21 July - The Caledonian Canal, the Loch Ness Monster and out to the sea again.
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27 July, 2009 - Inverness to Stonehaven via Buckie, Whitehills and Peterhead
21 July, 2009 - The Caledonian Canal, the Loch Ness Monster and out to the sea again.
We left Fort William at 8 AM on Saturday, 18th, to go up the famous set of 11 locks known as "Neptune's Staircase". The idea was to reach the top in time to meet up with "Scarlet Oyster", the Ellen MacArthur Trust boat which is sailing round Britain in the opposite direction. We met Kath, Karen and Simon in Dover so it was great to catch up with them again and steal more of their coffee and doughnuts! The "Ellen MacArthur Trust" and "Hilary's Dream Trust" share many of the same values and it's always fantastic to catch up with what they are doing.
We got as far as Laggan that first night and stayed in a car park conveniently situated right next to the only floating pub on the canal. Since it was the ONLY floating pub and had a huge number of single malt whiskeys, we had to sample some of its wares. We even managed to get Lotti in, although in a most undignified manner as she had to be carried across the tiny gap between shore and boat, then down the stairs ...
By the next day I was right out of dry kit and had to resort to wearing a dry suit which is several sizes too big for me with damp clothes underneath, despite the fact that Jo had spent 3 days trying to dry my stuff out. It wasn't disastrous as the trip was designed to be "a short sail" up as far as Fort Augustus. We'd been told it would take about two hours but, being a Sunday, the canal was packed. We had left with flasks with coffee and tea and by 2 PM we were starving. Paul, as usual, came to our rescue with rolls which saved the guys in the RIB from playing "Rock Paper Scissors" to see who should be eaten first! :-) Paul found us a campsite in Fort Augustus which had a disabled loo, but no showers. It did, however, give us a chance to get our clothes washed and kit dry.
Sailing off the pontoon with just the jib up and onto Loch Ness was great, especially after days being towed through the canal. We were doing 4.5 kn just the one sail. I turned Arty head to wind so that Toby could get the main up and then booted him off the back of the boat. The wind was right behind us so I goosewinged my way down the loch until we reached the deepest point where the boys decided to go swimming. Judging from their style it was probably just as well that no one else was about! I was under orders to average 4 kn, but it was probably closer to 6.5 and I got Arty up and planing for much of it.
Loch Ness passed far too quickly and soon I was back under tow to go through the last sets of locks. I have to admit that it was wonderful to see the sea again. Being towed is hard work although I'm not doing much I find it tiring and the vibrations from SUB always leave me in pain.
We came into Inverness Marina at the unusually civilised time of 4.30PM yesterday, which is brand-new. The loos are still Portakabins, but they took down a partition to make one of them accessible which was really kind, so I can at least get a strip wash.
Page last updated on 22 July 2009 at 15:46