Another sunny day in the Caledonian Canal and a short trip to Loch Oich passing through 2 locks and 1 swing bridge. The lovely old lady on the boat on the other side of the pontoon said thank you for bringing the good weather with us - if only that were so!

A hairy moment as we thought we'd run aground as we came alongside the pontoon under the ruins of Invergarry Castle - we've had to leave the stern sticking out the back of the pontoon to give us half a meter of water below the keel. We don't want to end up like the boat in the picture which was moored in the loch but got washed ashore in a storm last winter and has laid there on its side ever since.


We took a walk along the fast running waters of the River Garry followed by afternoon tea at the Glengarry Castle Hotel overlooking Loch Oich. Very good value and enough cakes and scones to fill my cake quota for at least a week.

2010: Western Baltic & Western UK

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A beautiful still morning at Dochgarroch with the surrounding hills reflected in the canal. By 9:30am we were locked through and motoring on our way into Loch Ness. The weather was overcast and we could see squalls ahead, but the scenery was still stunning.

The depth gauge gave up at 186m - I think the loch is around 215m deep at the deepest point. Urquhart Castle came slowly into view, but unfortuately the wind was blowing a F5 from the north east and making the anchorage under the castle a lee shore. We faffed around for an hour or so trying to find a good anchoring spot far enough away from the shore but the loch bed rose sharply up from over 35m to 5m and with the wind direction it wasn't looking good. With sadness we gave up and decided to push on to Fort Augustus - we'd been really looking forward to anchoring under Urquhart Castle and hoping for a visit from Nessie. But in hindsight it would have been a bleak night and we were glad we'd pushed on.

By mid-afternoon we were tied up below the locks in Fort Augustus - still technically Loch Ness! The village was busy with tourists watching the boats go through the flight of 5 locks - we hoped not many people would be up at 9 the next morning to watch us - a guarentee things would go wrong for us!

We took a wander around the village looking in all the cheesy tourist shops with their Nessie wares.

The next morning we were up for the first lock up at 9am. This time we were the second boat in the lock making it a bit easier as we were further away from the water gushing into the lock to fill it up. The boat in front of us had a terrible time of it - losing control of the boat at one point as it got pushed over the other side of the lock in the whirlpools of water.

At the top of the locks we tied up on the pontoon and headed off for a walk in the hills. It was a lovely day, warm and sunny with a few fluffy white clouds around. We took a 8 mile walk up through the forest with great views - I reckoned we could see the top of Ben Nevis father off down the Great Glen.

A few pints in the pub as a reward for the miles walked - its our first strenuous walk in a long time and our legs were feeling it - and a relaxing evening in the sun.

I have to say that every lock keeper we've met has been outstanding in their friendliness and helpfulness - its quite fun listening to their chat and stories as we wait for the lock waters to rise.

2010: Western Baltic & Western UK

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After a visit to the local chandlery and a stock up at the supermarket, we were ready to call up the Muirtown flight of locks by 10:45am. Only to be told the next lock up wouldn't be until 1:30pm - oh well time to relax then!

Just before 1:30 we were called up on the VHF and told we were the third boat in and to tie up to starboard. Off we went, through the swing bridge and then throwing up our lines in the first lock - the front boat in the lock on the starboard side. The lines were then passed back down and we kept them tight from on deck as we rose up.

At the top of the first lock I hopped out ashore and walked the bow line forward as Colin motored us through to the next lock - bigger boats are allowed to motor between the locks as it would have been tough trying to pull Emerald through. I then kept the bow line tight from the shore whilst Colin controlled the stern line from the boat. Blimey - its hard work trying to keep a 15 ton boat under control whilst a maelstrom of water is pouring into the lock - by the time we're through to Corpach I'l have arms like Arnie!

4 locks later we were at the top and headed off in convoy to the next swing bridge who the lock keepers have called up to let them know we're coming. That worked well as we didn't have to wait around for the bridge and went straight through.

With the later start than we'd planned we decided to stay the night at Dochgarroch rather than carry on another 2 hours to the anchorage at Loch Ness. Dochgarroch was very peaceful and had lots of raspberries for me to forage!

2010: Western Baltic & Western UK

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