Wild nature, hiking, sportive sailing – Scotland holds challenges for outdoor fans and experienced sailors and surprises with impressive landscapes. Our base Inverness is the starting point for a cruise to the northernmost points of Great Britain, the Orkney and Shetland Islands. But these archipelagos do not live a marginal life: In many places you will encounter legacies and stories of the Celts and Vikings, there are shipwrecks from the First and Second World Wars, and there is a diverse fauna and coastal landscape that attracts many nature lovers. If you have more time, you can also sail through the idyllic Caledonian Canal to the legendary Loch Ness and other inland lochs and then return to the port of departure via the Isle of Skye and the Scottish Northwest coast over the Orkneys. With weather swings, tidal range and associated currents, the Scottish waters are a spot for experienced crews.
Climate: temperateäßigt with temperatures between 5 and 15 degrees
.
Winds:Northwest
Sailing season: July to September
Yacht charter Inverness
Inverness, the capital of the Highlands and the northernmost city of Scotland, is located on the northeast coast. Inverness has an airport, the flights are mostly with change in the UK. The city itself is easy to explore on foot. Castle Inverness towers above it, and another sight is St. Andrews Cathedral. Inverness is surrounded by sites steeped in history, such as Clava Cairns, a Bronze Age site, and the Culloden battlefield. And while sailing through the Moray Firth, you may well encounter dolphins, especially at Chanonry Point.
Pure history and nature - on a yacht charter Inverness to the Orkney and Shetland Islands
The Orkney archipelago consists of more than 70 islands. There are many natural harbors and sheltered bays, which were also used by the Vikings, like Scapa Flow. In the bay around which the southern islands of Orkney are situated, there are still shipwrecks from the First World War. This is where the Germans sank their Imperial Fleet, consisting of submarines, cruisers, liners and torpedo boats, to prevent a takeover by the British due to the Treaty of Versailles.
Tidal currents are stronger up here in the north, especially in the Pentland Firth, which separates the Orkneys from the mainland, currents can reach 15 knots. On the islands, the nights are shorter in summer due to the high altitude, and it's also more of a twilight at night. Most of the year it rains, summer is the drier time.
The Orkney Islands have a rich heritage of finds and sites from the Stone Age and the times of the Picts and the Vikings. On the main island of Mainland, there are Stone Age settlements such as Skara Brae and Barnhouse. Also, monuments similar to Stonehenge have been found, such as Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar. On the tidal island of Brough, the remains of a Viking settlement and the Picts who lived before it can be visited. Other sights include monoliths, burial fields and chambers, and church ruins. The Orkney Museum in Kirkwall, the main town of Mainland, tells about the history and stories of the islands. There are also two whisky distilleries, the ruins of Earl's Palace Castle and St. Magnus Cathedral.
Between the Orkney and Shetland Islands lies Fair Isle. It is possible to dock here only when weather conditions permit. The island is home to a variety of bird colonies, including puffins and gannets, and around the island you may encounter seals, orcas and whales. At the Fair Isle Bird Observatory you can take a break and learn about the fauna. Besides fishing, knitting was and still is an important source of income for the families. The island is known and popular for its sweaters in typical patterns.
The Shetland Islands are also a great landscape destination with its impressive cliffs and deeply cut bays. Here the Atlantic Ocean, west of the islands, merges with the North Sea, east of the islands. The capital Lerwick is located in the southeastern part of Mainland, the largest of the 100 islands. The city is already at the height of South Greenland, but the Gulf Stream makes it comparatively mild here. The modern Shetland Museum here informs about the history of the islands and various other topics such as geology, environment, everyday culture. The island can be easily explored with a rental car. The island has been inhabited since 3000 BC and there are numerous sites and finds preserved, especially in the south. Among them is, for example, Jarlshof. This place and its surroundings unite finds from several millennia in which people settled here. From the Picts period comes the hoard on St. Ninian's Isle, a veritable treasure of silver and gold, consisting of secular and religious objects. The tidal island can be reached on foot at low tide via a strip of sand. Other points of interest include the Scalloway Museum and the Sumburgh Head Visitor Centre. East of Mainland is the island of Mousa with the Broch of Mousa. The tower, now 13m high, is the best preserved broch on the islands and was built during the Iron Age. People lived and/or farmed in it at that time. Besides the brochs with their interesting construction, there are also so-called wheelhouses on the islands.
Longer cruises through the Caledonian Canal, to the Hebrides and Orkney Islands with a yacht charter Inverness
Inverness is located at the mouth of the River Ness and as the name suggests, this river rises from the fabled Loch Ness. The freshwater lake is only 10 kilometers away and you can go to it by boat through the Ness. On the banks of the river the Highlands rise and forests stretch down to the water's edge. There are anchorages, for example, near Urquhart Castle, whose ruins can be visited.
If you have more time, you can sail further inland from here. At the end of the river is the village of Fort Augustus, where you can enter the Caledonian Canal via locks. There is a charge to travel through the canal. This leads through Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. After further locks one reaches the Atlantic Ocean via Loch Linnhe. Here you come out at the Isle of Mull and the Isle of Skye. On the way back you can explore the Outer Hebrides and via the northern tip of Scotland also the Orkney- and Shetland-Islands before heading south again to Inverness.
As an alternative to this cruise, you can also explore the coast of Scotland from our base at Armadale on the Isle of Skye. For those who prefer to explore the south of England, Southampton in the English Channel is a port just off the sailing center of the island, the beautiful Isle of Wight.
