Jacobiteblog

A Week on Loch Ness: Celebrities, Clubs and Culture

Posted on June 11, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness

What a weekend for RockNess! Glorious sunshine, temperatures hitting the twenties, no rain and Loch Ness full of celebrities from the music world. Reverend and The Makers from Sheffield were spotted getting together after a successful gig at the venue, as well as Norman Cook aka Fat Boy Slim.

Thanks to all who took our advice and came to Loch Ness this weekend and hopefully you enjoyed your Jacobite Cruise and RockNess.

The next big date on our Highland Calendar is The Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Golf Open at Castle Stuart, Inverness.

The dates for your diary are July 11th to 14th so come and see some of the world’s finest golfers before The British Open. Jeev Milkah Singh will be defending the title he won last year. Seemingly the course is in the best ever condition, so it will put all golfers’ skills to the ultimate test. Pack your golf clubs and head north as there are also some excellent golf courses around our area: Royal Dornoch, Nairn, Aviemore and Inverness. We have an excellent municipal course, Torvean, right next to our base at Tomnahurich, so once you have played you can join us for a cruise.

City Sightseeing Inverness

To get to know the area a City Sightseeing Inverness open-top bus tour can also be arranged by either booking on line or why not pop into our office at Inverness Bus Station, where you will also be able to get transport out to Castle Stuart to save taking the car and avoid the stress of parking.

Finally, as our correspondent was telling you last week about the attention Loch Ness receives in the press and TV, we’ve spotted in the newspapers that “NESSIE” is to feature in a spectacular extravaganza in The City of Derry to celebrate the European City of Culture. The event is to involve Saint Columba who has one of the earliest recorded sightings of the lady herself at Loch Ness, St. Columba himself hailing from Ireland.

We might invite the players over to Scotland to do a repeat performance for everybody here at Loch Ness, so that our good friends in Ireland can pay us a visit here in the Scottish Highlands – visitors can access Inverness via direct flights from Belfast.

Find out more about sailing with us Loch Ness at www.jacobite.co.uk or book a City Sightseeing Inverness Bus Tour at www.citysightseeinginverness.com

Posted in Celebreties, Jacobite, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, Scotland, Uncategorized | Tagged city sightseeing inverness, cruises on loch ness, Jacobite Cruises, Rock Ness, Scottish golf open Castle Stuart, Scottish highlands | Leave a comment

Money, Monsters and Marathons on Loch Ness

Posted on June 4, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Jess training for Baxter’s Loch Ness Marathon

What a great week for weather, that mysterious yellow object in the sky was definitely the sun and was also quite warm.

All our visitors who ventured north for the Whitsun break made the right decision and thanks for coming to visit us! A great big thank you especially to all who sailed with us, we hope you enjoyed your Jacobite experience here cruising on Loch Ness. Remember to tell all your friends that this is the place to come for scenery, wildlife, outdoor activities, fishing walking, good local produce and excellent single malt whisky. So get prepared and book up for the next break!

For those who read our blog you will be familiar with all the various quirky things that happen and which are recorded in the press and TV, all about Loch Ness. There is no doubt that this is a very unique stretch of water and its mystery attracts some amazing publicity.

The latest to hit the headlines this week is that our beloved Nessie is a hot favourite in a recent poll to be the new face of Scottish Bank Notes, so there you go, Nessie is “in the money” in more ways than one. We will be keeping an eye on these developments and shall let you know.

The other story to hit the press recently concerned one of the famous “monster hunters,” Frank Searle, who may be more well known for having created more fake pictures of the monster than anybody else. The amazing thing was that he managed to convince the press at the time that they were genuine. Searle’s best fake picture was undertaken by superimposing a picture of a dinosaur from a children’s book on a photo of a part of Loch Ness, it appeared very convincing but some time later on production of the book one could see it was an identical picture to the one that was on Frank’s photo.

Along with all the Nessie sighting pictures we are also approaching the funny season when various people from all over attempt to swim, row, canoe and kayak Loch Ness for charity fund-raising and this year is no different. Here at Jacobite, we wish them all well with their efforts.

If you wish to raise money for your chosen charity may we suggest an entry into The Baxters Loch Ness Marathon which takes place on Sunday 29th September 2013? Check out www.lochnessmarathon.com for more info. This is a great reason to travel with family or friends, test your running skills, and while you run in the marathon, the rest can come cruising with Jacobite and still be back at the finish line; as our base at Tomnahurich is 5 minutes away!

