Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

Looking at the forecast the day did not look great. F4-5 occasional F6 and heavy showers. None the less, I felt that as the direction was northerly that would give me shelter from the worst of it between the islands so I decided to go.

I need fuel and the only petrol available was at Puffin Dive Centre, about 3 miles south. Had I been a little more organised in my planning this stop I would have known to stop off there on my way in to Oban. So leaving the marina I first turned south in the Kerrera Sound. Puffin Dive Centre is a bit unusual in that they allow diving from the jetty and so it isn’t unusual for them to have divers in the water when approaching and that is what I had. The “A” flag was clearly flying and a dry-suited diver on the jetty confirmed that there were divers in the water. Gingerly I edged towards the wall that was the fuel stop.

116ltrs of  unleaded loaded I edged out again and headed north, past Oban town and the marina and out of the northern entrance to the sound.

No sooner was I out of the sound when I realised that the wind was indeed all of what was forecast and the sea state was decidedly choppy. No big waves, just a very active 1-2ft chop that meant that progress was going to be slow. In one way this was not good news… the sea lock at Corpach into the Caledonian Canal closes about 2 hrs either side of low water springs and it was going to be closed from about 1.30 to 5.30 today. This slow progress meant that I might miss the 1.30 deadline so I pushed on as quickly as I could given the sea state. On the other hand, it forced me to go slowly allowing me to enjoy the scenery and experience of boating in the Islands of West Scotland – wonderful!

Gradually the scenery became much more mountainous and much more breathtaking as I moved further north. The thing that struck me most was the distances. The islands were further apart visually than I knew them to be on the chart and the areas of sea bigger and much more sea-like in character than lake-like as you might imagine sheltered waters to be. When compared with open sea they are sheltered but make no mistake – it is still the sea in every respect and should be treated with the respect it deserves.

My route would take me to the east of Lismore Island and then inside Shuna. There is a small castle on a little island on the eastern side of the entrance to the Shuna Sound where two good friends, Paul and Anne, met and so I stopped to get some pics. The weather wasn’t the best for photography with clouds and rain but it was fun to be there as it was a place close to their hearts.

Inside Shuna gave me some shelter from the wind and the sea flattened enough for me to get up some speed and for a while I was hopeful I might make the 1.30 deadline but once out of the sound the chop got up and I was down to my 6kts again.

Continuing north up Loch Linnhe there is a narrows where the usable water is only about 1 cable (150m) wide and with the spring tides I was expecting some changes in sea state there. I was not disappointed but instead of overfalls and rough water it smoothed out and went incredibly flat. That is not to say inactive… there were swirls and boilings everywhere and clearly the water was moving around a lot and moving with some speed but it made the surface flatten out so that I could get up speed again. In fact, planing through that water was by far the best option. If I were not planing then I would have been buffeted by the swirling water but whizzing through at 20kts, just skimming the water, it made the boat less troubled and all I felt were occasional slight lurches to one side or the other.. Yet again my hopes were up that I might make the 1.30 deadline but it was now touch and go and I would need to be maintaining the 20kts all the rest of the way and as I passed this narrows at Corran Point I was very hopeful. However it was not to be. Once through the narrows the chop picked up again and I now had to accept that I would be late and so I decided to slow down completely, save a bit of fuel and enjoy the stunning scenery. I would like to have said peaceful , stunning scenery which I am sure on a different day it was but on this particular one the sea was making the passage anything but peaceful even at 4kts and so I continued to bash my way towards Fort William.

It wasn’t until I got to within a couple of miles of Fort William that I could see Ben Nevis towering above the town and I was surprised to see that it still had some snow in gullies near the top. Amazing! What was even more amazing was that I could see it at all because although the wind was still up the cloud had cleared to become intermittent… the weather was clearing.

Just before Fort William I had a call from Anne (the same Anne that first met Paul near Castle Stalker near Shuna) who told me that a relation of hers has a house on the banks of Loch Linnhe and they could see me! She knew I was about to pass her relation’s house from tracking me on Google Earth. It is spooky for me to think that people can see exactly where I am when at sea but exciting too.

So, on past Fort William and just a bit further on to Corpach where the sea lock entrance to the Caledonian Canal is situated. Yes, I missed the 1.30 deadline but only by 30 mins so I nearly made it but now I had a 3+hrs wait on the holding pontoon before I could enter the canal. I rafted alongside an 8m yacht that surprisingly had 3 adults and two children staying on board on holiday and while we waited we swapped stories while the children fished.

The time flew by and eventually the lock gates opened and out came a lifeboat! The lock keeper said he thought it was a relief boat for somewhere in Ireland. Anyway, with the lock having disgorged its floating contents we entered what would be the first of 29 locks in the 60 miles of canal passage to Inverness. The lock keeper could not have been more friendly or helpful and he issued me with the licence and explained about how to use the locks and where I can buy provisions and get showered etc. The canal is operated by British Waterways Scotland and they clearly have listened to customers and made the canal as easy to transit as possible. They are still improving and adding to the recent £20m upgrade program.

So, after the formalities done I moved into Corpach lock basin where I moored along the quayside for the night. Normally, they don’t allow overnight mooring in the basin as it is a holding area for people going through the sea lock but it was late, there was little point in going any further that day and so they allow us, myself and the yacht to which I rafted when waiting outside the lock, to stop the night.

I was in the Caledonian Canal! For me this was a big moment because it represented a half-way point in the trip. Not necessarily half-way in miles but in a split between west and east. I intend to try to relax through the canal and enjoy what may be my one and only trip along it so from now I go into holiday mode and concentrate on chilling out, enjoying the fantastic scenery and not having to worry about weather, deadlines and dare I say it, fundraising. I have done plenty on this trip so far and will do plenty more so this bit in the middle is for me and not the RNLI and I intend to enjoy it!