Frustrating day

We were up early and through Gairlochy on the first lock down of the day at 0830. By 1015 we were at the top of Neptunes staircase, and there we stayed. The first lock down had just finished, and then the first lock up started. We were told that the next lock down would be at 1300, then 1330. Julian decided to have a beer.

At 1310 a Moody came down, having just cleared Gairlochy. They could not find anywhere to moor up, but since we expected to be going soon we came off our berth and rafted up outside them.

Then the lock master walked along, and said the next lock down would be at 1430, to wait for a boat coming from Gairlochy. There was no point going before, since the sea lock could not open until 1600, and the Corpach Basin was full...

The family in the moody were lovely, and chatting to them made the wait easier. I took the two children for a little row in Worm, which they enjoyed.

We finally got into the lock at 1420, and were down the flight by 1600. It really felt too late to be heading out to sea after a tiring and frustrating day, so we moored up on the pontoon at the bottom of the lock, and walked down to Corpach to chat to the lock keeper.

One of the boats that came down Neptune's ladder with us was locking out, at 1715; not something I'd have wanted to do then, but it would have been great to get out at lunchtime.

The lock keeper was friendly, and advised us to call up at 0800, before we leave our pontoon, if we do he'll wait the lock down into the basin for us. He also told us where the nearest shop was, so we went there. On the way back we stopped  to chat with Jurgen on Mary Lou, who had talked his way into the "full" Copach Basin. He gave us tea, and whisky, and we had a chat about future plans.

We are going to try to get to Islay before we have to leave Robinetta a week on Monday. The weather is not looking too good, but we have our hopes!