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Solais Na Mara is a wooden ketch (a two masted sailing vessel) and was built in 1953 in the Baltic. She is 23m long and very heavily built of oak on oak to withstand the severe Baltic winters. She is therefore very safe and comfortable at sea and very stable, making her entirely suitable for marine sightseeing. And, no, for those non-sailors among you, she definitely does NOT tip dramatically over to one side when under sail; that’s strictly for the light, high speed racing yachts!

After much debate we renamed her Solais Na Mara (Gaelic for Solace of the Sea). Traditionally, it is considered unlucky to rename a boat but we knew she had already been renamed once in her lifetime, from Milda to Ursula. We wanted her to feel ‘at home’ in our beautiful Scottish waters and were wondering what to do. Little did we know the decision would be made for us by a dolphin! I had better explain … We had collected Ursula (as she was still called) from Latvia in May 2003 and had sailed and motored her through the Baltic and across the North Sea and were heading for the Caledonian Canal at Inverness after a wonderful two week trip. Dawn was breaking behind us as the coast of Scotland came into view ahead when suddenly a dolphin appeared on the port bow, much to our delight. He stayed there for several minutes, keeping pace with the boat, and then moved up to her bow where he rode the bow wave for a full 10 minutes: a thrilling welcome home. He seemed to be ‘guiding’ her in and there was a general feeling of wellbeing about the boat; she felt ‘happy’ to be in Scottish waters. We knew at once we could rename her. She became Solais Na Mara.

Solais Na Mara is now British registered and is fully certificated as a commercial sailing vessel. She has completed a very thorough overhaul and refit and is now an outstanding example of her class. She is licensed to carry up to twelve passengers plus crew. Considering her size and deck area, she could easily accommodate twice as many passengers, but our aim is to provide a comfortable and enjoyable experience for each passenger so there is plenty of space to walk around and take in the views.

Solais na Mara is again this year in the safe hands of skipper Colin Brander and assistant crew member Darren Williams. Colin is originally from the famous sailing port of Salcombe in Devon and,after initially training as a Merchant Navy Deck Officer,spent thirty years crewing large sailing ships including Atlantic crossings and such famous vessels as Hoshi and Provident .

For the last 16 years Colin has been settled in Tobermory sailing the West Coast of Scotland,including his own fishing boat and wildlife charter vessel, and has a huge knowledge of the local area. Colin has a full British Offshore Yachtmaster Certificate.

Darren continues continues for his third year as our deckhand/wildlife guide. After a previous career driving heavy articulated haulage vehicles around the M25 he opted to make a new life out of his passion for wildlife  and Mull.

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