Sailing
Since the end of the last ice age sailors have plied the waters around Scotland's long coastline and into the firths (estuaries), kyles (narrows) and sea-lochs (fjords).
Steamships
In 1811 a Helensburgh engineer, Henry Bell commissioned a 45 feet long wooden paddle ship from the Port Glasgow shipbuilder, John Wood. Bell was convinced the steam engine, invented by James Watt from Wood's neighbouring town of Greenock, could he used to propel ships. Bell, who was helping his wife to run a hydropathic hotel in Helensburgh, named his vessel the P.S. Comet. He must have studied the experiments of William Symington who, between 1788 and 1803, perfected the world's first commercial steamship, the Charlotte Dundas, which plied the Forth and Clyde canal.
The Comet ran for passengers between Glasgow, Greenock and Helensburgh but it was too small to be commercially viable. By the time Bell lengthened it by 20 feet, more astute businessmen had moved in and, within a few years, he had more than 20 competitors. Pleasure steamers became increasingly popular on the Clyde until the middle of the 20th c. when cheap foreign holidays replaced sails "doon the watter".
The illustration above, contemporary with Bell's Comet, is from an unpublished little book of poems, perhaps by a Helensburgh resident, which shows a rowing boat, yacht and large sailing vessel probably in the Firth of Clyde. The distinctive mansion is unidentified.
Sailing today
With the demise of heavy industry including shipbuilding, the Clyde is less crowded than it has been for hundreds of years. The sheltered waters are now enjoyed by sailors either with their own yachts or on special chartered cruises. The world's last sea-going paddle steamer the Waverley, still sails out of Glasgow in the summer months.
The more challenging waters of the Inner and Outer Hebrides are easily reached through the Crinan Canal in Argyllshire. Further information from: http://www.sailscotland.co.uk/
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