Rain. Rain and more Rain. It rained much of the night - and by 8am still had the persistent quality about it. Nevertheless, our visit to see the Moray Firth Dolphins beckoned, so we left to drift down to Chanonry Point, opposite Fort George, where most inbound yachties had told us they were currently to be found. Under the Kessock suspension bridge which links the Black Isle with Inverness - no dolphins.
Rival Lady soon followed us - and passed us, and the Point on their way to Peterhead. Arrived off Chanonry - No Dolphins. Went outside the point, but still No Dolphins - perhaps they don't like rain ;-) Turned back to return to Inverness via Fortrose and Avoch (pronounced Och!). Radio call from Rival Lady announced they'd found dolphins just outside the Inverness Firth - so we turned round again and followed them.
Found the dolphins - and spent an hour or so watching them swim, leap, splash,
jump around. Found that the digital camera is rather too slow to capture such fast action
- by the time it was focussed, only a ripple remained - but got one picture for you with
one on it! Turned back for Inverness, and left the school still leaping - one even waved
goodbye with its tail.
Couldn't raise
the sea-lock on VHF as we passed under the bridge - and when we arrived, found that the
Muirtown Bridge had been stuck open half the morning - causing all sorts of traffic jams -
so had to wait in the lock approach whilst they did some more tests.
The bridge remains broken - so we are stuck in Muirtown marina in the rain.
Rain. Rain and Rain, Rain, rain, rain, rain and rain. It's raining - and the bridge is still broken. Ideas about going out again and round by Wick and Cape Wrath are quickly squashed - so we sit here in the rain.
A few boats arrived in from the sea - including a great big (survey?) boat called 'Proud Seahorse' who had an evil reputation from the yachts who locked in with him. The bridge finally swung at 12:15pm - and Proud Seahorse made it very plain that she was going into the locks first - we didn't argue but went through the bridge and held back for a second locking - being in the chamber with a bolshy boat of 100 tons or so is no joke!
Caught up the last locking
at Tomnahurich Bridge anyway - so had to hold back again at Dochgarroch Lock.
The first Loch which makes up the four forming over
half the canal's length is Loch Dochfour - and we passed barge 'Fingan' which serves as a
floating centre for activity holidays, before entering Loch Ness proper.
It rained right through to
half way down Loch Ness - but at least we arrived at Fort Augustus in the dry. Proud
Seahorse had been allowed into the first lock - so was well out of everyone's way.
Treated the crew to showers as we passed down Loch Ness - from the waste engine heat - the shower on the Southerly is a very practical arrangement - unlike on some yachts. Enjoyed a 'Skippers-Special' Chilli on arrival - it is quite fun cooking with a panoramic view of Loch Ness all around - another distinct advantage of the 'Pilot House' design of the boat.
No Rain! Discretion being the better part of valour, we decided once again to skip first locking up - with Proud Seahorse in it, and leave it to mainly charter-boats to act as his fenders. In fact the lock-keepers at Fort Augustus are brilliant (they have to be to handle all the charter boats), and nothing untoward happened - but it wasn't worth the adrenaline!
A pleasant
(non-rainy) passage through the canal. There are two lovely single locks between Fort
Augustus and Loch Oich (the highest of the canal at about 106 feet). Kytra and Cullochy
are kept beautifully - with flowers and hanging baskets etc.
Before the canal locks were automated with Hydraulic
gear, the gates and sluices were hand-wound. On smaller canals, large levers on the lock
gates are typical - but on the Caledonian Canal, capstans turned to pull chains to open
and shut the gates. Some of the locks - like the one in the photo have preserved these in
situ (minus the levers).
Passage
through a Swing Bridge as Invercalder, Loch Oich, then another Swing Bridge at Laggan,
brought us into the Laggan Avenue - a tree lined section - then Laggan Locks, where we
were packed in with several other boats, as it is a hire-boat base, and many were
returning for Saturday hand-over. Although the lock at Laggan is a double one, only one
section is in use as water levels were such that the second was not required - the lochs
on the canal are also used as part of a Hydro Electric scheme, so levels do vary.
A fast motor
through the six miles of Loch Lochy, meant we could get through the Gairlochy locks and
Moy Bridge before closing time. Again one lock at Gairlochy was not in use due to some
stabilisation works required in the basin in between. Arrival at the top of Neptune's
staircase - and it still was not raining - meant we were ready for first-locking
down tomorrow!