How to Visit Scotland's Inner Hebrides-No Sailing Experience Required

"The sea was the dark silvery blue of raw denim, and the wind, for now, seemed settled, unshifting. "Here they come," said Mungo Watson, our boat's skipper, with deadpan calm, hands on the helm. On deck, the crew and I turned to survey the horizon, then gingerly moved toward the bow of the boat and looked down. "No, not porpoises- dolphins," Watson continued. "For some reason, and still nobody really knows why, they absolutely love boats.""

"Eight strangers had climbed aboard Eda Frandsen for a more-or-less unscripted salty-dog sailing adventure around Scotland's Inner Hebrides. Our crew were the boat's recently wed co-owners, Watson and Stella Marina, experienced sailors who bought the 1938 Danish gaff cutter in 2020 and now run trips out of Cornwall and the west coast of Scotland from April to September. Some, such as the nine-night passage from Falmouth to Oban, probably require more sea grit than, say, a slow long-weekend sail along the Cornish coast."

"I was there to get into the hard-to-breach orbit of offshore sailing, a world that has stubbornly few points of entry, except for those who know someone with a boat or have pots of cash. Its reputation for exclusivity doesn't help either. "The elitism in sailing is undeniable," says Marina. "We're absolutely trying to escape that. That's one of the reasons we set up Eda Frandsen: to introduce people to the beauty of being a"

We left Mallaig into soft yellow sunlight with dolphins riding the bow. Eight strangers boarded Eda Frandsen for an unscripted sailing adventure around the Inner Hebrides. The boat is a 1938 Danish gaff cutter bought in 2020 by recently-wed co-owners Mungo Watson and Stella Marina, who run trips from April to September out of Cornwall and the west coast of Scotland. Trips range from gentle weekend sails to demanding nine-night passages, and none require prior sailing experience. The owners aim to counter sailing elitism and introduce newcomers to the beauty of offshore sailing.

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