Sandbank, Argyll and Bute

Sandbank is a village on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, 2.5 miles north of Dunoon on the A815. It sits on the southern shore of the Holy Loch, branching off the Firth of Clyde.

Sandbank was the site of the shore facilities of the US Navy submarine base in the Holy Loch from 1961 to 1992. It was, for 30 years, until the end of the cold war, the home port of US Navy SUBRON-14 (Submarine Squadron-14). Nowadays, a part of the old navy complex that was the former location of Morris & Lorimer's boat building yard, is a timber loading berth and marina.

In 1958, the famous Robertson's ship yard in Sandbank, built the America's Cup Challenger 'Sceptre', a 12metre, 17tonne yacht designed by David Boyd. She was unsuccessful in her attempt however, as in September 1958, Sceptre was beaten by 'Columbia' and thus America retained the trophy.Robertson's yard ceased trading in the early 1980's and the site was levelled soon after. The site has been partly consumed by residential building but part also still lies empty and unused.

Sandbank is now the location of The Holy Loch Marina, a successful development with over 200 berths (and growing) available. There is a chandlers and brokerage onsite as well as high-speed adventure rides on the 'River Rocket', a twin engined, 12-seater RIB.

The ongoing expansion of the Holy Loch marina in 2007 has caused a few problems within the village.This development is expected to take anything up to 12 years to complete. Using mainly dredged seabed to form an infill, which will eventually be the site of car parks, restaurant, offices and retail outlets. It is also going to be situated next to a large timber port which many of the residents object to as well as the disruption to their view of a naturally beautiful Loch. Much of the wildlife that visit the area has been displaced or moved to other areas due to the construction.

External links

* [http://www.holylochmarina.co.uk/ Holy Loch marina website]
* [http://www.riverrocket.co.uk/ River Rocket website]
* [http://www.holylochmarina.homecall.co.uk/ Holy Loch marina from the villagers aspect]