Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

It is possible to transit the canal in about 14 hours for although the canal sections have a 5kts speed limit the route takes you through several natural lochs (the main ones being Lochs Lochy, Oich and Ness) and in the lochs there is no speed limit. However, there are two main things slowing you down… the locks where it can take some time to wait to get in and then pass through and the breath-taking scenery which makes you want to go slowly at all times. I had decided to split my transit into 4 sections with 3 nights in the canal itself… night 1 would be at the southern end of Loch Oich, night 2 in Fort Augustus, night 3 on the shores of Loch Ness at Drumnadrochit and finishing up at Seaport Marina, Inverness at the end of the fourth day.

That was the plan and so day 1 was from Corpach to Loch Oich a distance of only about 20 miles but in that short distance I would pass through no less than 11 locks rising me up over 32m (106ft) above sea level. It was going to be a busy day.

The morning started with a super view of Ben Nevis behind Fort William, sunny and almost calm. The first two were great but the third was not so welcome. I can’t remember any time on this trip where I have been hoping for wind but now I did. Its calmness meant that the infamous scottish midges would be out in force but a 5kts wind would keep them down but this morning, of all mornings, it was dead calm.

At 8.00 the lockkeepers start work and by 8.30 the first boats were emerging from the double lock at Corpach. This is the first of several lock “staircases” where the exit gate of one lock is the entrance to the next. Entering the locks for the first time going up is quite daunting in a little boat. The walls are high and very impressive towering over you and engulfing you as you edge in. Too high to throw up ropes the keeper drops ropes down. In this instance he suggested that I raft to the yacht ahead which meant that I didn’t have to control ropes this time. Once up the gates opened and we walked the raft into the next lock where it all happened again. Up again and I motored out into the serene canal section.

It is just what you would imagine in these sections… 5 kts or less, dead flat, peaceful water and stunning scenery. You just sit back and enjoy the pleasure and wonder of it. After about 2 miles there is a swinging railway and road bridge immediately before the longest lock “stairway” called “Neptune’s Staircase” or by its proper name of Banavie Lock. This is a set of 8 linked locks which is taken in one direction only at once and once boats start down then anyone wanting to go up must wait until the descending boats emerge at the bottom and this is what I had to do and there are holding pontoons at every lock or bridge for this purpose. It was only about a 20 min wait and then in we went. The same thing happened as at the double lock before with me rafted and walking the raft from lock to lock and one by one we proceeded up the staircase. It sounds fun but after you have done a few you just want to get to the top especially as it was starting to rain the the midges were out in force annoying me around my face all the time. Fortunately, the higher up the staircase we went the more the wind picked up and by the top the midges were gone.

At the top I decided not to rush off immediately and so I stopped for a coffee and a time to relax and plan the trip through the canal. I also had a very welcome call from Martin Douglas, crew member of the newest RNLI Lifeboat Station on Loch Ness and Press Officer and also from Rachel Martin, RNLI Media Relations manager for Scotland. I will meet Martin when I stop at Loch Ness and Rachel will make sure that the region’s media know I am passing through.

With this done I moved on and ahead was about 7 miles of canal section leading to the Gairlochy Lock, a single lock into Lock Lochy. This is the deepest lock in the canal and again the lockkeeper had to lower ropes rather than me throw mine up but this was the first lock where I had to handle my own ropes… easy, just keep on the tension!

So out into the first natural lochs, Loch Lochy. I know I said that I wanted to take my time and enjoy the canal but I wanted too to do a bit of motor boating through the mountains and so I decided to plane through Loch Lochy. What a buzz. There is something special about going slowly and peacefully through scenery like this but it is also very special to go at speed through it too. The pleasures are different and if you don’t motorboat then you may not agree but it was a great ride. It took just 30 mins to go the 10 miles and as that may well be the only planing I do on the canal I wanted to make the most of it and I did.

The north end of Loch Lochy is Laggan Lock. It is a double lock but at quieter times they use it as a single lock and this time it was quiet with just 3 boats to lock up. I rafted next to one of the many hired cruisers on the canal and got chatting to the family on board. I had been warned to try to avoid the hire cruisers as they are crewed mostly by non-boaters who don’t know boating ways and just want a caravan holiday on the water. I think that avoiding them is good advice when on the water to avoid incidents (which seem to happen at very regular intervals with the hire fleet!) but once tied up we started chatting and it resulted in a donation to the RNLI – thank you! Through Laggan lock and a short section of canal led into Loch Oich where I was to spend night one. I moored up on a near empty pontoon on the north shore. There were no facilities except a small shop nearby but that didn’t bother me. I set up “camp” for the night on board and enjoyed the peacefulness of my surroundings. Well, nearly because the main A82 was close by so the odd car and lorry broke the birds song now and then but it didn’t spoil the experience at all. Later in the evening a nice couple in a hire cruiser arrived and after helping them tie up a further chat resulted in another donation – thank you.

You know, it really isn’t fair how we boaters treat the hire cruisers. OK, you need to bear in mind that if you are close to them on the water then there is real danger of a collision. But you know, these boats they rent are not easy to drive. They are big and heavy, have just one very low powered engine and shaft drive so their manoeuvrability at low speed is almost zero. Add a bit of wind into the equation and almost no, or in most cases absolutely no experience and it isn’t surprising that they get it wrong. The good part is that the hire boats are built to handle the bumps they get but our privately owned boats are not and need more care so yes, give them a wide berth but don’t belittle them for it… the odds are very much stacked against them when all they want is a great holiday and a fun boating experience. Good luck to them I say and who knows, a few might even get their own boat as a result.

The end of a great day and a relaxing one with the prospect of the same tomorrow.