About Us

Carrick Castle Boat Club celebrated 23 years of service to its members on 10th February 2012.

The Carrick Castle Boat Club was initially conceived in 1988 and formally obtained its Mooring Licence No: XX34/343 from The Crown Estate on 10th February 1989. The location of moorings is west of a line approximately Lat 56 deg 08.761' N by 004 deg 53.898' W to 56 deg 06.229' N by 004 53.913’ W. Roughly, this line is just north of Ardnahein to the north of Jenny's Bay, in Carrick Castle, Argyll, Scotland.

The maximum number of moorings currently allowed by The Scottish Executive and The Crown Estate in our area is fifty three (53). We currently have forty (40) licensed moorings including two (2) visitors' moorings (Visitor's Mooring No 1 in approximate position 56 deg 06.688' N 004 deg 54.378' W and Visitor's Mooring No 2 in approximate position 56 deg 06.710 N 004 deg 54.396' W) owned by thirty three (33) members and the club.

The main reason for the initial formation of the Carrick Castle Boat Club was to save its members money in mooring fees. A single mooring now costs £80.00 per annum, whereas club members pay just £40.00 per annum for each mooring. This is a very good reason to be a member of the club! The club membership fee for 2012 is £15.00 per annum for family membership, regardless of however many moorings are owned. See the Membership page for full membership details.

The moorings in Carrick Castle now come under the Coast Protection Act 1949 (Section 34): Moorings as amended by Section 36 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 under the control of The Scottish Government. The full approval for the Carrick Castle Boat Club can be downloaded here and is valid until 19th March 2013 when it must be renewed. The Clyde area has only recently since 2007 been subject to Section 34 that has previously applied to the rest of Scotland.

Members should read the documents in the Membership, Club Constitution and Moorings Regulations sections of this web site, as there have been many changes, least of which is, members must have their moorings laid safely and within new timescales, be serviced regularly and further they must keep a vessel insured (minimum third party cover) on a mooring. The Crown Estate will not allow moorings to be unused when there is a shortage of available moorings now in Scotland.

The committee has expanded the interests of the club with the occasional meeting and social event. Over the last few years, the club has organised talks at the annual general meetings that have included P J Korbel, The Crown Estate Marine Officer on the role of The Crown Estate; Jack Lavender on Viking, a 45 ft wooden motor launch's last voyage from Carrick Castle to Kip Marina; Willie Melville of the RNLI gave an interesting talk on the work of the RNLI with a film show and Andy Sayers, a pilot with SAS, gave a talk on the Scottish Air Ambulance Service. Details of these can be found by going to the Minutes of Meetings.

The club made a positive step in 2004 to have group mooring inspections carried out for members' moorings at reduced costs. The first group inspection was carried out in August 2004 and about 50% of members took up the offer. The 2005 inspections were in March and April 2005 when 65% of the moorings were professionally group inspected. In March 2006, only 29% of moorings were group inspected. In 2007, with greater liability placed upon mooring owners, 70% of moorings were serviced safeguarding own boats and avoiding endangering others with the consequential risk of litigation. The good news continued with 72% of moorings being serviced in 2008 and in 2009 81% of moorings were serviced in the scheme. In May & June 2010, the servicing of moorings achieved a record 83% being serviced, may this sensible trend continue. Over 85% of the club's moorings were serviced in the spring of 2011. Group mooring inspections save individual members £10.00 per service if otherwise serviced outwith the group mooring scheme.

The club has held musters and barbecues on the beach in Swine's Hole, Carrick Castle every year since 2004. A repeat muster was held last year on 14th August 2011 in Swine's Hole, Carrick Castle with another barbecue on the beach. Check the gallery for photos of all these events...

Any news, stories or photos from members for inclusion in the web site would be very welcome.