The award winning Loch Ness Marathon takes its route through some of the finest scenery in the Scottish Highlands, so this is worth putting in your diary.

We look forward to sharing smiles on the Loch with you soon! Find out more at www.jacobite.co.uk

Posted in Charity, Jacobite, Jacobite Jess, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, Scotland, Uncategorized, Weather | Tagged Baxters Loch Ness Marathon, Jacobite Cruises, Loch Ness, loch ness cruises, Nessie | Leave a comment

Happy Ness – Rock Ness – Loch Ness

Posted on May 21, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Jacobite Queen on Loch Ness

After a long drawn out winter, all you want to do is get away and do something different and have a bit of fun and a good laugh.

Well guess what ? We have the answer and the solution to your request!

Starting this Thursday 23rd May (so book out a long weekend now!) at The Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, is the Inverness Comedy Festival, appropriately titled “Happyness”.

The festival has a great line up with comedians Fred MacAulay, Dylan Moran, Jenny Eclair, Alan Davies and a favourite comedian, Arthur Smith.The festival runs until Sunday 26th May and there are lots of shows, check it out on The Eden Court website.

After you have recovered between shows our departure berth for the Jacobite Queen is very close to the theatre at Tomnahurich Bridge on the Caledonian Canal, so why not visit http://www.jacobite.co.uk and book a cruise on Loch Ness?

On the 7th, 8th and 9th June, Rockness, one of Scotland’s finest music festivals, comes to the village of Dores on the shores of Loch Ness. Apart from all the bands, DJs and musicians, RockNess also has a comedy festival coinciding with the music. So if you don’t make the first event why not come and visit us in June?

RockNess has an eclectic line up as ever, from Plan B to Madness, from Basement Jaxx to The Alabama Three and special guest FatBoy Slim – definitely a recipe for an amazing three days of festival, and right on the shores of Loch Ness too!

Be bold and take the plunge – book up for both festivals and your trip on the Jacobite Queen on Loch Ness – escape to Loch Ness to beat the winter blues!

Posted in Jacobite, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, Scotland, Uncategorized | Tagged cruises on loch ness, Jacobite Cruises, Loch Ness, RockNess, scotland, travel | Leave a comment

Nessie on the Waves

Posted on May 7, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Sailing Loch Ness in style on the Jacobite Warrior.

This week “Nessie” has been both on the waves and below them!

Our Loch Ness correspondent has been broadcasting recently to New Zealand and Northern Ireland telling them the Loch Ness story, and it’s clear that from these two corners of the world that people are still fascinated with this amazing story about the inhabitant of this loch in the Highlands of Scotland.

On the radio waves “Nessie” featured in three different broadcasts to Northern Ireland organised by VisitScotland to promote the Year of Natural Scotland – what better place but Loch Ness – with its abundance of wildlife including the otter, pine marten, red squirrel, roe deer, red deer, Sika deer and badger; as well as the birds of prey that fly above and around the loch – osprey, red kite, buzzard, hen harrier and sparrow hawk – some great raptor spotting to be had here.

The folks in Northern Ireland love coming to Scotland and the transport links are good. There are direct flights to Inverness from Belfast and great ferry connections to Stranraer, and there are also several flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Our correspondent was speaking on Downtown Radio Belfast on the Siobhan McGarry Show, The John Daly Breakfast Show on U105 and earlier in the week on BBC Radio Foyle. All of the shows went down really well and hopefully it will give visitors in Northern Ireland an appetite for making the trip to Loch Ness to sail with us on this amazing stretch of water. If you missed these shows why not try catching them again on various I-players.

We are always delighted to receive visits from our friends across the water so if you haven’t visited us yet on Loch Ness, instead of listening on the air waves why not come and try the real waves yourself – and book a trip and cruise with Jacobite.

If you see anything unusual, we shall all be waving and celebrating – we’re sure that for those who that can see leprechauns, the Loch Ness Monster will be a picnic!

