Ullapool
At a Glance
Contacts
Harbour Master VHF #14, tel 01854 612724, mob 07734 004843.
There has been some sort of settlement here since before the annals of time. Throughout the middle ages it was squabbled over by the Mackenzies and the Macleods but that was sorted by a marriage. It had been a landing point for fishing until it was taken over by the British Fishery Society in 1788 when they really started to organise the village and develop the pier. It eventually became the place for the annual herring fishing to start. Boats came round from the East Coast and Ireland and their women folk came with them to gut fish on the dockside, starting here and following the herring right round Cape Wrath to Whitby in North Yorkshire and Yarmouth in East Anglia.
Over the years the herring became over fished and mackerel gained
in popularity; there was a period during the latter part of the
20th Century when Loch Broom was home to a veritable fleet of
foreign factory ships who would process any fish that were
available and ship them home to their own countries but even that
has died away. There are still fish landed here but they are mainly
crustaceans and some white fish within strict quotas. There is no
processing here, everything is landed in ice and transported away
by road.
The village has been built on a shingle delta at the mouth of the Ullapool River which forms a sheltered anchorage on its South Eastern side. A pier and Roro ferry terminal have been built and the rest of the little bay is given over to moorings for leisure craft. There is a small pontoon on the inside of the pier but this is for landing and boarding only, you can't tie up there for the night.
Tourism has taken over from fishing as the main industry here, there are still catches landed here but the Cal-Mac ferry is arguably the main user of the pier now and yachties land by dinghy at the small slip by the Gleaners Petrol Station on the shore.
The Ullapool website is at http://www.ullapool-harbour.co.uk/
Ullapool
Approach
The approach to Ullapool is simplicity itself. One just follows Loch broom in from the open sea into the narrows before the harbour.
If coming from the North, the scenic route is well recommended.
Come down inside the Summer Isles (a lovely place to stop, but the
small bay at the NW end of Tanera More is preferable to the bay on
the East side) Then shape a course for Horse Sound and pass between
Rubha Dubh Ard and Mary Rock. You then have the choice of going
inside or outside Isle Martin; we took the inside course but
without the GPS would have been stuck to find the deep between the
island and the mainland. Try as we could we couldn't make out any
"streak" darker than the rest (see AC 2500-0)!!!
If you are coming round from Loch Ewe watch out for that off shore
rock at the top end of the peninsula between Loch Broom and Little
Loch Broom; otherwise it's quite safe.
In the final approach up Loch Broom aim to leave the red PHM off Ullapool Point just to starboard and that way you'll be out of the way of any trawlers or ferries coming out from behind Ullapool at the last moment.
The moorings at Ullapool are out of sight as you approach but they do come into sight as you pass the point and can turn in towards them.
£ GMT
Waypoint
Charts
Rules & Regs
Hazards
Tides
Berthing
There are plenty of well maintained blue moorings for visitors at the west side of the trots which become obvious as you pass the pier.
They are laid out between the 5 and 10 metre contours so there is plenty of water. One thing you will find is that the end of the mooring line has a very heavy, lead dead eye (see our picture in the gallery) and it will take a good pull to get it aboard even in still wind conditions; aim to pick it up from the lea side of the bow (if anything) so that, if drifting,you are drifting down onto it, not away from it. Single handed it was not the "walk in the park" that it normally is. They are charging £13 per night irrespective of boat length.(2022)
There is a slip near the garage opposite the mooring trots where you can land your dinghy (don't forget to move the dinghy up the slip above the water line as it becomes submerged at HW)
If you prefer to anchor away from the hustle of the town's there are plenty of places to anchor in Loch Broom but you will need an outboard on your dinghy to get to the town.
Marinas and Mooring
Ullapool Harbour Trust
Harbour Office
The Pier
Ullapool
IV26 2UH
Facilities
Obviously there are no facilities at the buoys but diesel fuel
can be bunkered at the pier and if you have a lot of shopping you
can, by arrangement with the HM, drop alongside the pontoon to load
it (and, if needed, petrol). The Gleaner's Garage on the shore has
Calor Gas and Camping Gaz (at Lowland prices!!)
Showers can be found in the refurbished block in the ferry car park
or at the Leisure Centre.
There is a marine electronics place in the trading estate opposite
Tesco but no chandlers.
Victualing is not a problem; the large Tesco not far from the shore line
What to Do
There plenty of places to eat and watering holes to choose
from.
There are loads of souvenir shops but if it's tweed you're after
wait until you get to Stornoway.
History
Local Business
Marine-Electrics
Watt Marine Ltd
10 Latherton Centre
Ullapool
Ullapool
IV26 2XB
Uncategorised
Viking Boats of Ullapool
Burnside
80 Strathkanaird
Ullapool
IV26 2TP
Ullapool Harbour Trust
Harbour Office
The Pier
Ullapool
IV26 2UH
Watt Marine Ltd
10 Latherton Centre
Ullapool
Ullapool
IV26 2XB
Tide Information for ullapool
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