Scottish anchorages

Ganavan beach seems to be a magnet for folk who sit in their cars and watch the sea, or take their dogs for a walk (dogs not, repeat not, allowed on the beach itself - proclaims a stern sign). The bay is an anchorage of sorts but I have never anchored there or ever seen any other boats anchored there – it is too exposed to the west, and there are far handier places nearby. And although this must be OK as a town beach and very clean, it is hardly worth the bother for anyone with a boat who can get to far nicer places. Actually I am not so sure it is so OK now. Since I first wrote this page a developer has started sprinkling really horrible glaring white houses around on the larger - more northerly - of the two beaches. They look awful and seem to have almost no gardens. The memorial to coastal command in the 2nd World War has been almost pushed into the sea by this dire creeping development. Then in January 2011, to add climatic insult to architectural injury, most of the sand got washed away by a major storm. Don't go there!

The rather nicer, smaller and southern beach has some historical interest (so-called Little Ganavan beach). Like many other places along this coast there was a lot of activity during the 2nd World War - an anti-submarine indicator loop ran from here along the seabed to Craignure on Mull. The idea was that enemy submarines passing over it induced a current which could be picked up on the shore. A few concrete huts from that period are still there, one of which can be seen from the sea just south of the main beach.