Who are we? And what about you?
Neil Brown and Jenny Norris have owned Fidelio since 2012, having bought her as a family boat for adventure sailing. Neil started sailing in 1980, and gained his Yachtmaster Offshore qualification a couple of years late. A few years on, he met Jenny, who had never sailed before, when a mutual friend brought her on a weekend trip - all of 20 miles - from Brighton to Littlehampton.
A few years later our son had his first sailing trip at 4 weeks old, was taken across the English Channel at 6 weeks, then along the North Spanish coast at 3 months old, with his carrycot swaying around, slung from the roof of the cabin. Both our daughters became very keen sailors, building up their qualifications and experience through OYT (Ocean Youth Trust) Scotland.
During the 1980s and 90s, we owned 1% (as part of a large syndicate) of a lovely pre-war 57 foot wooden yacht, and sailed many of the waters around Europe on her.
We now live near Oban, so can meet you for handovers, and readily attend if any issues arise during your cruise. We have also built up a good network of contacts to support us if needed.
We previously chartered out Fidelio through an agency, but were finding that many of our charterers (and, increasingly, repeat charterers) were specifically looking for the Ovni in the fleet: this is why we have now set up on our own.
However, because of the type of boat she is, we have to charge a slightly higher charter fee than for equivalent-size boats (though much less difference than the difference in market value to buy such a boat).
Life Aboard
Whilst we (and most of our guests) find her very comfortable to live on, please be aware that the internal space and stowage areas are slightly smaller than some other boats of the same length, and you may find higher quality joinery on other boats.
In particular, there is only one toilet, and both heads (washroom) compartments are quite small.
Go where the wind blows
With our apologies for the clichéed phrase, we warmly welcome you onboard with the gentle reminder that a holiday on Fidelio is an invitation to go with the wind and the tides rather than with a schedule and a clock. Whilst we fully appreciate that you will have places you want to see, we have found that those groups who come with a guideline plan and an open mind tend to enjoy Fidelio the most (typically more than those who come with a specific schedule of places to visit and limited flexibility to amend it). Constantly thrashing the engine against the tides and the wind in order to make it "on time" to a specific place is no way to best enjoy the characteristics of Fidelio or the western Scottish coastline.
This said, if you do have a tighter schedule and less flexibility, we are happy to point you to other boat owners we know whose boats you might find more comfortable to live on. One boat owner we know has a very comfortable small yacht with a fully enclosed wheelhouse; other boats in the area are conventional GRP boats maintained to a high standard that you might find to be more spacious inside.
We most enthusiastically welcome onboard people who first watch which way the wind blows (and is forecast to blow) and amend their plans to suit, all the while enjoying the serendipity, adventure and exploration that the Scottish west coast and islands offer.
As an example, we took Fidelio around Mull in September 2023. The first evening we had a lovely peaceful sail with the spinnaker drawing beautifully before going ashore to explore the uninhabited yet historic Garvellach islands. The next day, from Iona northward we broad-reached at a steady 8-9 knots, touching 11 knots, followed by a beat whilst a full gale was building. Yet always, we had an enormous sense of safety from the boat.
If this whets your appetite, please get in touch or book now.
Requirements
Please note that like all charter boats, we are required by our insurers and coding (and our own peace of mind) for the skipper and mate to have minimum qualifications or high levels of experience: we ask that the skipper has RYA Coastal Skipper as a minimum, preferably RYA Yachtmaster Offshore, and the mate RYA Day Skipper as a minimum.
But if your experience is equivalent to this, or you have overseas qualifications, please get in touch and we can discuss. For visiting St Kilda, we require at least 2 people to have RYA Coastal Skipper or higher as a minimum, as well as our agreement for the visit.
We also require that at least one person on board holds a current VHF radio certificate.