Website Updates

Our web design company Webcraft UK   have  been busy over the Winter making our website even more user-friendly than it was before.

availability2Now you can see all the details of the boat you are interested in in one place:

~ Description
~ Specifications
~ ‘Whole Boat’ photo
~ Start and finish days for the boat
~ Prices for that boat
~ Photo gallery showing the accommodation
~ Availability calendar that shows you if the boat type you want is available for the dates you want
~ Direct link to boat-specific booking form

We think these changes will make using our website to choose and book your Caledonian canal cruising holiday even easier than it was before. You can see the new layout below – click anywhere in the image to take you to the same page on the website.

New layout for boat pages

High Summer Cruising, Low Summer Prices

 

Cygnet

Capri and Cygnet now reduced in price for the high season

We have reduced the high season  prices of our Cygnet and Capri cruisers for this year, meaning you pay the same low price for any  week from the end of June right through to the end of August.

Cygnet is a small but very well appointed cruiser  ideal for couples or smaller families. She sleeps up to four in 2 singles & 1 double and has a separate saloon & galley with dinette With patio doors to the large rear deck and warm air heating she is ready to enjoy whatever the weather. The price from June 26th through to Augist 30th 2013 is just £819

CapriCapri is a chic compact cruiser, ideal for a couple or three people. Thre is a spacious  forward cabin with a large double bed, while the saloon has a  dining table which is convertible into a comfy single.

Capri is ready for those long Summer days with a raised exterior steering position with opening roof and a large rear deck with seating. You can rent Capri right through July and August for just £799 per week.

Click here for more details on Cygnet and Capri

 

Teach yourself to sail and have the holiday of a lifetime

YCA 29 - from less than £500n per weekkWe have just added some pictures of the accommodation on board our fleet of sailing yachts to the website.

Our sailing  yacht charter  is, we believe,  unique in Scotland – the only opportunity for complete novices to try their hand at sailing with no need to go on courses first or acquire any ‘tickets’.  With no tides and simple navigation sailing novices can charter our yachts and enjoy a carefree boating holiday among some of the finest scenery in Scotland. As much sailing tuition as is required by the novice sailor is provided before you set off.

All our cruising yachts have reliable engines, so how much or how little you actually sail during your boating holiday is entirely up to you. Even if you don’t get the sails up you will still enjoy a holiday you will never forget as skipper of your own boat on the beautiful Caledonian Canal, the UK’s most spectacular inland waterway.

Because of our situation  near the middle of the canal, at the Eastern end of Loch Lochy, there are no deadlines or timetables. When you go aboard  you can choose to spend your first night on our pontoon or cruise off  Westwards down Loch Lochy with no need to worry about locking times.  If you choose to go East  from our base at Laggan Locks your route will take you through gentle Loch Oich with its tree covered shores and on to Fort Augustus, from where you can sail for over twenty miles on Loch Ness, the most famous of Scotland’s lochs.

Moody 38 interiorSigma accommodation

If you have always wanted to try sailing a modern yacht but thought it was too expensive or would take too long to learn, why not take a look at our dedicated sailing mini-site and check out our amazing prices.

You could  be skippering your own yacht under sail  through Scotland’s finest scenery this year.

 Check out our dedicated sailing site here

Cruisers Return

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008 (1152 x 864)005 (1152 x 864) The bulk of the Cruisers were taken back down through the locks on Monday.  It was a perfect day for the job, with no wind and it was nice and dry, bar a wee flurry of the white stuff.  The sun was beaming but it was still bitterly cold.  The boats came through two by two, which got them through the locks quicker.  Next week we will get the yachts back to their rightful place along with the rest of the Cruisers.

It has been very busy here at West Highland Sailing this last couple of weeks, everybody is working flat out to get the boats ready for the season ahead.  It was all hands on deck yesterday to get the upholstery back to the boats, they look all homely again with the curtains back up.

It is another cracking day today, Loch Lochy is getting very low as we have not had any rain for over 2 weeks, it has been a pretty dry time so far this year.

Signs of Spring

It was a lovely spring day yesterday, with a wee chill in the air, but today the mercury has barely risen above zero.

Birds are starting to mate, the Woodpecker has been busy drilling away these last few days.

The loch is like a millpond with the odd ripple when the ducks come by.

Craning In

Craning back in 008Craning in
Last weekend we craned in the boats that have been out for the winter after they had been serviced and anti-fouled.

It was a long hard misty day to get all of the boats into the water again, but it was worth the effort as they now look ready for hire.

 

Our Winter workshop

Our floating dock up above the locks

Winter is a very busy time for our staff, servicing, refurbishing and improving the fleet ready for the beginning of the new season in April.

Working on the boats outside is pretty much out of the question in the middle of a Great Glen winter, so we have built a floating covered dock with a big roaring heater in it above the locks at Laggan.  This structure will easily take our biggest cruisers, so staff can work on the boats whatever the weather outside.

The main Winter jobs are servicing  the engines, heaters and similar ancilliary equipment, servicing the safety gear, cleaning the upholstery and generally making sure the boats are in tip-top condition for the first charterers of the new season.

The floating dock - notice the chimney!Osprey Two under cover for maintenance Warm and cosy