Provide Visitors Moorings in Lamlash Bay

My name is David Millar and I am the President and Treasurer of Lamlash Moorings Association.

Lamlash Visitors Moorings (separate from Lamlash Members Moorings) was run by a local man until he retired last year. The lack of investment laterally meant the remaining visitors moorings were not fit for purpose so have been removed. This means that in one of the best and most sheltered sites on the Firth of Clyde there are no places for visiting craft to come to.

This will not only have a detrimental affect on the local economy including shops, bars, restaurants, cafes and other retail outlets, but will also mean that youth organisations, sailing groups and those physically disadvantaged, will not have a “safe heaven’ to moor in and come ashore.

Therefore I have taken upon myself as the President and Treasurer of Lamlash Members Moorings Association to try to reinstate up to the original 20 visitors moorings that Lamlash has had in the past thus addressing the shortcomings no visitors moorings will have.

I have managed to employ the services of a local commercial diver who has had an initial investigation of what is left of the moorings buoys, now on shore, as well as the remains of the ground chain, and has estimated that between chain, rope, new mooring buoys with pickups and diving to install them, we will need approx. £2200 per mooring, a total cost of £44000 if we want to install all 20.

My initial thoughts are that if we can raise enough funds to install 10 then that’s at least a start and better than we currently have. There will be an overnight cost to moor of £18 which is a typical fee on the West Coast, which will go towards installing other moorings and ongoing maintenance.

Fingers crossed we will again be able to receive "water visitors" to our stunning Island in the not too distant future. Please give anything you can no matter how small and accept my grateful thanks for donating.