Greenock Marina

James Watt Dock Marina Greenock, Scotland- 55N 56' 392, -4W 44' 9.012 Tel +44 (0) 1475 729838

The west coast is the best coast. In Scotland for sailing anyway. As much as I love the little fishing villages along the east coast, the huge tidal swings and lack of deep water berthing options is pretty limiting. It's a long, long way from Peterhead to South Queensferry.

So what is a sailor who wants to check out inland Scotland to do? Well, you could do a lot worse than the James Watt Dock in Greenock. Actually, if I were sailing to Scotland and I wanted to leave my boat for a bit of inland exploration this would be my hands down, top pick.



Let's get the negatives out of the way. The marina is not in a lovely, coastal resort type setting. Greenock is a working man's town. You won't find many ice cream parlors, fish and chip shops or shops peddling tartan underwear and bumper stickers near by. It is not a tourist destination. In fact, a good friend who is from the area cautioned us  "oh, be careful Greenock can be a rough town". We did not find it to be quite as dire as that sentence would imply, but it does have a rather industrial feel and the negatives associated with it are in effect. Pay attention to your surroundings and don't borrow trouble. That being said...

The James Watt is a new marina and the docks themselves are in tip top shape. Access to the docks and boats is controlled and they have taken pains to have adequate security. They have diesel, petrol and Calor gas available. Waste disposal is available. Plenty of water even at low tide to keep your keel floating. Showers, toilets, power and water but no laundry facilities or wifi at this time.

Comfortably sized fairways

The big draw for this, aside from the security (which was just about the best we saw in Scotland) is it's location just over a mile from the train station. You could leave your boat here with confidence, then take a train or bus to just about anywhere you want to go in Scotland. The rail and bus system in Scotland is absolutely fantastic and there really is no need to hire a car which is good because driving in Scotland is well, nerve wracking to say the least and I am someone who loves to drive.



There is a McDonald's in spitting distance to the marina. No, no one wants to eat their food but they do have good wifi. There is also a new, clean and tidy Premiere Inn (best hotel value in the UK) right at the docks if you have landlubbers coming to visit. There are a couple of groceries a little over a mile away and the city center is just a bit farther which has a post office, cafes and shops in the mall for anything you might need. Not a lot of chandleries but we are talking about where to leave your boat safely for inland exploration and this has far more pluses than minuses.

If you want to do a bit more sailing in the area, the Inverclyde offers plenty of places to go all while being accessible to civilization. All in all, not a bad deal and the staff we met were courteous, helpful and friendly.

Spunky littleyellow boat going out for an evening sail

                                              

Kitty was taken by this cute little red boat. So much so that she said that would be her boat when she was very big, like 9 years old.

Drum- the maxi yacht formerly owned by Simon Le Bon, now owned by Arnold Clark, the car King of the UK

I admit it. Drum inspired a bit of winch envy in me.

See? Working man's docks.

In the distance, lot's of beautiful sailing to be had in the Inverclyde

                              

St. Monans Harbour

St. Monans Harbour- 56º 12'N, 02º 44'W
Tel- 01333 739000

Ah the  East coast of Scotland. So many lovely little villages, so very little water at low tide. Again, you might want to skip this one by boat because the harbour master only works part time. Whether or not he is working is dependent upon the tides. There are 2 dedicated visitors berths in the harbour. A grand total of 2. but you still might want to skip it because:

And why not just anchor out? Because this is what you would be anchoring in-

Maybe you would trust your ground tackle in this, with huge tidal swings. I don't think I would.

Still, I love this tiny little village.

I love that someone has taken an ugly, old slipway and created a Wellie boot garden.

I love "the Fishermens Church" with it's boats hanging from the rafters, a reminder of how powerful the sea is and how tiny are our boats upon it....

I love the graves or sailors and fishermen from years gone by looking eternally out to sea.

I love the walk along the shore. You must hop a stone fence and walk along a narrow path- (and take a break if needed)

past cows and castles ( or remnants of a windmill but when you are walking with a 4 year old they are all castles)

I love that on a clear day you can see the outline of Bass rock, shining white in the sunlight. You look out upon the sea and see it shimmering, glistening like alabaster, looking as if it might be inhabited by some magical being...

Then your mother in law says "That's Bass rock. It's a bird sanctuary. The huge amount of bird droppings make it appear white". Shimmering, glistening bird poop. It's the poop that makes it pretty. So much for waxing romantic.

One last look at Scotland

One of the items on our to-do list while in Scotland was to check out marinas. On the west coast, there are lots of options and Mark is familiar with some of them but our schedule didn't allow time to check them out. On the East Coast, your options for dockage that doesn't dry out with the tides is limited- I think there are just 2.