Sites you may want to visit for more info:

www.jacobite.co.uk
www.visitscotland.com
www.flybe.com
www.stenaline.co.uk

Posted in Jacobite, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, Our Passengers, Scotland, Uncategorized, Wildlife/Nature, Year of Natural Scotland | Tagged cruises on loch ness, Jacobite Cruises, Loch Ness nature, Nessie, Scottish highlands, Year of Natural Scotland 2013 | Leave a comment

A Strange Spectacle On Loch Ness…

Posted on April 30, 2013 by jacobiteblog

View of Loch Ness from Urquhart Castle

A few weeks ago, our local correspondent talked about the sighting of something in Loch Ness by Mrs Aldie Mackay and her husband. That event took place 80 years ago on April 14th, 1933. This story itself was amazing enough, but the real tipping point took place 80 years ago this week, when the story was published in the local newspaper ‘The Inverness Courier’.

The local water bailiff in Fort Augustus, Mr Alex Campbell, was a ‘stringer’ for the Courier; a local correspondent who feeds local news to the paper with the aim of being published. It is unlikely that Alex did not realise what he was going to create when he filed the story of Aldie Mackay’s sighting.

To put everything into perspective, one has to be aware of other triggers that were out there that enabled the public’s imagination to be captured and enthralled by this simple story in a newspaper in the Highlands of Scotland, entitled ‘Strange Spectacle in Loch Ness. What was it?’

It was 1933, the world was at peace after The Great War. It could be argued that people read more, studied more, invented more, they went to the movies and had a thirst for knowledge. Perhaps they were more inquisitive about their presence on the planet. Perhaps the following were the catalysts that projected this article and the story on to the global stage. First, the books, ‘The Land That Time Forgot’ by Edgar Rice Burroughs’; ‘The Lost World’ by Arthur Conan Doyle and the movie ‘King Kong’. These created a demand for stories of creatures unknown to man. Along comes the Inverness Courier with a story of a water creature told by a credible witness, and the rest is history.

So, on May 2nd 2013, many shall be raising a glass to Aldie Mackay, Alex Campbell and The Inverness Courier as the trilogy of characters who unwittingly created one of the world’s greatest mysteries that has contributed to a multi-million pound tourism business in the Highlands of Scotland.

If you would like to know more, why not look for ‘The Encyclopaedia of The Loch Ness Monster’ by Paul Harrison.

Alternatively, plan a weekend or longer on Loch Ness and sail and tour with Jacobite Cruises.

Sail the loch, live the legend. Find out more at www.jacobite.co.uk

Posted in Jacobite, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, News, Scotland, Uncategorized | Tagged cruises on loch ness, Jacobite Cruises, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Monster, Nessie, Scottish highlands | Leave a comment

Looking forward to a ‘Monster’ Spring and Summer with you on Loch Ness!

Posted on April 23, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Jacobite Warrior approaching Urquhart Castle Loch Ness

If you’re planning on sailing with us on Loch Ness as part of your visit to the Scottish Highlands this year, there are plenty of ideas for things to see and do, in this Year of Natural Scotland 2013, particularly in Spring and Summer.

Festivals and events are great reasons for visiting Scotland and here in the Scottish Highlands, we have plenty! You can combine going to a festival with a cruise and tour with us, as well as some walking, outdoor activities, wildlife watching, sightseeing and a great stay in the accommodation of your choice in and around Loch Ness or Inverness.

Watch armoured Knights compete with each other or try your hand at archery in the historic and unique setting of Urquhart Castle for the Grand Tournament of Foote, on Loch Ness, on the 5th and 6th May. Or how about exploring the natural beauty of Glen Affric in the Walking Festival from 24th to 27th May?

Get into some good tunes at the Northern Roots Festival from 31st May – 2nd June and more amazing music beckons with Rock Ness on the shores of Loch Ness at Dores from 7-9th June.

Golf fans will be keen to visit the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart from 11-14th July and many will be looking forward to the delights of Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival on 2nd and 3rd August. You can soak up some Highland heritage at the Glenurquhart Highland Games in Drumnadrochit on the 24th August and embrace Gaelic heritage, music and more at this year’s Blas Festival, from 6-14th September.

One of our favourites, the Baxter’s Loch Ness Marathon comes round again this year on the 29th September 2013 – will you be taking part this year or perhaps just enjoying being a spectator at this incredible event?

There is also a host of local events and activities for wildlife watching, ranger-led programmes and walks –find more on the Events Calendar at visitlochness.com.

Don’t forget to visit us at www.jacobite.co.uk to find out more about our Loch Ness cruises and tours – you can choose from trips ranging from one to six hours, and connect with our coaches from the city of Inverness.

Watch our tour videos, check the weather for your visit, ask questions or chat with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Looking forward to a monster Spring & Summer with you on Loch Ness!

