August 2024
There’s a choice of marinas in Oban Bay: The North Pier Pontoons, owned and run by Argyll and Bute Council, and Oban Marina on Kerrera owned by couple Gill and Tim Vollum. The North Pier Pontoons have the advantage of being right in the centre of the town in easy reach of shops, pubs, restaurants, rail, bus and ferry links. However, there is a maximum stay of just three nights, there are no yard services, diesel or gas, but there are very nice shower and laundry facilities. Oban Marina on Kerrera is reached from the mainland by a small ferry service run by the marina. The marina has yard facilities, diesel, gas, showers, laundry (proper industial machines) and a small restaurant/pub. It has the advantage of long-term berthing but getting supplies is not so convenient.
After bringing Jess north and enjoying a few days of sailing with Alan and his wife, Alan returned home and then on to his annual sailing/camping holiday at Port Ban. I have been spending the time between The North Pier Pontoons and here on Kerrera having to move back and forth because of the Round The World Clipper Fleet and West Highland Week. I’ve been spending time doing a few maintenance jobs, tidying and reading until he returns in a week or so.
Despite having visited the marina and the island many times, I realised that I didn’t really know that much about it other than there being a monument to one of the founders of CalMac, a farm and the marina.
The island is 7km long and 2km wide with a population of 64, including 18 children, there are no public buildings but the old school has been converted to a community centre. The main industry is farming, tourism and the marina at Ardantive Bay. Most of the island is owned by the McDougalls of Dunollie owned Gylen Castle at the south end of the island and Dunollie Castle on the mainland at the entrance to Oban Bay.
To the south side of Ardentrive Bay lies the wreck of the Hyacinth which is revealed at low water. Not, as I thought, run aground as a reult of a navigation error but that of a steamer which caught fire in Oban and was towed to the bay where it sunk. There are wrecks of other boats around the bay.
There are some lovely walks around Kerrera with great views to the mainland, Mull and Morvern. Just a short distance from the marina is a very easy walk to the Hutcheson Monument which The monument was erected in 1883 to David Hutcheson, a steamship owner who played an important part in opening up steamship travel from the west coast of Scotland and the Hebrides. David Hutcheson and Co. were a well-known firm with boats and steamers running to the West Highlands from the 1850s which was the forerunner of the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry company. You can continue this walk around the north of the island and on the way stop at the Ardentrive Farmshop. There is also a cirular walk from the CalMac Ferry Port from the mainland.