We stopped by Port Edgar in South Queensferry near Edinburgh. South Queensferry was one of the locales in which I felt comfortable. Mark was surprised "There's nothing here! Its just a tiny, ancient seafront village." Sometimes, the heart has its own reasons.

Port Edgar is where Mark learned to sail as a youngster. He commented that it was smaller and tattier than he recalled. I think that's true of any place of your youth to which you return as an adult. While the facilities are decidedly simplistic- especially when compared to US marinas where a pool and hot tub are required amenities, the staff was the exceedingly helpful, polite and full of good humor. Plus, you can rest easy knowing that MONKEYS ARE VERBOTEN! No fear of marauding gangs of monkey's climbing your rigging here.

 Mark thought it would be nice to book a last night in a "swanky" hotel. Carnoustie is a famous golf course. The hotel is on the golf course. I suppose this is more impressive if you actually give a fig about golf. Neither Jess, nor Kitty nor I care but we did enjoy a few bitterly cold and windy moments on the beach. Mark thought we should walk along the paths but I was worried about errant golf balls. Mark said that the people who played this course were all outstanding players who knew what they were doing. I said if that was the case why is the guy we passed 25 minutes ago trying to get out of a sand trap still trying to get out of that exact same sand trap. Since our other option was to walk towards the firing range from which we could hear gun fire or dodge golf balls, we played on the beach for a bit before heading to St. Andrew's.

St. Andrew's was lovely. A bit touristy and pricey now because of Will and Kate fever but a great place to potter around the shops and ruins of the cathedral and castle. And that's the last of our UK trip and now it is on to my next post which is all about wiring and bilges, sanding and painting. Did I mention I was really glad to have a break from the refitting?

The Highlands

We drove up to the Highlands to the Hilton Craigendarroch in Ballater. We were a little bit unsure of booking rooms in a Hilton and were pleasantly surprised to find that while it might be owned by an American company, it still felt decidedly Scottish. The old part of the hotel was once the summer home of the Keiller family- the inventors of marmalade and maintains its 19th century charm. The new addition has been completely refurbished and you can sense the pride the staff has in the renovations. Since we were going in the off season, the rooms were an incredible deal.

 If you are going up to the Highlands with kids old enough to complain about being bored by nothing but bucolic walks in the hills, this is the hotel for you. Gorgeous indoor pools, a snooker table, table tennis and squash court as well as several playgrounds and a dry ski slope will keep mutiny at bay. The included breakfast was one of the best we encountered- fresh mushrooms and tomatos, haggis, black pudding, fresh sausages, real eggs, potato scones, an assortment of breads and pastries, cereals, porridge (they even set out a flask of Drambuie for your porridge!), yogurts, juices, etc.

Every night, Mark's mom Jess would stay with Kitty after she went to sleep and Mark and I would slip down to the bar for an hour or so of adult time. If you pop into the bar and see a lovely Scottish woman with dark hair, bright eyes and a winning smile tending the bar be sure to tell Lillian we said hello. She made our stay at the hotel all the better with her sense of humor. She had just returned to Scotland after working the resorts of Spain for a few years and was lamenting the lack of sun. If you sail to the British Virgin Islands in a few years, keep an eye out for her. I have a feeling she will be there as quick as she can. Oh and she is 100% ready to crew- what could be better than a crew member who is not put off by the work involved in cruising? A crew member who can mix a darned fine cocktail, that's what.

We had intended to leave Kitty at the hotel with her Granny and head to Aviemore for a morning of skiing. Of course, the ways things happen for us we were treated to record high temperatures and no snow. We checked the ski site and saw that the funicular railway at Aviemore was open so we packed up the car with Kitty and Jess and drove for 2 hours to Aviemore. Once there we were of course greeted by rain and wind gusts of over 100 m.p.h. and a closed funicular railway. The only thing we saw in Aviemore was the public toilets at the train station and the shop at the base of the slope where we could purchase ski gear if we were so inclined. We live in the subtropics so were not so inclined, so after a cup of coffee and a bit of chasing the toddler around we headed back to the car. This is how Kitty entertained us in the car and I hope she never learns to say 'twinkle' properly.

Mark was kind enough to give into my sheep obsession and only once said "I've brought you to one of the most spectacular places on earth and you want to go play with sheep!". Yeah, but I really like sheep. Someday I will have a pet sheep and name her Agnes but until then I am forced to play with other peoples sheep. I am also obsessed with Highland cows (Heeland Coo!) and full credit to Mark to detouring an hour out of the way and getting lost on the way home in order for me to see some cows. That's love people.

The Highlands are absolutely beautiful- even in Feb. with no snow, no green and not a whole lot to do. I loved it. I could stay there for quite some time, but only if there are sheep to play with.