Canal cruising

The Caledonian Canal was a pleasure again and very sociable. Immediately we met a boat from Shetland that we'd locked through with the last time we'd been in the canal, two years ago. We also bumped into two fellow Corinthian boats, Tico and Belle Ile, going the other way and made friends with the motley crew of the capacious Specsioneer of Whitby, including the perky ship's dog, Munk.

Specsioneer, with Ben Nevis in the background

Munk and the lock swan at Kytra having a standoff

The uphill flights of locks were quite a workout, especially since we were in the front where the maximum turbulence swirled around us. We were glad to have Martin along as third crew member as it is a lot easier to have two people ashore walking the boat from lock to lock and one on the boat. An elderly couple across from us were on their own and she had to handle both lines onshore. In the third lock one line slipped - luckily the man had a bow thruster and knew how to handle it and the lock keepers stopped flooding the lock straightaway. In one of the locks, a swan decided to lock up with us, and in another we were amazed to discover some martens nesting inside the top of the lock gates.

Unfortunately we couldn't sail on Loch Ness this time - headwinds again

The weather was good - no rain until the last day and quite a lot of sunshine. We could see the top of Ben Nevis for two days in a row!

Ben Nevis in all its glory

Loch Lochy

How to combine gardening and boating, as seen on Loch Oich