Posted in Jacobite, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, Scotland, Uncategorized, Wildlife/Nature, Year of Natural Scotland | Tagged cruises on loch ness, Inverness, Jacobite Cruises, Scottish highlands, Year of Natural Scotland 2013 | Leave a comment

Jacobite Experience Loch Ness at Visit Scotland Expo 2013

Posted on April 16, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Jacobite Jess at Visit Scotland Expo 2005

Some of the Jacobite team are heading to the Glasgow SECC for our annual attendance at the international travel trade show, Visit Scotland Expo 2013 on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th April.

We enjoy this travel trade show as it gives us a chance to catch up with lots of trade colleagues from Scotland, the UK and across the globe, with visiting agents coming from Europe, the USA, Russia, India, Canada, South America and many more places – there’s a great buzz over two days.

Visit Scotland Expo gives the Jacobite team get a chance to catch up with people we already work with but perhaps don’t get to see very often, so it’s great to be able to speak to our colleagues and contacts in person, whom perhaps we’re usually more used to communicating with by email.

More importantly, Expo gives us the opportunity to make new contacts from across the globe and lets us do what we like doing best: showcasing Loch Ness to the world via our great cruises and tours, and sharing what’s new here – our real passion.

Jacobite Cruises at Visit Scotland Expo

We’ve been attending Visit Scotland Expo for many years now and the photos and the stories we’ve collected over the years would probably make for a few good albums themselves – as you can see, Jacobite Jess has also managed to enjoy a few good shows with us too. The header photo goes way back to our Stand at Expo in Aberdeen in 2005 –our stands may have changed a lot since then but Jess doesn’t look a day older even today!

We’d like to wish all our colleagues and visitors who are going to be at Visit Scotland Expo in Glasgow a very successful show.

Come and say hello to us on Stand D13 or tweet us at @jacobitecruises and use the hashtag #visitscotexpo – we look forward to welcoming you.

Posted in Jacobite, Jacobite Jess, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, News, Scotland, Uncategorized | Tagged Jacobite Cruises, Jacobite Jess, Loch Ness, loch ness cruises, Scotland travel, Visit Scotland Expo 2013 | Leave a comment

The Loch Ness Monster 80 Years On

Posted on April 9, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Photo by Jessica Smedley.

In a recent blog, we referred to a sighting of the Loch Ness monster by Mrs Aldie Mackay; eighty years ago on the 14^th April 1933. With this in mind, this week brings celebrations and discussions to mark that eventful day.

Our correspondent was in Edinburgh last weekend at the Loch Ness Symposium along with many eminent speakers sharing their tales and theories of what Nessie could or couldn’t be. Apparently the jury is still out on that one! However, the event – part of Edinburgh Science Festival – attracted a full house, including journalists, a TV crew from Japan and visitors from all over the globe.

Our correspondent reports that Adrian Shine and Tony Harmsworth, both based at Loch Ness, spoke about the geographical and topographical location and de-bunked many of Robert Rine’s pictures and sonar readings that had been claimed as genuine. Unfortunately, these photos appeared to have been altered to suit what he was trying to prove. It all adds to the story and mystery that is Loch Ness.

Other speakers talked about Loch Ness Films and the influence of these in encouraging people to make the journey north to see for themselves. One talked about a study he is carrying out on eye-witness accounts to see if there are any patterns having been created over the years. Roland Watson offered a history of Waterhorses, Kelpies, and Water Bulls in the context of myth, folklore and legend.

Gordon Rutter, who organised the event with Charles Paxton of St. Andrews University, gave a talk on some of the photographic exhibits proclaiming to be” Nessie”.

In the audience was Stuart Campbell, who has written a number of books on the subject, as well as Steve Feltham, who is in The Guinness Book of Records for having the longest vigil of looking for the monster. Mr Feltham has been living by the lochside at Dores village for over twenty years – watching and watching and watching! He passes the days by making model Nessies in all sorts of guises and sells them to the tourists. They are very well done and make a great souvenir of a visit.

There is likely to be more info on the symposium via the Internet, so if you feel like coming north to Loch Ness, the anniversary date is the 14th April – the birthday of the first sighting of Nessie in modern times.

