Although Loch Craignish is an attractive place for daysailing, it is not so good a base for passage making in open boats. The tides run strongly in the mouth of the loch; and even a Force 6 south’westerly, if blowing against the ebb, kicks up the sort of sea that I prefer to admire from ashore.

For people willing to restrict their horizons, the loch itself has much to offer, as it contains six sizeable islands (not to mention a larger number of islets) to land on or sail around. Here dinghy sailors can show a bit of one-upmanship by exploring several channels which the Clyde Cruising Club, with keelboats in mind, declares to be un-navigable. The scenery is magnificent, consisting largely of hills which are splendidly rugged, even if not so high as those further north. Of course, these surroundings create squalls on the loch in winds from almost everywhere except south-west, but anyone with experience of Windermere will be able to cope. I sailed a National 12 there when over 60 years of age and lived to sail again.

Anyone looking at the map (Landranger sheet 55) could be forgiven for thinking that there must be any number of places where you could launch a dinghy on to Loch Craignish, as the road runs close to the northwest shore for three to four miles. This impression is misleading. The verges of the road are steep and the shore is mainly rough. For these reasons there is nowhere to park, and it is an unforgivable sin to obstruct these single‑track Scottish roads.

There is a public ramp running down on to a shingle beach about a quarter of a mile north‑east of Ardfern Yacht Centre, which is labelled ‘Pier’ on the map, but beware! The bottom of the ramp drops at least 6 inches vertically on to the beach just above the high tide mark, and I have seen people struggling mightily to haul their boats up it. Furthermore, there is room to park only one car with trailer at the top of the ramp. You will have to go elsewhere if someone beats you to it.

At Corranmore, a mile southwest of Ardfern, there is a delightful B&B (Mrs Thorgrimsson 01852 500255) where we have stayed several times. There is a rough track across the foreshore leaving the road near her gate. If you stayed with her, you could use her parking space, and you MIGHT be able to trolley a light boat down the track, but I have not done this. I suspect that the beach below the high tide mark is soft mud.

All in all, my advice is to do what we do and launch at Ardfern Yacht Centre (01852 500247) which is mentioned in ‘Where to launch around the coast’. Their ramp is excellent, except at low spring tides, and is regularly used by a friend of ours to launch and recover a Westerly Nimrod, which is not the lightest of boats. While their prices look high, they include parking for car and trailer and use of toilet facilities, neither of which is otherwise available in Ardfern except to patrons of the hostelries. I am as keen as the next man to look for the lowest cost option, but in this case I think the money is well spent.