57:29.119N  4:14.915W

Tuesday 20th July

Met up with Chris' brother (Jer) and his wife (Liz) today. They are staying in Inverness and got a taxi to Fort Augustus early this morning so that they could sail (motor) through Loch Ness with us and help us with the locks and swing bridges on the way. Bacon sandwiches for breakfast once we had set off from Fort Augustus at 8am.

Turned out to be a beautiful hot sunny day and the whole days trip went so smoothly. First we motored the 20 mile length of Loch Ness passing the impressive Urquhart Castle half way along on the North shore. Loch Ness narrows at the NE end and then opens up into LochDochfour where we encountered the first lock of the day at Dochgarroch.

We passed through with very little delay. A little further on is the Tomnahurich swing bridge which was opened for us, again, with only a short delay. Then on to the last major set of locks on the Caledonian Canal - the Muirtown flight of 4 locks. With Jer's help the transit through the locks was straightforward. Liz did a great job taking photographs and video of our efforts.

Only 2 of the 29 locks, and one of the 10 swing bridges left to tackle - which we will do in a couple of days when we exit the canal and head for Inverness Marina.