An entrepreneurial new venture west starts on Thursday 21st April 2011, when the North Star will point the way to the legendary whirlpool of the Corryvrecham, between the north of Jura and Scarbha.
North Star will be easy to find – berthed just outside the coffee shop in the Crinan Canal basin, below the Crinan Hotel.
This berthing strategy allows her to offer passengers the additional fun of gong through the sea lock from this gloriously scenic canal basin and out into the Sound of Jura before making her way to the swirling power of the Corryvreckan.
The route is an experience of its own with a wide variety of wildlife populating this rich area. Sightings can’t, of course, be guaranteed but there are Dolphins; Porpoises; Common Seal; Basking Sharks; Minke Whale; Sea Eagles; Ospreys; Cormorants; Puffins; Shags; Guillemots; Golden Eagles; Red Deer and. feral goats on the north shores of Jura.
Each of the legs of the journey carry beautiful perspectives into this unique part of the world. On the way out there are rocky islets with seal colonies and the powerful peaked hulk of Jura in the background.
On the way back, there’s the wooded sanctuary of Crinan, with the white flagship of the Crinan Hotel high on the rock above and the great doors of the sea lock to the canal basin, ready to open to admit.
As for the Corryvreckan itself – wait and see.
Venture West – and plenty of folk will have seen its bright orange-red flame of a RedBay Stormforce cabined RIB, flashing whitewater in and out of its base at Tayvallich on Loch Sween and in the water of the west coast – is a family business run by Sandy Campbell with his brother, Neil.
Sandy has been running Venture West boat trips from Tayvallich for 5 years and is now expanding his business, with Neil, by running family-friendly daily wildlife trips from the Crinan Basin to the Corryvreckan.
The original Venture West boat has also supplemented the Jura Passenger Ferry service by acting as second boat when necessary and running occasional wildlife-spotting trips out to locations around the Sound of Jura. She also recently starred in Three Men Go to Scotland – with Griff Rhys-Jones, Rory McGrath and Dara O’Briain – and has been used on a variety of other occasions for media support.
The second boat, North Star, is the newest addition to the fleet and will be running daily 2–3 hour wildlife-spotting trips from the Crinan Basin from 21st of April 2011.
Venture West herself will work both from her traditional base of Tayvallich and from the Crinan Basin. She is available for boat charters (on 24 hour standby), what she calls ‘exhilarating tours’ (we might take one of these – sounds like our sort of thing) , acting as a private ferry service, Island hopping, walking trips (including drop-off and pick-up), distillery visits – and delivery to exclusive waterside hotels.What a way to arrive. Shades compulsory.
North Star will also cater for Skate fishing – the waters of the Sound of Jura are excellent for skate fishing (see our recent article on going Skate Tagging in the Sound with the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network). And North Star will be available to support club diving and, as with Venture West herself, commercial media support.
This service extension is a well judged and exciting addition to what is available to visitors to Mid Argyll and to Jura. Berthing at the Crinan Basin is a masterstroke for the sheer visibility of the service. It adds to the overheads but it should pay dividends.
The skippers are widely experienced, all necessary safety equipment will be supplied. Both boats - Venture West and North Star, are certified to a strict standard set by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and skippers are qualified to RYA standards.
For more information and booking
Contact: Sandy Campbell:
- by email: sandy@venture-west.co.uk
- by phone: 07789071188
Contact: Kirsten Logue
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