This boat trip with a difference tracks the links between this area and America. We look at what was happening in World War 2, and visit Rosneath, which was a US Naval Base from 1942 to 1945, with 6000 US troops living in the surrounding woods and a US Naval Hospital just over the hill behind.
Then we voyage across to the Holy Loch – a US Navy submarine base from 1961-1992 during the Cold War, and learn about the huge floating dry dock in the centre of the loch, and the Cadillacs and Chevrolets in the nearby town.
We return via Greenock, which at its peak had 14 sugar refineries operating, with around 400 ships arriving annually from Brazil and the Caribbean. Then finally, before returning to Rhu we get up close and personal with the wreck of the Sugar Boat, an iconic local feature which even has a local restaurant named after it.