Sail Britain

We have a last minute place available on our Muir is Tir residency in June. The residency explores the language, folklore and seafaring traditions of the Outer Hebrides.

If you've been wanting to take part in our residency programme, but missed the application deadline, this is your chance! Drop us a DM with some info on yourself and your work, or via the webpage here, which has all the info.

www.sailbritain.org/muir-is-tir-residency

Starting and ending in Stornoway, 13th - 19th June

We are having an exhibition!! Edinburgh, 1st- 3rd May

'Following Seas', our 2026 Exhibition, is a celebration of the Scottish seas and islands by artists who have sailed aboard Merlin with Sail Britain.

The Sail Britain residency programme has been running since 2015, pioneering sailing as a creative practice, and celebrating our ocean and coastlines from interdisciplinary perspectives.

Following Seas brings together works by artists in residence over the last two years in all their diversity and creativity, from film to photography, and painting to poetry. Though learning to sail as a crew is a shared endeavour of a very intimate kind, these works represent the individual responses of the participating artists to a common experience.

Patriothall gallery, Wasps studios, EH3 5AY

FREE ENTRY - Donations Optional

Opening Times:
Saturday 2nd May - 10am - 5pm
Sunday 3rd May - 10am - 5pm

See you there!

Updating our navigational charts is one of the most important jobs before we can set sail. Having the right information about dangers at sea, rocks, depths, navigation marks, is vital to keeping sailors safe.

Our precious charts are annotated with all the up-to-date info with a special purple pen. Thank you Imray for continuing to support this vital process through your updates 🙏

If you would like to know more about how we navigate, and perhaps get involved yourself, we're very happy to let you have a go at plotting positions or courses to steer when you're with us on Merlin!

A place has just become available on the Wild Islands Residency this June! Due to the short notice, all suitable expressions of interest will be considered, please send us a DM!

This residency is an opportunity to explore how we define ‘wild places’, our preconceptions of seemingly remote landscapes, and how we as humans fit into these stories. We’ll be investigating these ideas in the context of the Hebrides through the local folklore, geography and history, whilst considering what this all means in the larger story of the global climate crisis.

Our routes for the week this year is from Mallaig to Stornoway, allowing us to visit some of the ‘wilder’ places on the west coast of Scotland, many of which are inaccessible except by boat.

Full info on the programme page of the website. Link in bio

sailbritain.org/wild-islands-residency

We'll be exploring a new cruising ground in May, the Isle of Arran, and the other beautiful islands of the Clyde. This is a different landscape to further north, softer, greener and calmer. And in Springtime one of the best places for foraging!

Foraging has become a bit of a thing since our first week with the wonderful in 2022! It turns out sailing and exploring the seashore and coastal meadows provides an ideal way to find nature's best edibles.

We have added some extra places for our programme in May, and still have a couple available. If you'd like to join us, these are only £895 for the programme which is usually quite a bit more, so if you've been thinking you'd like to come foraging and sailing with us, this is your chance!!

Send us a DM for more info!

Our Spring Coastal Foraging week with the wonderful has always been a huge hit. The seashore in Springtime is so lush with abundant life, much of it edible and highly delicious!

You can still join us but places are limited! 9-16th May around Arran and the Clyde, it will be a grand way to start the season!

We'll be learning about the seaweeds, Coastal greens, herbs and flowers, and cooking up a storm in the galley. This week is catered to a very high standard, so expect to have you taste buds and your eyes wowed by something very special!

Places are very limited so send us a DM for more info asap!

Winter is hard work in the boatyard in Scotland, but keeping Merlin in tip top condition for smooth summer sailing is worth it.

Lots has to happen behind the scenes to make Sail Britain what it is. Here is the 1% that I've actually taken pictures of!

1 - Renewing seals on the seawater pump (ok, this was taken in the spring sunshine!)
2 - removing, inspecting and corrosion-proofing mast fittings
3 - disassembling all the winches for cleaning and servicing (a horrible job, you have to soak and scrub all the bits with a toothbrush in a tray of diesel, but they're super smooth now!)
4 - new upholstery for the saloon seating
5 - me in the depths of the steering compartment right at the back of the boat to check, clean and grease the steering gear (I call this place Hades for a good reason)
5 - keel bolts out for inspection. Lovely and shiny!
6 - taking the mast down. A delicate and terrifying job!
7 - Merlin in her winter berth

Imagine waking up here... The Scottish Isles are so full of secret anchorages and unspoilt beauty. And sailing is by far the best way to explore them!

Our programme is open to all, no experience required, so whether you're a total beginner or a seasoned old salt, there will be something for you.

We set sail in May, kicking off with a wonderful week of sailing and around Arran, and the season runs until September. Spaces are filling up now, so drop us a line or head on over to www.sailbritain.org/programme to learn more.

Join us for the Seabirds week this summer and sail to the Shiant Isles, one of Britain's most spectacular wildlife spots. Sailing brings us up close and personal with the creatures which inhabit the ocean, and being able to get so close to the puffins, razorbills and others without disturbing them is a real treat. These pictures were taken with a long length, nonetheless!

The Shiant Isles are a remote and uninhabited group of islands off Lewis, home to perhaps millions of seabirds. They live on the towering basalt cliffs which provide excellent nesting habitat, and the surrounding waters are teeming with life and food.

It's simply the most incredible place, and perhaps our favourite in all of the Hebrides.

Join us 20 - 26th June from Stornoway. Few places left so drop us a DM if you'd like to know more!

www.sailbritain.org/seabirds

Learning to sail is an exhilarating and empowering experience, and probably unlike anything you have done before. Learning how to read the wind and adjust the sails, the steering and the balance of the boat to make our destination is an art, and everyone gets involved. Merlin is a fabulous boat to sail, but we can't do it without you!

No experience is necessary, we will teach you everything you need to know, and all the equipment to be safe and comfortable at sea is provided. Want to know more about life onboard? Just drop us a DM, it's always nice to say hello!

There is also lots of info on the website. Follow the link in bio or go to www.sailbritain.org/life-onboard

The Creative Ecology Residency, application deadline 31st January!

Creative Ecology invites you into a fluid world – a voyage where we move between land and sea until we stop perceiving a binary.

The sailing boat is our magical vessel that allows us to take a ride into this ever-changing world of the tidal zone: There are barely any ecosystems with such a creative understanding of life.

In rhythm with the tides that suggest another temporality, challenging day and night structures, you will be invited to observe, listen, feel and slowly approach one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on this planet – a multi-species habitat that carries the story of walking, drifting and swimming organisms.

The residency also has a strong focus on community and invites all participants to open up their practice to the human and more than human beings we may encounter.

Week 1 will be facilitated by Seraina Grupp (*1998, CH), a trans-disciplinary artist with a social practice in art and food, and Week 2 by Suzie Cahn, a permaculture practitioner, educator, and socially engaged artist whose work is shaped by long-term relationships with land, sea, and community.

Application deadline 31st January!

Any questions, just drop us a DM!