Fairly grey day, but we should easily get to our hoped for stop at Laggan Locks tonight ( 57:1.30N, 04:49.54W),and we are told by the Neptune Staircase lock keeper to be ready to go around 1000, immediately after a trawler coming down the seven lock flight has exited. All seems fine as we watch the trawler descend down the locks, obviously with a crew who know what they are doing. Very quickly it is in the bottom lock and ready to exit.

We had noticed that the local council was carrying out road works on the swing bridge at the bottom of the locks; the bridge that has to swing open to let the trawler out and us in. No problem, the swing will only disrupt the work for a few minutes.  Then with uncanny timing, with a level of delaying precision masked by the casualness of its application, the council line up a tarmac laying machine and a line of tipper lorries full of steaming asphalt. They start the (unstoppable) process of laying the new road surface on the bridge. Departure delayed, and no point fighting it. Such delays are merely additional opportunities for another brew, and Dick’s hail of ‘making steam boys!’ as the kettle boils.

As the tarmac laying progresses we realise that we could soon be approaching Caledonian Canal lunchtime, which would hold the possibility of a particularly high grade delay running seamlessly into the early afternoon. Indeed we had heard occasional chatter on the radio between lock keepers along the canal from about 1030 discussing any possible traffic that could disrupt lunch. We were having to check we had enough tea on board to cover the additional emergency brews that would be required for such a sophisticated and interwoven delay scenario.  Even Deck’s interest in the adjacent swing railway bridge would be likely to wane by early afternoon.

In the end, we were through and starting up the lock by 1115, and the lock keepers were extremely helpful and worked all the way through, as we really knew they would.  The lock staircase is spectacular, and has great views of snow capped Ben Nevis. Dick and Bez walked the ropes up the flight and I sat and did very little. By lunchtime we were at the top and on our way through the canal, and various locks and swing bridges towards Loch Lochy....the laziest naming convention known to man. 

The wind was quite brisk and on the nose for the 8 miles or so up the Loch, and Moondog got a good fresh water wash in the rain and spray from the waves. All good fun and tied up at Laggan Locks at 1700, next to the Eagle floating pub barge. This turned out to be an inspired move, and a very happy time was spent in its cosy hold drinking real ale and joking with a lively bunch at the bar. A late night.

Bogdan’s Blog

This was like a bad sequel to the first canal experience....’Rope mayhem Episode 2’. This time we had SEVEN of the big black pits that fill with foaming water all joined together, and they were enormous.  And it was freezing cold and raining. If we keep heading in this direction we are going to hit ice. Think I will stay hiding inside. At least they left the heater on when they all disappeared in the evening to a big barge next door, but they made a heck of a racket when they came back. There seemed a lot of interest again in those bottles in the forward storage hold. I really thought it was scorpions tonight as they shook a big tube with lots of rattling inside...but turns out that Pringles is not human for scorpions.  Pretty good though, and when they’ve finished the tube will make a good nest.