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Treading Lightly: Sustainable Sailing Holidays in Scotland

Provident is a sailing boat, and that gives us a head start on a lower-carbon holiday. It isn't always simple — but here's what we aim to do, voyage after voyage.A sailing holiday starts with an advantage most travel doesn't have: the wind is free. Provident is built to use it.

That's not the whole story of sustainable travel, and we don't pretend it is. Diesel, fresh water, food miles and plastic all still factor into a week at sea. What follows is a plain account of the eleven things we actually do about it — not a claim that a boat holiday has no footprint at all, but a record of where we choose to tread lightly.

50%+

VEGETARIAN MEALS ONBOARD

Wind

FIRST, ENGINE SECOND

1

HISTORIC WOODEN SHIP, KEPT SAILING

  1. We will use the engine as little as possible. This means that our destinations can change from day to day according to the wind direction and the tides.  Luckily in Scotland there is always somewhere fantastic to go.

  2. When we do use the engine because we want to get to a specific place – we will make everyone aware that this is a group choice and record the fuel that we use.

  3. We will use the generator as little as possible.  We will encourage our guests to be aware of when it is being used and what for. We will encourage being economical with electrical and other devices.

  4. We will encourage guest to be aware of how much water they are using.   The boat has finite water supplies. If everyone showers every day then supplies will run out faster and we will have to divert to a port to refill our tanks.

  5. Food can often be the biggest way of using up carbon.  We will try to shop locally wherever we can and pay attention to the distance our food has had to travel and the way that it has been transported.  

  6. We will reduce our consumption of meat – at least half our meals will be vegetarian.

  7. We will encourage our guests to use public transport to join their voyage.

  8. We will aim to support our local island communities by visiting and buying their produce.

  9. We will limit our use of plastics by recycling and reusing where we can.

  10. We will use eco friendly cleaning products and buy these in bulk.

  11. We will support the preservation of our historic wooden ship by making her accessible to others and allowing her to continue sailing.

See 2027 Voyages