Description
A week of foraging and sailing around the islands and sea lochs of Scotland’s spectacular north-west coast with Oliver Beardon of Sail Britain and Mark Williams of Galloway Wild Foods.
Set sail from Mallaig in 42ft expedition yacht Merlin to explore the coastal foodscapes of Scotland’s wild west coast – journeying, foraging and eating wild foods. This 7 day adventure is suitable for all levels and combinations of sailing and foraging experience.
Dates don’t work? Check out our May Sailing and Foraging Week here.
Exploring coastal foodscapes by yacht
A reel made on our August 2022 Sailing & Foraging Week
Scotland’s coasts are burgeoning with life, and provide diverse habitats for a wide range of delicious, nutritious and medicinal herbs, blossoms, fungi and seaweeds. Mark will guide you through them during our excursions ashore to uninhabited and remote coasts and islands. Back on board you will learn to preserve and prepare what we have found as we make dinner in Merlin’s galley. We will also try our hand at a spot of fishing, learning which species are sustainable and which to avoid and how to prepare and cook them. We will also explore wild shellfish, though they are out of season for eating during the summer months. Where wind and tide allow, our journey will take in remote forests where we might find a good range of fungi, which appear early in the West coast.
A reel made by Marie Vandekerckhove on our August 2025 week
This is a unique opportunity to learn how to sail while also appreciating the surrounding landscape with new eyes – and tastebuds! Mornings and evenings will be spent ashore exploring and foraging, or preparing, preserving and eating our finds on board, with daytime spent harnessing the power of the wind and sailing somewhere new. Sail Britain’s founder Oliver, will be on hand to teach you the ropes and everyone will be involved with the sailing, experiencing the thrill of being at sea, and steering an ocean going yacht through the waves. There is always a lot of laughter on these trips.
The trip is timed to allow us to explore seaweeds, plants and fungi – mushrooms are really kicking off in NW Scotland in early August!
A reel made on our 2024 August Sailing and Foraging Week
Take the helm! You will be an active member of Merlin’s crew during the trip – and even get to take the helm.
On this trip you will be a valued and working member of the crew, contributing to the running of the ship by helping with the sailing, foraging, food prep and keeping things shipshape! Learning to be part of the crew is a hugely rewarding experience, and you will live very well for the week, but if you are looking for round the clock pampering you should probably book a cruise liner!
Full details, answers to frequently asked questions, all enquiries and booking via Sail Britain
Meet your Skipper, Oliver Beardon
Oliver Beardon – your skipper and sailing tutor/guide for the week
Oliver is an environmentalist, sailor and ocean advocate. He founded Sail Britain in 2015 to engage people with the importance of the oceans through sailing. As a close knit social activity, sailing is perfect for this and allows people to see the world differently, learn new skills, and make new friends, all with a close connection to nature.
Merlin – your home and transport for the week
Oliver welcomes people from all backgrounds onto his 42 foot yacht Merlin, and is particularly keen to make sailing more accessible to more people. Oliver facilitates exploring the marine environment from diverse perspectives, from its cultural and historical importance to environmental issues such as marine aquaculture, plastic pollution, climate change, and eroding coastline as well as the cultural importance of our relationship with the sea and the connection between ecological issues and society.
Wild dinner onboard Merlin on our 2022 trip
Meet your foraging guide, Mark Williams
Mark cooking and discussing wild ingredients
Raised on the Island of Arran, Mark is deeply entwined with the coastal foodscapes of Western Scotland where he has worked as a fisherman, chef and wild food educator for over 30 years. Spring 2026 sees the launch of his book, The Coastal Forager, which (along with some mushroom books) serves as the core text for this trip. Under Mark’s guidance, you will learn about what nature provides, how to harvest it responsibly, and how to prepare and eat it. Read more about Mark and Galloway Wild Foods here.
The Coastal Forager covers most of the species we will explore during the week. Order your copy here.
The foraging element of this trip is quite different from what you might experience on a regular guided foraging walk. As we are led by wind and tides our route evolves organically and foraging opportunities are pragmatic and opportunistic. A fine wind in the right direction may mean a full day’s sailing, while calm conditions might mean a whole day ashore exploring. Mark will have an eye out for opportunities, and we’ll adapt our route to take in promising foodscapes. Early August is the beginning of high mushroom season season in the West highlands, so we’ll be landing at some remote forests to explore what’s popping, as well as catching low tides to explore seaweeds and filling the rest of our foraging explorations with wild maritime fruits, herbs and vegetables.
Mark and Oliver, share a passion for connecting with the natural world in ways that are beneficial for physical and mental wellbeing, and the health of the ecosystems of which we are part. We will explore this theme throughout the week through the deep nature connection embodied by foraging and sailing.
Learning to season wild mushrooms with seaweeds on a shore-based campfire cookery excursion
Key information:
- 7 days and 6 nights (Saturday to Friday) sailing around some of Scotland’s most stunning coastline (Departing from and returning to Mallaig)
- Remote islands, mountains, remarkable flora, fauna and seaweeds
- Shore based foraging sessions, and wild food cookery and processing sessions on board
- Fully catered* to a high level using wild ingredients we will gather along the way, plus lots that have been pre-prepared and brought along. All dietary requirements can be catered for.
- Identification, harvesting, medicinal/bushcraft uses and wild cookery of seaweeds, shellfish, coastal plants, and summer fungi with Scotland’s leading foraging guide
- Instruction in sailing and sea craft by highly qualified sailors
- Foraged cocktails, campfire cookery and wild feasting – a chance to fully imbibe a stunning marine landscape
- Suitable for all levels of experience in sailing and/or foraging – including novices
- Comfortable well equipped yacht
- All sailing kit supplied
- Maximum group size on this trip is 6 clients to 2 sailing crew/guides and 1 foraging guide totalling 9 people on a 42ft yacht – so you should be comfortable spending 1 week in close proximity to other people
- Galloway Wild Foods gift vouchers can be used to pay for this event in whole or in part – quote your voucher code when booking with Sail Britain
*By “fully catered’ we mean that you don’t need to bring food, beyond snacks and luxuries that you like. We will have excellent ingredients to cook with. Food prep and cooking are integral parts of the experience, as are clearing up and keeping things shipshape – you will be expected to be a fully active crew member.
Full details, answers to frequently asked questions, all enquiries and booking via Sail Britain
Image ©Oliver Beardon