From West to East!

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On Saturday 23rd July, we were joined by our son, Dan and our daughter-in-law, Andrea who will be our crew for the passage through the Caledonian Canal over the next week.

They stepped off the train at Oban into the dark and shockingly wet weather as we walked them round the harbour to meet the last ferry across to Kerrera Island.

Next day, it was still raining and we set off under a lowering sky at 08:45 to sail the 40 miles up Loch Linnhe to the west sea lock at Corpach, near Fort William.

Passing though the Corran Narrows

Just before the Corran Narrows, we hastily put 2 reefs in the main and wound in lots of genoa as the wind had increased.  We also had to tack quickly as the Corran ferry had no plans to avoid the only yacht passing through this morning!  Dan and Andrea were having a rapid introduction to life at sea.

Approaching Fort William along Loch Linnhe

Later, the wind moderated and the rain showers became less frequent as at 15:00 we reached the sea lock into the canal at Corpach.  

They were not ready for us, so we were asked to anchor off for a while.  Then at 16:15 we motored into the sea lock and into the Caledonian Canal.  Our new adventure had begun!

Into the sea lock at Corpach

Over the next week, we travelled along canal sections, through locks (some grouped into as many as 8 in a long row) and across Lochs: Lochy, Oich and Ness.  In some places, they swung road or rail bridges to let us pass through.  Each time we met a lock or a bridge, we first called them up on VHF channel 74 to find out if and when they would let us through.

Following super-yacht  "Moon Shadow" up the 8 locks of Neptune's Staircase

Our glimpse of Ben Nevis as we enter the first canal section after Corpach

Sunshine arrives at last - Monday

Our first view of the lovely Loch Lochy - Tuesday

Looking into Loch Ness from our walk at the town of Fort Augustus - Wednesday

Andrea in Loch Ness - Thursday

And Dan too

Following a passenger barge up the canal leading towards Inverness - Friday

We could never be quite sure in advance how long it would take for a lock or swing bridge to be ready to open and we were often assembled over time into a group of boats before we received the go-ahead.

We were lucky with the weather and we hardly had any more rain while we were in the canal.

Here is a little video of Doug giving us his Highland ditty while we were sailing through Loch Ness :)  You have to excuse the wind noise!

We arrived at the final marina in Inverness late morning on Friday and spent the rest of the day exploring the town together.

Then, on Saturday morning we bid farewell to Dan and Andrea and prepared for the next stage of our journey out into the North Sea.


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