The West Coast Clipper

A privately crewed clipper — captain, mate, chef and steward — held for your party alone. Typical voyages run six to eight guests in en-suite cabins, with the saloon and aft deck yours for the week. Larger parties are placed on a second vessel sailing in company.

Five to seven nights, sailing between late April and early October. June and September carry the steadiest light and the calmest water; July and August book earliest and should be secured nine to twelve months ahead.

The captain holds the final call on every passage, and the route is built with alternates at each anchorage. If a crossing to Jura is unwise, the day moves ashore — a distillery visit, a mainland course, or a private house — with no loss of the day and no change to the fee.

Vessel and crew, all meals and provisioning, house wines and a curated spirits list, tenders and transfers ashore, green fees and caddies where booked, distillery appointments, and the concierge who travels with the itinerary. Flights, private aviation, and personal purchases sit outside.

None. Guests sail as guests. Those who wish to take the helm or work a watch are welcome to — the crew will teach you — but nothing is asked of you beyond deciding where to be at dinner.

Islay anchors the whisky days — Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bruichladdich and Bowmore are all within reach of a single anchorage — with Jura, Oban, and the Campbeltown houses added by route. We build the list to your palate rather than to a fixed circuit.

No. Visits are arranged privately and out of public hours where the distillery allows: warehouse tastings drawn straight from the cask, time with the distillery manager, and access to expressions never released beyond the gates.

Yes. Cask-strength hand-fills and single-cask allocations are held for our guests, and we handle export paperwork and shipping to the United States and internationally. Bottles are consolidated at the end of the voyage and dispatched from Glasgow.

Days split cleanly. Sea kayaking, wild-swimming, Hebridean sea-eagle spotting, or a chef-led shellfish landing on the beach run alongside the distillery hours, and everyone rejoins for dinner aboard.

The Machrie on Islay is the spine of the voyage, with Machrihanish, Machrihanish Dunes, and the Isle of Gigha added where the route and the tide allow. The Machrie's tee sheet is narrow in high season, which is why the anchorage is booked before anything else.

We hold them on deposit before the itinerary is confirmed. The Machrie and Machrihanish are the constraint on the calendar — the sailing plan is written around the tee sheet, never the reverse.

Breakfast aboard, tender ashore, and a car waiting at the pontoon. Clubs and shoes are carried up ahead of you and cleaned before they return. Most days finish with a run back to the vessel for a bath and dinner at anchor.

Of course. The vessel remains at anchor with crew and chef aboard, and the concierge arranges shore alternatives — Finlaggan, Kildalton Cross, the Islay Woollen Mill, or simply the deck and a book.

Bring your own and we will collect them at the airport and have them aboard before you are. If you would rather travel light, fitted rental sets from TaylorMade and Titleist are placed in your cabin locker ahead of arrival.