Caledonian Canal

We headed south from the Orkneys in two hops to get to the Eastern entrance to the Caledonian Canal. We stopped in Wick for two nights and then anchored outside Inverness to wait for our pre-arranged entrance to the canal. The second leg of this journey was a very long day, with many rain showers along the way. We had very little wind and the kite out, then a rain shower would arrive bringing with it massive increase in the wind so we would reef the main and switch the kite to a reefed genoa, then the rain would pass and 45 minutes later we needed to shake the reefs out. Over the twelve hour day this was very tiring and we were knackered when we finally arrived at our anchorage for the night.

The next morning we were up and off bright and early so that we could enter the canal with the correct rise of tide. This was our first of 29 locks, which we completed without incident in the rain. 

 

The canal is 60 miles long and has 22 miles of man made sections joining three fresh water lochs. These are Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Locky (the name slowly becomes less funny). There are three multiple lock staircases, going east to west these are two upwards, Muirtown flight (four locks), Fort Augustus (five locks), and one downwards Neptune's staircase (eight locks). The locks are busy this time of year, with yachts, and canal cruisers. Most of the lock keepers were were friendly and helpful, organising everyone in their own unique way and getting everyone through with out incident. There was just one crew who were so stressed I was concerned for their blood pressure! However the locks are quite slow, there is a lot of waiting around, and repetitive once you have done a couple. I personally did not love the canal experience, so I don't think the French canals will be on the list. 

 

The weather was variable, but with more sunshine than we were used to, so every day had at least a sunny half to it, which was a real treat. The wind blew very strongly from the south west, which did mean bashing into 25 knots down the fresh water lochs. This did not bring out the best in Loch Ness or Lock Oich, where it was cold, rainy and overcast. The scenery improved the further West we went and from Loch Lochy to the end was truely beautiful, we also had more consistent sunshine and higher temperatures, which might have had an impact on our assessment of things.

When we reached the end it really did feel like freedom to be going back out into the sea. I guess we are not really canal people. But it was good to have done it though and and the scenery was beautiful.