Boat Tour on Loch Etive

Date/Time
Date(s) - 18/07/2018
9:00 am - 11:00 am

Location
Argyllshire Gathering Halls

Categories

• Boat Tours

Fully booked — no further ticket sales. 

Shuttle buses departing and returning to Argyllshire Gathering Halls; boat departing Taynuilt Pier. Limit 12 tickets.

On Wednesday there will be three two-hour boat tours of Loch Etive aboard the Laura Dawn II, which is a commercial licensed boat holding 12 passengers. Ronnie Campbell is a world famous skipper who has transported MacIntyres up the Loch for over 40 years, beginning with L.D. MacIntyre and family back in the 1970s.

Ronnie has lived on Loch Etive all his life, having moved only three miles from his birth home to his home now. He is the fourth generation of male Campbells to live on the loch side and knows the Loch in all its moods and all its seasons.

Loch Etive is 21 miles/34km long and up to 500ft/165m at its deepest. The tour will leave from about the middle, heading up to the most beautiful part of the Loch. It is remote and sparsely populated, with only three houses lived in year round and four holiday houses. In the winter, the top end of the Loch is almost fresh on the surface, as it has a massive catchment area for rain water.

On the right you will see Ben Cruachan. At 3400ft/1124m, it’s the most southerly mountain over 1000m in Britain except for Ben Lawers, about 20 miles east.

This is a fantastic opportunity to see the landscape from the Loch and to orient yourself in the geography of your ancestors. On this trip you could see:

• sea eagles
• golden eagles
• buzzards
• lots of herons
• ducks (mostly Eider and Goldeneyes)
• lots of different gulls
• swans
• seals (best chance of seeing these little guys)
• otters (good chance of seeing these guys)
• red deer on the hills on both sides of the Loch

The Loch is also home to about 40 species of fish; the largest caught so far was 70 pounds.

The tour will pass Glenoe on the right. It is the first inhabited house past Taynuilt. Then you will see Inverlever, and Ardmady, which are also inhabited. On the other side you will see where Ronnie’s grandfather used to live. Looking up into Glencoe, you will see where the infamous 1692 Massacre of Glencoe took place, when the Campbells massacred the MacDonalds.

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Caution

These activities are still “proposed” until we have sufficient registrations to cover costs of running each event or activity. We will do our very best to provide activities as listed; however, they may be cancelled or modified due to bad weather, lack of attendance, changes in availability of transport, or any other factors beyond our control.

If a tour is undersubscribed and is cancelled, we will work with you to find a replacement activity or tour.

Please read the event descriptions carefully and use your own good judgment as to whether an activity is within or outside your physical ability. If you feel it might be beyond your ability please tell us as soon as possible. We will do everything in our power to provide modifications or assistance, but in some cases it won’t be possible or feasible for some people to take part in some activities.

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