The Puffer VIC 32 will be taking people out on hourly boat trips from the pier in Crinan for the duration of the festival. It is first come first serve with a limited number of people per trip. All you have to do is wander down there, have a word with the skipper, step aboard and off you go. The highland games, including golf driving range, haggis hurling, row boat tug of war, row boat races, Tunnocks Challenge and more are all open to participantsand the public free of charge. 

For your boat :
Useful charts and books for the Crinan area:
Imray Charts: C64 Belfast Lough to Lough Foyle and Crinan
Imray Charts: C65 Crinan to Mallaig and Barra
Imray Books: The Yachtsman’s Pilot, Clyde to Colonsay
Imray Books: The Yachtsman’s Pilot, Isle of Mull and Adjacent Coasts
Clyde Cruising Club Book: Kintyre to Ardnamurchan
Admiralty Charts: Numbers 2320, 2326, 2397, 2343, 2386, 2396.

The books and charts listed cover the area of Crinan to the north, south and west. All of the above, tide books and more can be found and bought at the Crinan Boat Yard shop. Advanced orders are welcome. The shop also has a small selection of food, milk, par-baked bread and other basics. The shop will stock local Barbreck Farm vacuum packed meat during the festival.
Crinan Boatyard is the only haul out facility and repair service in Crinan. There are a host of skilled staff including, shipwrights, engineers, painters, electricians, all one would need in preparation for a cruise on the west coast.
There will be space available to store any dinghy entries and their trailers at the foot of the slip in the boatyard. There are brand new showering and do it yourself laundry facilities in the boatyard.

For yourself:
Lochgilphead is 9 miles away and is the nearest town with any sort of a supermarket - Co-op and Tesco, bank, post office, petrol station and other shops. One can drive, cycle, taxi or bus to Lochgilphead. We can only recommend that it is best to come to Crinan with your essentials.

The local Barbreck Farm meat van will drive by the festival. They cannot carry enough stock for everyone, however what they do have is very tasty! Barbreck Farm will also have a stock of sausages, burgers, blackpudding in the Crinan Boatyard shop. There will possibly be other local producers with produce for sale in the shop.

Crinan is still the home port of a few fishing boats, nothing like the fleet of yesteryear. One can always ask to buy fresh off the boat.

The Crinan Hotel and Coffee Shop are right in the centre of the village. In the hotel there are a couple of bars and restaurants. Rooms are also available. Food available to purchase throughout the festival as follows: breakfasts in the Coffee Shop and BBQ on the patio, lunch & Bar Meals in the Mainbrace Bar and the BBQ on the hotel patio, dinner from the Westward dining room and the BBQ. The BBQ will be open almost all day for the length of the festival, again available for breafast, lunch and dinner. Your Social Programme on registration will give you the times available for all the different locations.

What’s to be found, or not, when you have a run ashore…?
Mobile phone service: this is getting better but do not count on it.
Public phone box: one.
Public Loo: yes.
Bus Stop: one.
Regularity of the buses: not very.
Bed & Breakfasts: a few.
Self Catering: a few.
Artists: a few.
Taxidermist: one.
Tourists: that’s you and normally a few others.
Farmers: one.
Highland Cows: more than there are people.
Fishermen: a few.
Boat Charters: this is possible.

For more information of what is available in the Crinan area, please check the Links page of our website or contact us.