Laggan to Banavie (Fort William)

Tuesday 20th June. We awoke to a glorious day of sunshine and stunning views, birds chirping (I heard a cuckoo) and a beautiful calm canal. Pauline had decided to make the most of the forecast good weather and take the bus to Fort William, do the Mallaig train journey (made famous in the Harry Potter films) and then home on the Caledonian Sleeper. We waved her goodbye at the bus stop, returned to the boat and set off for Fort William, now with a crew of four. The Loch into Loch Lochy was one small "down" lock so very easy compared to the "up" locks we had done so far. We had news from the lock keeper that the Gairlochy swing bridge at the end of Loch Lochy was broken but should be repaired later today, so we pressed on. A beautifully calm loch, sunshine and warmth...heaven. We even had shorts and tee shirts on and I did contemplate a swim but it was too shallow at the edges of the loch to moor.

When we reached the end of Loch Lochy at Gairlochy we moored up and had a picnic lunch on deck and fed the local ducks with defrosted frozen peas, which was entertaining.





 
After lunch we headed for the Gairlochy top lock and while we were waiting to go through we saw the Greenpeace ship, Baluga II coming out of the lock. They got an enthusiastic wave from me.

The swing bridge was now mended so we sailed through and continued our journey in the sunshine to arrive in Banavie by 5pm. It had been a glorious day and the sun remained all evening. From our mooring we had a fabulous view of Ben Nevis and Neptune's Steps, the last flight of locks before we head out to the end of the canal.




 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day one and two of the Caledonian Canal - the adventure continues

Image
The Lunatic crew for the Caledonian Canal   We entered the  Clachnaharry sea lock at Inverness for the 1.30 lock and were met by a very helpful, calm lock keeper who talked us through. There was a large sign saying Ireland this way! Clachnaharry Sea Lock, the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, The Great Glen, Loch Ness and Ireland! The lock was timed so that you could then sail through the railway swing bridge, then on to the Muirhead flight of four locks. We had relaxed once we got on to the canal, thinking things could only get better and there is much less to worry about in a canal as opposed to being out at sea, no tides to think about for example. How wrong we were, we were forgetting this is the Lunacy cruise. At the second lock Mick fell in! We heard a plop and a splash and Mick had fallen into the lock between the lock wall and the boat. Josh's quick thinking saved the day as he put the long swim ladder over the edge and Mick managed to climb up before he
Read more

Day 48 and the return to our home port of Ramsgate.

Image
Lunar Sea and her crew back in Ramsgate  Dear Readers, we finally arrived back in Ramsgate five years after setting off on 1 May 2017. The weather then had been atrocious, but it couldn't have been more different for our return. It was promised to be the hottest day of the year, so we had plenty of sunshine and not very much wind. lt did pick up to about 12 knots as we approached Ramsgate, so we managed to get the sails up and the flags flying for our entrance to Ramsgate.  Leaving Dover, heading for the Eastern entrance,  on our way home now. It had been an uneventful 4 hour trip from Dover to Ramsgate, but for some reason the unusually hot weather had created an optical illusion and we had a really clear view of France as we passed Deal. Perhaps it is the high pressure, not sure why?  France, shall we go there instead? We had Josh's daughter Jo on board and Owen and Jordan, two of Josh's grandchildren, joined us in Dover for the day sail. When we got to the approach to Ra
Read more
Image
  Hello again from Lunar Sea in Portishead. The boat has been here for two years now and we are continuing our adventure from tomorrow, the 31st May, by locking out of Portishead Marina (near Bristol in case you wondered) and we will be heading for Penarth Marina (near Cardiff) for our first stop. Then on to Padstow via Watchet for a night's stay and then probably an anchorage for one night off Clovelly, to break up the 18 hour trip from Watchet to Padstow.  We have been so lucky to have found this charming marina which has been Lunar Sea's home for two years, we will be sad to leave, but excited to be on the homeward stretch of our marathon around the UK sailing trip. It was supposed to take 2 years, but due to bad weather in year 1 and a mutinous crew, plus the pandemic in the third and fourth year, it will have taken 5 years (assuming we get back to Ramsgate this year, watch this space!) Wish us luck, calm seas and a good wind. I will try and do a daily blog, sailing conditi
Read more