Thank you Richard and John for looking after us so well on our Inner Hebrides sailing adventure. Richard and John are wonderfully warm and caring individuals. John has a wealth of sailing experience, his knowledge of the Scottish islands and history is extensive and he is a fabulous raconteur. Richard made sure we were well looked after, he fed us generously, was great company and had exciting ideas of places to sail to. The sailing was really enjoyable, we all had varying levels of experience and this was easily accommodated. We had some rough weather forecast and we were moored with extreme care that evening. Our itinerary was changed from the original due to the weather but we were always given other great options. Regarding the weather, if you feel the cold, bring thermals and a woolly hat even in August, you might be lucky and not need them but better to be prepared. Our sailing companions were very good company which was a bonus as you are together a lot over the week, we really enjoyed our days sailing and evenings chatting or quiet times reading. We loved our time on Aislig Bheag, the Inner Hebrides are stunning, it was a fantastic experience.

John and Derek were great host in so many ways. They had a relaxed but thoughtful way of helping the group settle in, get to know each other and get to know the boat. John had a great skill for including us in the sailing and skippering with instruction and encouragement at the right time. His knowledge local places, good anchorages and the ability to make the most of the tides and weather was immense. His sense of humour and funny stories about places we visited were great. Equally Derek was great company and looked after us really well with food, drink and a joke in constant supply. The boat was well maintained, clean and very comfortable. I had a great time and would recommend the experience to anyone interested in a sailing experience. The efforts John and Derek went to to keep us busy and take us to a variety of places are really appreciated and I’ve got a host of memories and photos to take away - places like Iona, Fingals Cave, Locu Aline, David Balfour’s bay. I really liked the mix of quiet, secluded anchorages on anchor, and a few nights in marinas to visit towns like Tobermory. If I lived closer I’d love to sail with John and Derek again for other trips but sadly I think life in Australia will make this unlikely. All the best for the future and I’ll be sure to follow you in the future. DO THE ARC!!!!!!

Cruise Ecosse has proved to be a valuable sailing asset to me in 2026 and I will forever be indebted to Gordon, Richard, John and Derek for their wonderful guidance, tips, instruction, patience and living on a yacht experience. As a novice sailor, trying to get my Day Skipper ticket and build sailing experience, I originally planned 2 sailing trips with different West Coast operators over the summer of 2026. However, one of those Operators let me down claiming they could not fill their boat and hence their week's sailing was not viable. Upon enquiry, Cruise Ecosse stepped in and gave me a late-minute space for the St Kilda trip, in addition to my planned 'Around Mull' trip. My prior sailing experience on yachts was limited to a tiller-steered 29' yacht and dinghies. The level of comfort I felt with both crews was enormous and their policy to ensure each sailor gets regular turns at helm in all conditions (both in open seas and close coastal sailing), proved invaluable. In all, I completed just under 500NM across my 2 weeks with Cruise Ecosse and the experience has laid my foundations for being the best sailor I can try to be. Every day was a school day and the gentle approach meant my confidence grew daily. I probably will never attain the truly skillful sailing of these gentlemen, not have a boat the quality of Aisling Bheag, but they have been an inspiration to go beyond being a simple yachtman. A big thank you to you all and I will definitely be back, even after buying my own yacht.

Whether you are new to sailing or highly experienced I can not recommend Cruise Ecosse more highly. A fabulous week. Good company. Great food, including coping really well with my allergy to eggs. Great sailing too. John, our skipper, was brilliant. A highly accomplished yachtsman who replanned our route daily to avoid the heavy seas coming in from the Atlantic, and instead taking us to wonderful secluded anchorages on Skye and Canna. The yacht is a beauty to sail, very well maintained and reinforced to ocean going standards. Well set up for a small group with varied yachting experience. Richard, a partner in the ownership of the yacht came as crew and looked after us splendidly. There is every opportunity to learn, to helm, to adjust the sails and participate in every aspect of the trip. We spotted dolphins, porpoises, seals, guillemots, eider ducks, shags, cormorants, storm petrels, terns, a fish eagle and many types of gulls. If you want to experience the wonders and joys of the Hebrides then Cruise Ecosse should be your first port of call.

The Cooperative Sailing Trip of a Lifetime. Sailing with Cruise Ecosse was full of life affirming experiences. It felt like everyone on the boat became one big happy family working together as a team during the sailing and social time. John the skipper and Derek enabled us to sail in places that less experienced boats would not dare. The trip started at Castlebay and re-positioned to Oban, but that does not do the trip justice. Due to John's expertise and knowledge we sailed over to Skye past the 3 Mermaids stacks and into the marina at Carbost. This then put us in a position to sail to people’s Bucket-lists of Loch Scarvig, Loch Moidart and Tobermory. Loch Scarvig sitting under the Black Cullin ridge was magical and mysterious with menacing winds swirling down from the Cullins. This has been a dream of mine to be there and John allowed this to happen. But on this day John wanted to give us a wonderful sailing experience so 40NM later we blind navigated into Loch Moidart. John allowed the crew to take the yacht through this tricky navigation, with his watchful eye. We anchored in this quiet and tranquil loch, relaxed on deck and even played a game of cards, which wasn’t that tranquil! Derek providing his usual fantastic meal. The following day we sailed past the Point of Ardnamurchan, having lunched at Singing Sands bay whilst a force 8 blew through. Again it was John’s experience that delayed sailing around the Point as the sea was rough and chaotic. As a crew we loved every minute, helming, tacking and navigating though big seas. After a quick stop in Tobermory for the evening meal we sailed on to LochaLine marina, witnessing a perfect sunset with a pod of dolphins jumping. Derek was always there to provide sustance and Mint Imperials from the local COOP. The trip came to a finish in Oban and as John said were all now in “Boat Mode”. This was a fantastic sailing experience. 200NM in 4days! We developed new skills, saw lots of wildlife including a humpback whale and became a family. Everyone was so cooperative and we were delighted to have visited so many beautiful places in Aislig Bheag. Chippy Steve