Plantation by the English in Ireland, and Ulster in particular, has received considerable scholarly attention, and it continues to do so. While plantation as a policy developed out of efforts to secure the coastal region from the continuous arrival of Highland Scots, most studies examine how the English plantations developed. Less attention is paid to the Scottish settlement in Ulster and their efforts to utilize the land for their own purposes. At the same time, few studies examine the wider maritime context. Both the English and the Scots in Ulster had to traverse the North Channel to reach Ulster, and this article seeks to examine the wider maritime context that either facilitated or obstructed the efforts of both the Scots and the English in Ulster.