Accompanied through the Caledonian Canal

So for this stage Ruth joined me having flown to Inverness from Bristol! Talk about taking the easy route! Actually handling a 32ft yacht through all the locks singlehanded would have been very difficult and very unpopular with the canal staff. Smaller boats can possibly be walked through singlehanded but not Thalmia! So Ruth’s company was lovely but also very useful!

A promising sky at the start of the transit of the Canal

Anchored by Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness

Stunning Loch Oich – our favourite so far!

But a very satisfying end to the day with dinner in a boutique hotel restaurant!

And so to Banavie with brief glimpses of Ben Nevis. The snow on the summit is real!

The finale – Neptune’s Staircase – downhill through a flight of 8 locks followed soon after by another 3 to get out to sea. A calorific breakfast needed!

In total we’ve transited 4 Lochs, 29 locks and 10 swing bridges! With such a variety of scenery, we took our time so as to enjoy it all!

Ruth leaves on Sunday to fly back south and I resume my singlehanded sailing. I’m taking a week or so to see some of the Western Isles before heading south by a slightly longer route!

Published by Derek

Having started sailing later in life I have migrated from a 14ft dinghy via a Sadler 26 to a 32ft Westerly Fulmar. I sail mostly single handed in the South West from the Solent to the Scillies or across to the Channel Islands and ajacent French coast. In 2020 I planned to sail mostly single handed around Britain. Due to Covid-19 this was unfortunately not possible. I finally completed that challenge starting in April 2021: finishing in early July. You can check out my journey and experiences, good and not so good in the blog posts below or my YouTube channel - search for “voyages of Thalmia” - https://youtube.com/channel/UCb4WnIlleSAbN6oNFmSTAOQ View more posts

7 thoughts on “Accompanied through the Caledonian Canal”

The canal passed right in front of the cottage Nigel and I were staying in at Ness Castle. We know the area well. The scenery is stunning. We had quite a bit of snow on the hills in the Cairngorns. Trust the rest of you trip is as good.

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Derek says:

14/06/2021 at 10:53

Amazing! We could have waved to you! Hope the golf was good! I’m now near Oban, hoping to head north for a bit if I can find fair winds!

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Capable Crew and Derek.
Well done and thanks for the great rolling blog.
Enjoy the next leg and stay safe cap’n.
See you back at TV soon.

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Well done Derek and Ruth!! It looks such a beautiful journey – I’m very envious! Good luck for the next section of the trip and please keep the blog coming – it’s really interesting.

I set off on Monday for a far more modest trip – hoping to reach the Scillies weather permitting ……

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Derek says:

11/06/2021 at 12:55

Thank you John. Fingers crossed for a good passage to Scilly!

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Another very interesting blog Derek and great to see and hear of Ruth providing working company. She clearly enjoyed being with you and seeing everything with you.

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