Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

Today started out wet and it just got wetter and wetter! I had an 8.30 appointment with Martin Douglas of the Loch Ness lifeboat station to show me the boat and to get some pics for the RNLI and for this web site. He gave me a thorough tour of the boat and we had a photo session (see pics). Martin has been a wonderful host for me when there and I would like to thank him for his efforts. The lifeboat station there has only recently been taken over from the coastguard and so they have had a lot of work getting the station up to date with RNLI equipment and procedures and I have to say that as a visitor it looks to me that they have all done a fantastic job. Crew is still being trained and there are still a few things to do but on the whole it is up and running.

Like I said, the weather has been wet today and leaving the marina I couldn’t see the other side of Loch Ness only a mile away but there was enough visibility for me to make good progress into the canal section at the north end and through the remaining locks to Inverness. At Dochgarroch Lock I called on the radio to the lockkeeper and didn’t get a reply so I put the boat on the holding pontoon and went in search… nothing… not a soul anywhere. This is a warning to anyone transiting the canal… when the lockkeepers go to lunch everything stops! It was a welcome chance for me to make a spot of lunch for myself and sit and relax listening to the test match on the radio .

The final set of locks at Muirtown resulted in another delay of an hour while we waited for a fishing boat to get to the lock so we could all lock down together. This final "staircase" needed me to stand on the lockside and walk the boat between locks and also to stand there while the boat descended… while it was raining. I was soaked!

At the bottom I entered my berth in Seaport marina to be met by Russell from Gael Force Chandlery who I had requested to meet me to make a small adjustment to where the fuel line went into the engine. That was quickly done so then off to the shower… great!

I write this from the boat in the pouring rain with the wind blowing the boat around on the pontoon in Seaport Marina, Inverness and it is with a degree of mixed feelings that I report that the Caledonian Canal leg is at an end.

On the one hand I am sorry to leave the relative peacefulness of the canal. On the whole it has been a wonderful few days and I highly recommend it to any boater or non-boater alike whether in your own boat or a hired one. On the other hand I am glad that I now have the chance to push on with the event and to get on with some more fundraising. So I am collecting at the Eastgate Centre in Inverness tomorrow and meeting up with the Mother of my good friend Anne. This is the same Anne that has the uncle in Fort William… needless to say she is a scot and proud of it.

So, all that remains of the canal is for me to make it the mile or so to the sea lock and through the final lock. I am not sure when… it all depends on  - you guessed it - the weather!