After refuelling we were on our way to Crinan, slipping lines at Portavadie at 0915.

Firstly an easy motorsail for an hour up to Ardrishaig, at the entrance to the Crinan Canal on Loch Fyne.  We had already learnt the bad news of the Caledonian Canal’s temporary closure, and got an update from the sea lock keeper here. It was clear that we would not be able to transit the Caledonian Canal until the 30 April, while they fixed a ( very) big leak. Nothing we can do about it, so we will just get as close as we can and then park up until it reopens.

The Crinan staff were very helpful and we booked an assisted passage’...basically we stayed on the boat and the canal staff did all the work with lock gates etc. We seemed to be the only boat moving and sped through the locks quickly, arriving at Crinan Basin at 1600, just in time for scones and tea at the tea shop before it closed.  All very civilised, and a beautiful sunny afternoon and sunset.

Bogdan’s Blog

Hmmm,  not so sure stowing away was such a brilliant idea. They had me holding bits of string every time we motored into a dead end with tall slimey walls. The ‘skipper’ did this a lot , and each time I had to help by pulling on ropes to haul us to the top. How many times does this have to happen before he learns that this is not a good idea? It was almost as bad when he later kept stopping inches before a big drop, and I had to stop us falling over with yet another piece of string. It’s all getting a bit tiresome, and still no scorpions.

Anyway, we finally ended up in a nice spot for a bit of sunbathing before the sun went down.