Easdale RIB Rendezvous, Oban, 30 April/1May

[Tony Hill]

Thanks for all the kind words. We, at Easdale, are pleased you all enjoyed the weekend. We had great fun organising and of course had many laughs throughout the event itself. It is great to meet so many likeminded people.
One of the aims of the event was to demonstrate to a wider population that Easdale is a great centre for RIB cruising. We believe the sheltered harbour is a fantastic asset but if you are unaware of its existence then people just pass it by so we would be grateful if everyone could 'spread the word'

PHOTOS
Tommo (Seabear) who provided the website has kindly offered to put up some galleries of the event so please do send in your photos to

info@easdaleRIBrendezvous.org.uk

As to another event - I am sure this will not be the last one organised at Easdale.

Safe boating

Team - Easdale RIB Rendezvous

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by IBWET

Yip, thanks Tony, great weekend,

Looking forward to the next one.....anyone been to Iona?

Yes ..... Oban, Iona, Staffa, Tobermory and return Oban with a dive and beer in between. May 2008 - very very flat seas !

Fantastic

Jeff

[Puffin]

Tony. Thanks for organising a fantastic weekend. The whole family really enjoyed it. Was good to experience Saturday with the safety net of the company of a few other boats, we certainly intend heading back down the West side of Jura to explore a bit more. The kids are alread planning another Colonsay trip and certainly haven't been put off by being "bounced" all the way there!.

Was also good to meet some kindred spirits and see the faces behind some of the names on here!

Can't wait for next year! (But could you extend your influence on the weather to include a little less wind!! )

Thanks to everyone in the Seafari team.

Paul

[9D280]

Some more pics

This group are from the way out.

[9D280]

...and from the way back.


The last one is the view for about 85% of the leg to the Corry-v, by when the camera battery had expired, so no pics of that.

As most are 2Meg -ish, and shrunk for on here, PM me if you want a decent copy.

Again, brilliant weekend, thanks to Tony & the team, & Kev for giving me a seat at short notice.

[two stroke mick]

I am wondering what was the smallest rig there. How were the seas. The west coast of Ireland looked snarley in spots

TSM

[9D280]

Three 4m boats - A Humber, a Zodiac and an SR4. You can play "spot the searider" in the harbour pics!

[Tony Hill]

Easdale RIB Rendezvous
We are unsure of exactly how many RIBs turned up but there were over forty. Whilst many travelled just for the event others came to the area for the week and stayed prior/over.
Saturday – Despite the forecast the wind turned out to be Easterly (as predicted) but Force 6 – not a great wind for Scalasaig. Thirty three RIBs made the 25 nm passage to Colonsay and literally surfed into the harbour. The smallest RIBs being 3 at 4.0m. The wind curtailed many who had intended to visit Oronsay or circumnavigate the island. Legs or bikes were the alternative modes of transport. Gavin and his team at The Pantry acted as hosts/basecamp. Some RIBs passaged as far as The Garvellachs and decided not to make the open sea passage to Colonsay, Others took the decision before departing Easdale but such is the cruising ground available sufficient alternatives were easily found. Despite the weather forecast predicting Force 2 or 3 from 1500 the wind was Force 4 to 5 on the nose for the return leg from Colonsay. RIBs were ‘grouped again for the passage back to Easdale or further afield. Those staying at locally near Easdale enjoyed a splendid BBQ of local fayre at The Puffer Bar adjacent to Easdale’s harbour.
Sunday continued where Saturday ended, clear blue skies but wind at Force 4. The main group headed down to The Gulf of Corryvreckan where sights such as golden eagle and white tailed sea eagle were enjoyed. The Corryvreckan Whirlpool was doing its stuff with a 2.0m tide range. This proved sufficient to make the waters interesting without being overwhelming. Other groups travelled as far afield as Tobermory (Mull) or circumnavigated the Isle of Lismore stopping at The Pier House Hotel for lunch

The event was well supported by RIBs. The local population also enjoyed the weekend

Please keep sending pics to info@easdaleRIBrendezvous.org.uk

Pic - RIBs surfing into Scalasaig Harbour, Colonsay

[spartan]

Many thanks to Tony ,Jess and crew for a great weekend. The weekend was a great success in spite of the easterly wind. Colonsay was stunning and we enjoyed a picnic at Fladda on Sunday. The kids say it was the best weekend ever!!! What a lovely atmosphere throughout the weekend. Hope to see everyone next year.

[mitchc]

Tony and the team,
Echo everything already said, a great day and really well organised. Shame it was a bit lumpy on the Saturday. Thanks for taking the time to plan it all.
Sorry we didn't make it on the Sunday, we'd had such a good week thanks to your excellent local knowledge, we decided to start getting ready for the 550 mile drive home on Monday.
We covered just over 450nm in the week and are already planning a return trip next year!

If anyone is visiting the east/south coast from t'up north and needs any info on the area give me a shout.

See you on the sea,
Mitch and Hazel
Kestrel

[JuliaH]

We are great fans of this area and have visited it many times over the last 20 years. We were up for 11 days on this trip and thanks to the fantastic weather, as well as the weekend cruises, we visited Mull, Iona, Staffa (Fingal's Cave), Treshnish Isles, Rhum, Eigg, Muck, Coll, Tiree, Ghiga, Jura, Scarba, as well as playing in Corry most days. 600 miles in total!!!! We saw Golden and Sea Eagles, porpoises, seals, puffins and numerous other birds (and a ship wreck). There's plenty of exploring to do on the land as well in this beautiful corner of Scotland.

Thanks to Tony, Jess and the crew for organising the weekend, and to Keren, Steve and Trish for keeping us so well fed and watered.

We will definitely be back.