Isle of Man Yacht Sailing Charter, Skippered Charter and Sailing Yacht Cruises to Northern Ireland and the Scotland Whisky Distillery Cruises. Join us on a days experience sail to get close to the wildlife, a yacht sailing cruise to Northern Ireland and back weekend, or a one-way week long trip to Scotland stopping at a variety of ports along the way flying back from a Scottish airport!
Peel Yacht Marina – Isle of Man Sailing Base:
Our Isle of Man Yacht Sailing Cruises and Trips (suitable for all levels) start on the beautiful west coast from our base in Peel Harbour Marina overlooking the historic Peel Castle with seals popping up in the harbour next to the boats – and sometimes even the Isle of Man’s resident ‘solitary’ mother and daughter bottlenose dolphins Moonlight and Starlight!
Swim from the beach right next to the harbour – in crystal clear waters. The marina is right in the heart of the small picturesque town served with local pubs, restaurants, shops, historic sites and fantastic walks. It has the most amazing interactive museum House of Manannan right on the doorstep literally meters from the boats.
A local Tesco store makes provisioning easy.
The Isle of Man:
Known as ‘Our Ordinary – Your Extraordinary’. A real favourite of the Yachtforce Team!
Situated in the middle of the Irish Sea, 29 miles from Ireland, 16 miles from Scotland and 27 miles from Cumbria it is 33 miles long and 12 miles wide the Isle of Man is perhaps best known for the motorbike TT Road Races. However, it boasts fantastic scenery, stunning cliff, glen or hill walks, great beaches, incredible marine wildlife with seals, whales, dolphins and basking sharks, cracking seafood right off the boats and people that just love to chat. It has the longest running parliament in the world and is a Crown Dependency which is separate from the UK. The Island has its own laws and money (you can use UK pounds 1:1 on the IOM but will get IOM currency in change that you cannot use in UK).
It may seem about 50 years behind the rest of the world with its relaxed atmosphere and extremely safe rural environment. It has an extremely supportive local community where people go out of their way to help and that is really its charm.
Isle of Man Airport: 12 miles (23 mins) away from Peel marina, 3 minutes from Castletown and 20 minutes from the Capital, Douglas. Easyjet (Gatwick, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast) Loganair (Birmingham, London City, Heathrow, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh) Aer Lingus (Dublin)
Ferry Travel – (Sailings 2-4 per day)
Liverpool – Douglas 2.5hrs
Heysham – Douglas 3hr 45min
Isle of Man Transport: Taxi is fastest transport to the marina from the airport or a bus is available via Douglas and buses are available Island wide. There is a Victorian Steam Railway that has regular trains from the South of the Island to Douglas and Douglas to Ramsey can be taken aboard a Victorian electric tram. The electric tram also climbs to the summit of the Snaefell Mountain (2,036 feet) – On a clear day you can see seven Kingdoms from its top: The Isle of Man, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Kingdoms of Neptune and Heaven! There are Victorian horse drawn trams that operate along the Promenade in Douglas.
Wildlife: A variety of dolphins and cetaceans are regularly seen all around the area and Orcas are frequently seen near Arran in the Firth of Clyde. Yachtforce staff spotted a sunfish off the Calf of Man last year, which is a rare occurrence. Seals are in abundance in many locations around the Isle of Man and can be quite cheeky with it too if you are out fishing! They will quite gladly try to pinch your catch. August is the basking shark season and these magnificent animals grow to 8 metres in length often to be seen feeding on the surface in settled weather hoovering up the plankton. They are the worlds second largest fish! Sightings used to be common in the Isle of Man but these incredible fish have tended to move further North to Scotland as the sea temperatures and plankton blooms change.
The sea bird life is just fantastic with the cliff nesting at the beginning of March. You will see guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes at Sugar Loaf and a small colony of puffins around Peel Hill, while black guillemots nest in Peel harbour wall. Gannets dive from fantastic heights to feed and shags dry their wings whilst stood on rocks. There is a thriving breeding population of the rare chough, which can be seen on almost any visit to the coast along with their acrobatic and noisy diving and swooping!
Seafood: If you love seafood then there is fresh seafood in abundance on the Isle of Man! Lobsters, Queenies (Queen scallops) King Scallops, Crab and fresh fish all locally caught and often served in quayside kiosks! Local fish and chip shops serve locally caught produce and even serve scallops! Local fish is often caught as bycatch but can be found fresh on the fishmongers slabs. If we are out fishing we may catch as many as 6 different species in one session. Join Us on a Sailing Holiday from the beautiful Isle of Man.
For More Information or To Book Sailing:
Email info@yachtforce.co.uk Tel: 02380016450 – Main Information line (answered in the IOM)