Isle of Eigg - arriving by boat

Eigg is well worth a visit if you are sailing in the area. Although not as sheltered as Canna harbour, you have the opportunity to re-provision at our well stocked shop, and have a meal ashore at An Laimhrig.

The main anchorage is to the north-east of the pier at Galmisdale point. There is always depth in the channel but the bay to the west mostly dries at spring low tide. There are a few private moorings which leaves limited space for anchoring so a tripping line is not a bad idea. The spring tide sets quite strongly through this channel.

When approaching from the north-east, approach between the two new (and lit) perches, and keep open water between Castle Island and Galmidale point ahead of you. This will keep you in the deepest part of the channel, which is at its shallowest just south of the port hand perch. If you are coming from south, keep clear of the south shore of Castle island, as the reef extends some way offshore. If the wind is in the north to east sector, it is quite safe to anchor in the south bay behind the old pier point.

In calm weather it possible to anchor in Laig Bay on the west side of the island

n.b.

The new ferry terminal at Eigg is now complete. There is now a causeway across the bay at Galmisdale to the skerries on the north side of the bay where the new R0-Ro slipway is sited. There is a 50 metre vertical wall on the inside face of the causeway designed specifically for yachtsmen. This has a firm smooth bottom for drying out, mooring bollards, access ladders, lighting etc.

Approach from the north east leaving the new slipway to port, and pass between the smaller perches to come up to the wall. The depth gauge on the side of the new slipway shows the water depth above chart datum. The depth between the inner perches and at the yacht wall is 1 metre less than this, having been dredged to a (fairly!) precise depth of 1 metre above datum.

We hope this new facility will encourage more yachts to visit our island. There is also plenty of space for bilge keelers to dry out in the inner bay

The tide constant averages about 20 minutes after Oban (5 hours before Dover)

For full details please contact Simon by email