Or you could jump on a cruise with Jacobite to hunt for the monster yourself – find out more at www.jacobite.co.uk

Posted in Loch Ness, News, Scotland | Tagged Jacobite Cruises, loch ness cruises, Loch Ness Monster, Loch Ness Monster 80 years symposium, Nessie, Scottish highlands | Leave a comment

Easter Sunshine and Soaring Raptors on Loch Ness

Posted on April 3, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Jacobite Warrior on Loch Ness.

Thanks to all you good folks out there who took our advice a few weeks back and booked their Easter break at Loch Ness, you did us proud and the weather over the weekend did you all proud too.

What a fabulous Easter with amazing sunny weather, not a cloud in the sky! And although there were seasonal low temperatures, it was dry and crisp and offered great conditions for ski-ing, hillwalking, cruising on the loch and generally taking in the sights and sounds.We even saw some folks setting up a barbecue by the lochside. Forever optimists, and wrapped up well – the conditions were fine for outside dining.

All our trips and cruises were really busy, and again it was great for those who all booked in advance online; that undoubtedly is the best and easiest way to do it. It also assures you get the cruise you want to fit in with your schedule. To all those who sailed with us over the weekend, we hope you really enjoyed the experience and it was our pleasure to welcome you on board. The loch was really calm and with the glorious sunshine it was definitely one for the memory books.

So all you folks who did not make the Easter trip north – start planning for the May Bank Holiday and we will be ready for you. Get online and book your cruise at www.jacobite.co.uk, or get someone to pick up our new brochure for you or we can send one out if you drop us a line at Tomnahurich Bridge, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness 1V3 5TD.

The new brochure, apart from all the cruises, times and prices, also has some really interesting facts from our very own Jacobite Jess, cousin of Nessie! So look out for them when you get your hands on a copy of our new brochure.

Finally, although the temperatures are low, spring has definitely sprung as the Ospreys have returned to the area.It was with great pleasure that we saw two of them on Easter Sunday flying over the loch. What a great sight! The Red Kites are also venturing more over this way from their nesting area in the Black Isle and they too are an incredible sight of nature.

So in this Year of Natural Scotland, pleased do come and visit Jacobite on Loch Ness – and enjoy our Scottish wildlife at the same time.

Posted in Jacobite, Jacobite Jess, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, Scotland, Uncategorized, Wildlife/Nature, Year of Natural Scotland | Tagged cruises on loch ness, Jacobite Cruises, Loch Ness, loch ness cruises and tours, travel, Year of Natural Scotland 2013 | Leave a comment

Man and Horse, River Monsters and Loch Ness Easter Getaways

Posted on March 18, 2013 by jacobiteblog

Happy Easter from all at Jacobite!

We’re now more than half way through March, folks, and the weather is probably better than seasonal here at Loch Ness. We hope you have all planned your Easter trips: not long now!

As we’ve mentioned before, there is no better place than here in the Scottish Highlands, with accommodation for all pockets, so check out some great deals available. If you do venture North, remember to come and visit us here at Jacobite Experience Loch Ness and take one of our great cruises and tours on the Loch.

For travellers who are looking for a flavour of the Scottish Highlands and Loch Ness, check out SKY TV Channel 191 next Friday at 7.00pm for the programme Highland Showcase. You will see our boats and hear some stories about mysterious Loch Ness and perhaps that will help to make the decision for you!

For those who want to plan further ahead, there is an amazing event taking place on Sunday 21st April on the Southside of the loch: The annual Man versus Horse Challenge, featuring runners and riders tackling a 26Km course through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Highlands, competing for our very own “Jacobite Warrior” Perpetual Trophy.

The race is organised by Candy Cameron, an experienced endurance rider who has set the rules, and Loch Ness Riding. This event is something completely different and extremely challenging for both horses and men and women, and worth putting the date in your diary.

Finally, another TV programme to watch out for to give you a different flavour of the Highlands and Loch Ness is “River Monsters”. This very popular global programme produced by Animal Planet was filmed here at Loch Ness last year and the episode featuring the loch will be shown on May 27th 2013.

The TV programme features the presenter Jeremy Wade going head to head with the monsters of the deep and searching Loch Ness for what must be the most famous monster in the world; as well as a spot on exploring Iceland and Norway.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter from all at Jacobite! Visit us at www.jacobite.co.uk

Posted in Jacobite, Loch Ness, Loch Ness Travel, Our Passengers, Scotland, Uncategorized | Tagged easter breaks loch ness, easter on loch ness, loch ness cruises, man versus horse challenge loch ness, Scottish highlands | Leave a comment