyages that if joined together would almost* Circum-navigate Scotland and its outermost islands (we are saving Shetland for the Tall Ships Race next year !) List of all 2010 Scottish Voyages on Lizzie May & Oosterschelde

Lizzie May Gastronomic Voyages –  Scottish Skipper who is also a chef

One of Lizzie May’s many assets is that skipper Laurie is also a professional chef. He is creating special voyages where you can sail to your hearts content but also devour fresh Scottish seafood & organic produce from the land with minimal food miles.
Linking up with Laurie’s favourite fishing boats, visiting sustainable fisheries and shellfish suppliers and watching or helping Laurie prepare your meals will help you understand how Scotland has become one of Europe’s leading destinations for ‘foodies’ and why the West Coast of Scotland has such great seafood.

Moray Firth Voyage at Easter & Caledonian Canal Voyage

Lizzie May - East Coast Sailing for the brave at Easter. A chance to sail a coastline few yachts visit from Edinburgh’s port of Leith via small historic fishing ports to the Moray Firth, famous for its resident population of bottle-nosed dolphins (LM1001 Voyage details)

Or a less brave voyage taking Lizzie May through the Caledonian Canal. A unique experience cutting across the Scottish Highlands and under snow capped mountains like Ben Nevis. See LM1002 Voyage details. 
 

Scottish Sailing Weekend Breaks on a pilot cutter
You turn up on the quay and we create the adventure - Lizzie May is deliberately based in Largs (good rail transport links & Glasgow International Airport) for part of the year so you can try traditional sailing in Scotland for a weekend.
No sailing experience is necessary and Jerry or Laurie will teach you everything you need to hoist gaff sails, steer and manoeuvre the boat. If you are an experienced sailor and want to throw around a powerful working boat with 5 sails and a 16ft bowsprit then these weekends are for you too.

 

Plenty of choice for short sailing breaks at the best time of year: 2-3 day weekends on Lizzie May throughout May, June & July

 Lizzie May is getting together with another Luke Powell designed pilot cutter Ezra and the 1908 original pilot cutter Mascotte for a special voyage. If you have always wanted to take photos of  a pilot cutter sailing in strong winds with a ‘bone in her teeth’ then this is an ideal opportunity, with a fantastic backdrop. All three are commercial charter boats so you will be able to try sailing a different pilot cutter and see your own boat in action from afar.
The combination of local knowledge of all three skippers should create a very special voyage.

Our 10 day sailing and wildlife expeditions on Tall Ship Oosterschelde will show you why Classic Sailing work this Dutch ship. The Captain (Sebastiaan or Gerben) and ships crew love to explore remote locations and connect with human communities living on the edge. Oosterschelde has travelled the world from Antarctica to Indonesia so reaching new destinations and finding unusual anchorages is part of their ethos. This tough 132ft schooner is keen to explore more of the Outer Hebrides and visited St Kilda twice last year.

 

Details: Outer Hebrides Expeditions in July OOSTERSCHELDE VOYAGES ARE FIXED EURO PRICES – SAVE MONEY & BOOK NOW WHILST THE £GB IS STRONG

Sail ‘Around The Top’ of Scotland & explore the Orkney Islands archipelago

Tall Ship Oosterschelde has two summer expeditions around the top of Scotland. Fantastic voyages for experienced sailors or adventurous beginners as the seas can be rough around the top of Scotland. Pass Cape Wrath & John a Groats; discover how many islands make up the Orkneys and see the Viking influence on these self sufficient island communities. Surprise the locals in the Northernmost Outer Hebrides

Oosterschelde Around the Top Voyage 4-12th July – Aberdeen to Oban via Orkney and /or island hop down the Outer Hebrides chain or Skye.

Oosterschelde Orkney Voyage 1-8th August is filling up fast as it ends at Hartlepool where you can see the 2010 Tall Ships Race ships gathering.

Jess B of London wins a three day sailing voyage to choose from our 2010 Cornwall programme on Pilot Cutter ‘Eve of St Mawes.’ Thank you everybody that took the trouble to fill in our customer questionnaire on your holiday search habits.

“I just wanted to say what a fabulous treat the book ‘Cold’ is. THANK YOU. I have to admit I was sceptical when you mentioned the offer. Free things from companies usually are cheap rubbish. This is such a delight and got me dreaming of sailing to more exotic places... so it is working...I am also looking at Spitsbergen on Antigua.” Cecile C from Oxford