Anchoring at Rothesay, Isle of Bute

After a pleasant sail from Loch Goil, with stops on mooring buoys at Carrick Castle and Ardentinny, we anchored in Rothesay Bay for the night, a popular Victorian seaside resort on the Isle of Bute.

Lochgoilhead to Carrick Castle

Leaving Lochgoilhead we enjoyed a short sail to Carrick Castle on the shores of Loch Goil where we picked up one of the three visitor buoys. These are blue buoys with a yellow pick up and are marked Carrick Castle Boat Club with a sticker saying ‘Honesty pays £10 per day/night’ They are rated to 15 tonne and their website states that they are serviced annually. Payment can be made via the website although this is now actually £15 (June 2024), not the £10 stated on the buoy! Be careful though, as the tube piping on our pick up had many barnacles on it, some of which were very sharp! As such we spent about 10 minutes removing as many as we could to avoid it scraping our hull.

The wind was a north westerly and this resulted in quite a bit of chop as it funnelled down the valley. As the evening turned to night the wind died off, however a slight, but annoying, swell came in and we did seem to ride up onto the buoy for quite a bit around 2 hours either side of the turn of the tide.

Carrick Castle to Rothesay via Ardentinny

The next morning we progressed back down to Ardentinny, where we had picked up a visitor buoy on our way up the loch. By now the wind was 25 knots from the north west so picking up the buoy was a challenge to say the least. In fact we’re not ashamed to admit that it took us 4 attempts! These buoys are free to use for patrons of the restaurant but as it turned out this was closed on a Monday!

Ardentinny to Rothesay

It’s June 2024 and the overnight temperature is just 2°C – it felt very chilly when we woke at 6.00am for our 6.30am departure to catch the tide down the Clyde. A simple passage plan really with just two waypoints:

WP1 – 55°56.617N 4°54.087W – Dunoon Bank East Cardinal
WP2 – 55°51.363N 4°59.091W – Toward Point East Cardinal

The wind was light at just 7 knots from the west, and we were protected by the land, but as we passed the entrance to Holy Loch the wind did pick up to around 12 knots before shifting to the north west. As our sail continued the wind dropped back down to around 7 knots and we gybed our way down the Clyde. In fact this was a very pleasant sail; the sun was shining and the wind very light, although it was still cold!

As we made our turn at Toward Point we lost the wind due to being in the lee of the land. As such we had to turn the motor on. But for once this didn’t last long and soon we were back sailing, albeit close hauled this time. We managed to sail right into Rothesay Bay before we dropped the sails and started to suss out a potential anchoring spot.

We dropped the hook at position 55°50.480N 5°3.476W in 10.5 metres of water, which was due to rise to 12.5m at high. As such we let out 40 metres of chain before snubbing.

Going ashore at Rothesay

Once we were safely anchored (and after a cup of tea!) we got ready to go ashore. There was a beach nearby which had railings along the promenade, which could be a possibility to tie up too, but after speaking with the harbourmaster by telephone we opted to go into the marina within the harbour.

Rothesay Marina has both inner and outer pontoons, although it is the outer pontoons that are generally used by visitors. Access to the inner pontoons is via a lifting pedestrian bridge and is at the discretion of the Marina Master and the Harbour Master. Traffic lights are situated at the entrance to the harbour and must be observed by all users entering or exiting the harbour. You cannot enter or leave the harbour when the lights are red. This is particularly the case when the Caledonian Ferry, which operates from Weymss Bay on the mainland to the pier at Rothesay, is inbound, manoeuvring, or departing.

We tied our dinghy up to one of the outer harbour pontoons. There is an honesty box at the top of the outer pontoon with envelopes which can be used for payment by visiting vessels. A price list along with the gate code is also displayed. Prices can also be found on the Bute Berthing Company website. Alternatively there is a harbour office by the old weigh bridge. We spoke with the harbour master here who said they do not normally charge for a dinghy but they would appreciate ‘a couple of quid in the RNLI box‘ which we happily did. The pontoons have water access and there are bins on the middle pier. Shower and toilet facilities are located in the Victorian Toilets on Rothesay Pier.

The town itself is rather small however you will find two Co-op supermarkets (the one on Bridge Street is bigger), a Premier shop, Superdrug, a ‘Bargain Buys’ discount shop, butchers and hardware shop, along with local boutique and gift shops including the delightful named ‘Simply Buteiful’, ‘Bonnie Bling’ and ‘The wee Scottish Shop’! There is a petrol station within walking distance though carrying a full Jerry Can back will certainly work those arm muscles!

Rothesay Castle is situated in the heart of the town. The ruins date back to the early 13th century and is said to be Scotland’s only circular castle. Other attractions within the town include the esplanade gardens, the Isle of Bute Discover Centre and Bute Museum.

Back on board we enjoyed a peaceful evening with a beautiful sunset. We were very well protected from the north westerly wind though you do get a small bit of wake from the ferry, but nothing too uncomfortable. Overall a very pleasant little anchorage.