The stretch after Kytra was half canal and half lochan. It seemed very remote and wild after Fort Augustus, and would have been pretty with some sun on the hills. Julian decided to get the bowsprit out, just in case we could sail in Loch Oich, and after that he got the sail cover off and decided to lift the boom out of the crutches.
I was steering, and finding it very easy, so when he asked me to free up the main sheet when was not sliding through the blocks properly I did not think twice, just turned round to pull it through. Suddenly there was a nasty scraping noise! Robinetta's bowsprit was pointing into the bank, and the bow was not moving forward any more.
We weren't going fast and had just scraped over the rocks at the side of the navigation, but when I put the engine into reverse she did not come free. Julian sprang into action immediately, taking off his shoes and trousers and putting on his oldest shorts, then sliding down into the water to push her off. She came free almost instantly, leaving him on the bank.
We were only about half a mile from the lock at Cullochy, but walking there with bare feet would have been painful, so I got the oars into Worm, then let her off towards the bank where Julian caught her. He tried to paddle back to Robinetta, but kneeling up in Worm meant be caught the wind too much, and was pushed back (paddling with oars is not easy!) Worm had the rowlocks in though, and he was soon back aboard and changing back into his dry clothes.
I don't think we damaged anything, but we won't know for sure until Robinetta comes out of the water in the autumn. Hopefully we just left some anti-foul on a rock...
We got though the Cullochy lock and moored up at the first pontoon after the swing bridge. A cup of tea was needed! We had planned to stop there any way to have a look at the historic Bridge of Oich, a double cantilever bridge over the river next to the canal. As we walked up to it Julian said "Thomas Telford", but it was actually by James Dredge, a brewer from Bath, who constructed about 50 bridges of this type between 1836-54. It carried road traffic until 1932, but now has a sign saying not more than 50 people on the bridge at once.Refreshed by our walk we headed back to the canal and motored on though Loch Oich. Although the Loch looks a decent size on the chart (for sailing a small boat anyway) it is actually quite shallow, and the channel is carefully marked.
Some marks are buoys and some are posts on rocks. There are several small islands. One had a beautiful pair of birds on a tree.
There are two pontoons along the western shore. One at the Glengarry Castle Hotel and one at the Well of the seven heads. We planned to stop at the first one for lunch and walk to the ruins of Invergarry Castle. We nearly missed it, as I was eyeing up a sailing boat cast up on the shore. She still had her mast, rigging, and sails on, but on closer inspection must have been there for a couple of years.
I don't think the pontoon gets used often, but it was in good condition, and the castle ruins were well worth a look. Too dangerous to go inside, but very picturesque.
We went through the swing bridge at Laggan, then moored up on the pontoons to fill our water tanks. There are not many convenient places to do it on the canal, and I can't remember when we last filled them. It certainly took a long time!
After that it was into Laggan Lock, for our first "downhill" lock of the trip. Surprisingly easy compared to uphill! We were alone in the lock, with nothing happening, then another boat appeared, then two more. Laggan is a flight with two chambers, but the bottom one was left open and we dropped the whole distance in one chamber.
The other three boats passed us before we were out of Ceann Loch, and they drew steadily ahead as we motored down Loch Lochy. I could not see the end of the loch for cloud, and what little wind there was, was dead on the nose. We did not even try to sail, and after a while it started to rain. The clouds looked very atmospheric, and Julian read out bits about the Lord of the Loch (which seems to be a Kelpie) but 9 miles of motoring is inevitably dull.
It was difficult to see the exit from the loch into Gairlochy, but it was well buoyed, so navigation was not really a problem, and we soon reached the Gairlochy locks. The gate was open, but there was no one visible so I went below to call them up. Before I could they were calling me, "Boat approaching Gairlochy top lock". Turns out we had missed the last lock of the day. It was only 1715, and we thought they worked until 1800 in the summer.... Next lock through will be at 0830 tomorrow.
We moored up on a pontoon, to spend a wet evening planning what we do when we leave the canal.
There are two pontoons along the western shore. One at the Glengarry Castle Hotel and one at the Well of the seven heads. We planned to stop at the first one for lunch and walk to the ruins of Invergarry Castle. We nearly missed it, as I was eyeing up a sailing boat cast up on the shore. She still had her mast, rigging, and sails on, but on closer inspection must have been there for a couple of years.I don't think the pontoon gets used often, but it was in good condition, and the castle ruins were well worth a look. Too dangerous to go inside, but very picturesque.
We went through the swing bridge at Laggan, then moored up on the pontoons to fill our water tanks. There are not many convenient places to do it on the canal, and I can't remember when we last filled them. It certainly took a long time!
After that it was into Laggan Lock, for our first "downhill" lock of the trip. Surprisingly easy compared to uphill! We were alone in the lock, with nothing happening, then another boat appeared, then two more. Laggan is a flight with two chambers, but the bottom one was left open and we dropped the whole distance in one chamber.
The other three boats passed us before we were out of Ceann Loch, and they drew steadily ahead as we motored down Loch Lochy. I could not see the end of the loch for cloud, and what little wind there was, was dead on the nose. We did not even try to sail, and after a while it started to rain. The clouds looked very atmospheric, and Julian read out bits about the Lord of the Loch (which seems to be a Kelpie) but 9 miles of motoring is inevitably dull.
It was difficult to see the exit from the loch into Gairlochy, but it was well buoyed, so navigation was not really a problem, and we soon reached the Gairlochy locks. The gate was open, but there was no one visible so I went below to call them up. Before I could they were calling me, "Boat approaching Gairlochy top lock". Turns out we had missed the last lock of the day. It was only 1715, and we thought they worked until 1800 in the summer.... Next lock through will be at 0830 tomorrow.
We moored up on a pontoon, to spend a wet evening planning what we do when we leave the canal.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment