057:08.658 N
004:41.146 W

Loch Ness, Fort Augustus, Caledonian Canal

By the time we arrived at our final pontoon last night the wind was howling. It transpired that a couple of boats had tried to enter Loch Ness yesterday but turned back as it was blowing 30 knots (Force 6-7) on the nose. Today’s forecast had been for less so we relaxed and didn’t set the alarm. As a result, we thought we’d messed up as when we eventually woke and found it pretty windy; the boat ahead of us had left two hours before us to get across before the wind rose.

Anyway, we headed out into Loch Ness and it was indeed pretty windy, but TC managed to make a decent headway so we decided to plod on. The wind was 20 knots on the nose and a short chop reduced her speed on occasions; initially we really thought we’d blown it but luckily the wind reduced enough for us to go most of the way at a decent pace.

Wonderfully it didn’t rain so we could enjoy the spectacle of the famous Loch which at one stage reaches a depth of over 200m. Off Drumnadrochit, we passed the incredible sight of Urquhart Castle, magnificent, ruined, iconic and historic. So much stirring history to read about in that corner of Loch Ness requires its own visit on another day. Thrilling to see this 1,000 year old castle so clearly from the water.

A few yachts were sailing the distance but we had no appetite to thrash into this all day, so about 4.5 hours after motoring we could see Fort Augustus appear in the distance. A crowd of people marked the end of the canal and we puttered into the centre of town where the canal lock system of five locks is the centre of attention; suddenly we were being watched and photographed from all sides!

Five locks in total elevating TC up 40 feet took about 90 minutes, again a very patient lock keeper was kept very busy as he was ‘double locking’ ie four boats were in the lock ahead of us, so he was operating two locks at the same time. No wonder they are all fit and strong.

Harry and I again ‘walked’ TC along as Bol motored TC between the open gates. In between we were chatting to the skipper of a beautiful (and huge) wooden boat sharing our lock. Having done this ‘loads of times’ he was giving us a few helpful tips ~ such as don’t get too close to the lock gate ahead as the turbulence is greatest there! Out the other side, we tied up to the stone wall with a view down the ‘steps’ towards Loch Ness, all this time marvelling at the engineering of this entire system.

A special day was rounded off beautifully with the reunion with my great friend Cat Williams who happens to be working here; a very happy Happy Hour in the cockpit.